Thwarted at Every Turn!

So, in my last post I had a sore thumb, and although I couldn't spin or knit, I figured I could set up my old faithful sewing machine and run a few lines with her.

I've had a couple of knitting project bag designs swirling around in my head for a few months. Given my thumb injury, I used the knitting/spinning downtime to get my designs on paper.  Following an hour or so of sketching, cutting, taping, and re-designing, I was ready to put fabric to the metal!

But what was this?  My automatic needle threader was on the fritz!  Darn!  I hate having to manually thread the teensy eensy tiny little needle.  Since I'm blind as a bat, I had to remove the needle, thread it, and then re-insert it!  Painful.

Nevertheless, I churned out two project bag prototypes.  One was carefully filed under SC, and the other required some further tweaking.  Armed with my amended pattern and gorgeous fabric, I was ready to sew some bags for my badly neglected and stockless Etsy Shop!

La, la, laaah.  La, la ... SNAP....!  Oh for pete's sake what now?  In my right hand I was holding my reverse stitching lever!!!!!!  Argh!  It had snapped off high up in the belly of my sewing machine.  Why are the Gods against me?

I made a few calls and finally tracked down the only Singer Repair and Service Centre in London.  Of course they are located on the other side of the city and their hours clash with my working hours.  I did speak to a sales clerk though, and following that conversation, I knew what I had to do...

OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW!

The parts, labour and service was going to cost half of what a new machine was worth!  Plus I had to get the machine over to the Service Centre and then pick it up again!

I googled sewing machine sales in the London area, and found a store in Arva - North End Sewing Centre.  Seems it was my lucky day.  They had a Bernina Bernette 92c shop demo model for sale at 45% OFF!  This machine does more than I really need, but because of the sale, it was the same price as a lower end Bernina.  So, I took it for a test drive...

Key Features
- Adjustable and Second Spool Holder
- Free arm and Full Length Stitch Plate
- LCD display
- Quick Reference Guide with Graphics
- Improved Hook System
- Automatic Buttonholes
- Two Thread Cutters
- Optimum Sewing Light
- Automatic Needle Threader
- Reverse Sewing Button
- 150 Stitches including alphabets

My purse was shaking, my credit card coughed and gurgled as I handed it over to the sales clerk.

As my shiney new Bernina was lovingly wrapped and put in its box, I couldn't help but whimper with the thought of NOT getting that lovely new spinning wheel for Christmas afterall...

I've Got an Oweeeeeeee!

Silly girl....what was I thinking?  Well, obviously I wasn't too smart!!  Yes, I should have known better - blah, blah, blah..... [sob, sob]

-----enough of the scolding------

My thumb hurts :-(  And the cold makes it hurt more.  And I've got things to do.  And I don't have time to have an achey thumb!  And I need a cuddle [sniffle, sniffle]....or chocolate at least!

-----enough of the pity party------

As you all know by now, I'm cranking out the knitting projects at a furious rate.  Christmas is only ONE MONTH AWAY [gasp].  My knitting motorway has been quite smooth despite the congestion and occasional bit of knit road rage.  Yes, there was the odd little bump in the road, a little detour and backtracking here and there, but all in all the road was clear.

Until the slick conditions yesterday!

I thought I'd enjoy a knitting layover, and pick up the hand-spinning instead.  Afterall, I needed some handspun for my next project - Turn a Square by Jared Flood.

-----bit of background info-----

When I was at Little Red Mitten earlier this month, I picked up some wonderful Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Merino Roving (4oz).  The colourways are gorgeous - hot pink, black, gray, burgundy, smoke and mauve.

And when I was at the Woodstock Fleece Festival last month, I picked up two skeins of fabulous 100% Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Wool (3ply aran weight) in the black and the gray colourways.

So, yesterday I dug out my lovely little Jenkins Turkish Spindle, and spun and spun.  I reckon I spun almost half of the roving, and enjoyed myself on and off for probably 5 hours.  Truth be known, I couldn't put the darn spinning down!

And now I have a big oweeeeeeee!  My spinning thumb is so cramped up and so achey, I just wanna cut it off [boo hoo].  See beginning of post....silly girl.....  As I lay in bed this morning, lamenting my poor sore thumb, there was a moment of weakness when I fleetingly considered using my other hand for spinning! [smack, smack]!  See beginning of post....silly girl....

So now here I sit, unable to spin, unable to knit, barely able to type!  But all is not lost cos I can still use my sewing machine!!  And that's just what I'm gonna do!

Etsy Shop

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, and so without further ado, my Etsy presence:

OzB's Corner

I only just opened the store today, so there's very little available - just a few zippered project bags and a couple of project grab bags. I hope to get some knitting in there too, but that'll have to wait until later in the year when I have some spare [ha, ha, ha, ha, ha] time.

I already have a load of lovely fabrics, linings, zippers and zip pulls. My sewing machine needs a good service, and I think I might get that done later this month. Once October hits and the [ahem....I'm sorry to say} snow starts flying [according to the weatherman], I'll have time to sew and knit!

Oh mercy! Does life get any getter than this!

Bagmania

I've been bit by a bug! The bag bug. I've been sewing little project bags and needle bags, and they are such fun.

I've been knitting too - got some new socks on the needles. So, of course, I had to sew a project bag for them [laughing]. Then I needed a project bag for my Jewel Lacy Top. And then I needed a ONE big knitting needle case cos I was sick of searching endlessly through all my little make-shift needle cases.

Then my friend, Roxanne, jumped on the wagon, and asked for a bag for her tapestry threads. She loved it so much she asked me to make her a knitting needle case too.

So, here's the results of my labour:

Project Bag 3

Project Bag 4

Tapestry Yarn Bag

Knitting Needle Case 1

Knitting Needle Case 2

I'm quite the pro now. Maybe I should go into business?? If only I didn't already own one [laughing].

Yesterday we held our end of season staff break-up party. We had a fabulous bbq, and a great night! I baked dessert. What do you think I made? Yup, my signature pavlova:

That's it; that's all :-)