Crochet vs Knitting

When I was planning inventory for my Heidi's Nest store back in January, I initially planned to make knit hats, scarves and blankets via loom knitting.  I had started loom knitting about 3 years ago and really enjoyed it and it was easy to do, quick, easy to teach others and also easy to keep track of stitches because they didn't fall off the loom.  

Once I started making more things, I thought that I should learn how to knit to make newborn hats and booties.  I taught myself but it seemed to take forever to finish something (even though I did finish some booties) and I was wondering how I was going to finish all the inventory that I had planned to make.

There seemed to be interest growing online in learning to crochet and I had always wanted to learn so I jumped in and taught myself that via youtube videos.  I did crochet some items and some items I knitted but after a few months I have really taken to crochet more.  I think being able to finish things faster helps but it seems that crochet is much more natural to me that knitting.

I think there are pros and cons to each method.  Knitting is better for clothes and form fitting items and certain yarns such as eyelash yarns, fun furs, etc are really, really hard to crochet.  You can't see stitches very well and those yarns seem to do better with knitting and are even easier to loom knit with!  Knitting uses less yarn while crocheting is easier (at least for me) to take out rows that I screwed up and not having to start all over again. 

I am still a beginner with both skills but enjoy learning and expanding my skills.  One thing that I haven't practiced yet is changing colors but I am ready to tackle that soon.  Once I knock out a few sewing things I am going to try and crochet B an ear flap hat for when it gets colder.

Project List Update

I feel like I haven't posted this or anything else in a while.  I guess you know when you are busy when you leave a new sewing machine in a box for a week right?  I will say that my house is clean and organized, woohoo!

I launched my Heidi's Nest business on Facebook last week and am finishing up a few orders and already starting to get a few more!  Now that B is in preschool 2 morning a week I am able to sew a little more and I hope to tackle some of the easy stuff on this list.

Not too much change on the list but the Hayley quilt top and back is done.  It now needs quilting and binding and then shipped off. 
The only other big change is that most items that were "knit" are now going to be "crochet."

And thanks for my Crafty Sewing Mamas group, an urban unisex hoodie will probably be added to the list soon.  I haven't really done any clothes sewing but B needs a jacket for winter (and since we are in Texas I have more time till he will need it) so I will probably buy the pattern because it is so freaking cute.

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
1	Hayley Bedding Quilt	80% Complete	1
2	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
3	Brown Angel Hair Crochet Scarf	33% Complete	1
4	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
5	Custom Curtain Order		1
6	Floor Cushions		1
7	Crayon Roll for Boys		2
8	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
9	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
10	Car Mat Quilt		1
11	White Newborn Hat and Booties		2
12	Cars Fabric Bin		1
13	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
14	Music Fabric Bin		1
15	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads		3
16	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
17	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
18	Car Roll		2
19	Numbers Bean Bags		1
20	Crayon Roll for Girls		2
21	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
22	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
23	Baseball Knit Hat and Booties		2
24	Football Knit Hat and Booties		2
25	Trains Fabric Bin		1
26	T-Shirt Bag		1
27	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
28	Sewing Machine Cover		1
29	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
30	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
31	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
32	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
33	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
34	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1
35	1600 Quilt		1

New Sewing Machine!

A few weeks ago Woot.com had a great deal on a Singer Perfect Finish Sewing Machine and Serger.  It normally retails around $700-$800 and I got for $350!  After sitting at my house for a week I finally got the Sewing Machine set up.  I did one test sew and then B woke up from his nap but it is ready to go!

Here was my former machine:

It is/was a great machine.  I have had it for around 7 years and originally got it as a Christmas gift from my grandma.  It was the basic $100 machine from Walmart and perfect for a beginner sewer.  As I sew more and try new things I wanted something that could do more.  This Brother had 21 stitches and 3-4 feet with it.

My new machine:

This lovely machine is electronic, has over 1300 stitches and tons of feet, most of which I have no clue what to even use them for!  It will be fun over time to figure out all these new things and expand my sewing knowledge.  The 1300 stitches include some basic embroidery things so I can now do at least names on blankets and such. I can tell difference in threading the machine and the pedal is 10x time better too.  Sometimes it is the little things that make a difference like being able to see your bobbin to tell when you are about to run out.  I also think the stitch regulator will make a difference and am really excited about not having to grab a pair or scissors to cut the thread each time!

The poor serger is still in the box but I have a few other things to sew first (including customer orders!) before I start playing with that.  I used my mom's serger once but definitely need a lot more practice with that. 

I really want to learn how to make clothes and I think with nicer machines that this will be easier.  I have tried clothes before but my previous machine did not do a good zigzag stitch close to the edge without bunching and there was no stitch regulator.  Now I am trying to decide which clothing would be good to try first.  I am leaning towards a pair of pajama pants and I want to use Robert Kaufman's Grinch flannel fabric for it.

I am on Facebook!

My Heidi's Nest store has officially launched on Facebook!  Become a fan today, thank you!

Mom's Birthday Scarf and Apple Pie

My mom's birthday was over labor day weekend and since she didn't want anything and I made a scarf and also an apple which is her favorite.  

I whipped us this crocheted scarf in a few hours and went with the classic burnt orange (Go Horns!) as I know that color with always go well with her.  I found the pattern online somewhere but don't remember where so can't provide a link. The scarf kind of reminds me of some crocheted stuff from the 1970's but my mom was really happy with and really liked the pattern I chose. Now if only we could get some fall weather here in Texas, it was over 100 degrees again today!

I felt since the scarf was really quick and easy that I would also make her a homemade apple pie as a birthday "cake."  I used the apple pie recipe from the classic Better Homes and Garden Cookbook.  I substituted butter for the shortening in the crust and made a little less pie filling then it called for since I was using a smaller pan.  I also added some of Penzy's Apple Pie Spice to the filling, I love that stuff!  To make things a little easier and also because my mom loves apple crumble and peach cobblers, I made a crumb topping (in the same cookbook) instead of the traditional pie crust topping.

A recent tip I read on the Pioneer Woman blog said to roll out your pie dough between two sheets of parchment paper.  This worked extremely well and you don't have the dough sticking to your rolling pin and don't wind up adding extra flour to your dough.

I don't have a picture of the inside of the pie because I gave to my mom went I met her for lunch and never even got to taste it.  She said it was very yummy though!

B's Toddler Room

I put the final pieces together on B's toddler room last weekend.  The challenge now is trying to keep it somewhat clean!

The fabric I used for the quilt, sheet and curtains are from Riley Blake's Wanna Be a Cowboy 2 collection.

My mom made the rocking horse quilt above his bed last October for his cowboy themed birthday party.  The floor cushion was fabric from Joann's and the pattern was from Living with Punks.

The curtains pattern is my own, the sheets I made using advice from a few blogs and the quilt pattern was Stacked Coins Quilt from Moda Bake Shop.  I added a few more coins at each end to make it a little longer.  The Rocking Horse quilt pattern I found online for free and my little sister edited the appliques to give them more definition.   My mom, sister and I worked on picking out the fabric and putting scraps together for the rocking horse quilt.

Riley Blake Fabric

I really love Riley Blake fabrics and there is a blog out there that has bad words in the title that is giving I way a fat quarter of Riley Blake's Indian Summer line. One of the ways to enter is to link to stuff you have made with Riley Blake fabrics.  I have made tons of things but didn't have any on the blog so I posted a few below. 

I made two car rolls so far, one for B and one to sell.  Unfortunately it is really hard to find any of the Wheels collection left, especially the road fabric but I think I have enough in my stash to make a few more.  I thought about doing B's room in this fabric instead of Riley Blake's Wanna Be a Cowboy 2 but the Wheels collection was too difficult to find.

I also made a crayon roll that I don't have a picture of and a rice hot/cold therapy pack below (the long one) that is from the All Star Fabric.  I have a few fat quarters set aside from the All Star 2 Collection that I plan to use to make a crayon roll for B (for my purse) and I really need to get on that so I won't have any more loose crayons in my bag.

Lastly, I made B sheets, a quilt and curtains from the Wanna Be A Cowboy 2 line and will be putting the toddler room together this weekend and should have a post about it up sometime next week.

What should I do?

I got this charm pack today from the Quilt Across Texas line by Moda. Yes, Texas is so great we get our own fabric lines.  Now I am trying to decide which quilt pattern to make, any ideas?

Here is some of the fabric from the line:

Project List

Yay for completed projects!  This past week I finish my Faux Chenille Blanket and the curtains for B's toddler room.  I am waiting till I have his room put together with the new sheets, curtains and quilt and then will post pics.

I also started cutting out the fabric for a floor cushion for B.  I plan to make him two, one for upstairs by his bookcase for reading and one for downstairs by his book wagon for reading.  Yes, my boy LOVES to read.  I am hoping to work on it more tomorrow during naptime.

I also added a crochet scarf for my mom.  Her birthday is Saturday so I am making a super quick scarf (that I started Sunday) in burnt orange just in time for football season.  Hopefully Time Warner Cable will pick up The Longhorn Network by then so we can watch the game!  Here is the rest of the list - hoping to knock more things off soon!

P.S. I hope all 6 of my readers don't mind seeing the list over and over again. Reposting it helps me feel accountable and it also feels nice to cross things off.  I am working on a series of posts regarding quilts so there will be more than project lists on here soon.  Thanks for reading!

Rank	Project	Status	How Many
1	Faux Chenille Blanket	COMPLETE	1
2	Toddler Room Curtains	COMPLETE	1
3	Orange Crochet Scarf	25% Complete	1
4	Floor Cushions	Started	2
5	Kitchen Oven Mitts - Wedding Gift		1
6	Hayley Bedding Quilt		1
7	Christmas Quilt	65% Complete	1
8	Off White Baby Booties	25% Complete	1
9	Crayon Roll for Boys		2
10	White Crochet Baby Blanket	25% Complete	1
11	Pink Eyelash Knit Scarf	Started	1
12	Car Mat Quilt		1
13	White Newborn Knit Hat and Booties	50% Complete	2
14	Cars Fabric Bin		1
15	Animal Cloth Blocks		2
16	Music Fabric Bin		1
17	Swiffer Wet Jet Reusable Pads	3 Complete	6
18	Hooty Hoot Owl Quilt		1
19	Medium Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
20	Car Roll		2
21	Numbers Bean Bags		1
22	Crayon Roll for Girls		2
23	Pink Knit Baby Blanket		1
24	Girl Animal Print Rag Quilt		1
25	Baseball Knit Hat and Booties		2
26	Football Knit Hat and Booties		2
27	Trains Fabric Bin		1
28	T-Shirt Bag		1
29	Kitchen Aid Cover		1
30	Sewing Machine Cover		1
31	Lovey Tag Blankets		2
32	Mini Apron and Oven Mitts Set		1
33	Small Rice Therapy Hot/Cold Bags		3
34	T-shirt Yoga Pants		2
35	Alphabet Bean Bags		1
36	Red Knit Prayer Shawl		1
37	1600 Quilt		1