Colour Me Happy

Yesterday I received confirmation of something I’ve been suspecting for a long time. We’re going to time warp here a bit first…

When I was a teenager, I used to figure skate. That was actually the reason I learned to knit. I wanted one of those beautiful fair isle sweaters in the worst way. Skating is a VERY expensive sport, so there really wasn’t a whole lot of money left over to purchase such things. So I made my own. That’s not really where I’m going with this, but it is important too.

I have ALWAYS loved bright, vibrant colours. When I was on the ice, I think I had some of the loudest tights and skate covers out there. I had one pair that was black with fluorescent pink, green, purple and white. Another pair was bright pink with black. Sometimes I wore novelty boxer shorts over top of them (which I know drove one of the coaches crazy LOL). Many times I wore baseball caps. I sure did express myself!

If you’ve been looking at some of the pictures on my blog recently, you may have noticed that the colours are getting brighter as time goes on. Yesterday I was talking with somebody that came into my life as I was starting to rebuild it four years ago after I left that abusive relationship. She commented that when we first connected, I was using mostly solid, muted colours. She has noticed that as time has gone on, as things are falling into place in my life, the colours I’ve been using have been bright, vibrant and happy. When she pointed this out, I had a very hard time not welling up. Reflecting back, she was so very right. What does this mean?

Kyla is BACK.

There was a period of time before my son was born that I was living in darkness. When he came into my life, the light slowly started shining once again. After we left the bad place, it got a little brighter. As I’ve been rebuilding and exploring new paths, it’s been shining even more brilliantly. After hearing somebody else observe this in me, it just makes me so happy. You see, not so long ago I would often beat myself up because I feel that I let that little skater down. Aside from my son who is my world, one of the reasons I’ve been working so hard is to make it up to her. I know now that she would be very pleased. She would love the colours that I’m working with now. She would have worked with them too!

This bag is the latest pattern test I’ve worked on. It is the XL Tote Bag by SoulCandy Crochet. I really like her writing style. I started this bag with the intention of selling it. Now I’m not so sure!

You can purchase the pattern here. You can save 20% if you purchase by noon CST 5/8/2013.

One Less UFO Floating Around

Now that I have my sewing machine set up, I can complete some of my UFO’s. I finished the shell of this bag about 6 months ago. I finally had the time to line it today. I’m going to pat myself on the back for this one. I’m quite fond of it!

I’m on a roll. Time to get back at it!

Getting My Sewjo Back

Today felt so good!

After I dropped my Sweet Pea off at school, it was time to dive head first into my fabric stash. It was a little overwhelming to be honest. I had a project in mind, but I wasn’t quite sure where to start.

I decided to start with some silk screening. I hadn’t screen printed anything since I was in school, so needless to say, I was a little rusty. So much so that I put the stencil inside the screen rather than underneath it. Round one was a miserable fail obviously. Then it all started come back to me. Round two was perfect! I will share my work someday soon. It’s a gift for somebody. I don’t know if they read my blog, but I do know that they will see my blog post on Facebook.

I had started another bag from a pair of jeans. I have put that one on hold because I’m not quite sure how I want to close it. Button, magnetic closure or just have it flap over. Decisions, decisions…

Then I decided I needed to have some fun. I dove into my stash and brought out some purple fabric. I believe this is going to be a tote bag. That is the initial intention, but it may change if the fabric asks to be something else. Whatever I end up doing, I already know I’m going to have a hard time parting with it because it’s purple!

The making of a bag?

Tomorrow is a busy day. I’m doing my cleaning job and then I’m off to my spinning meeting. I’m so excited about that! I probably won’t get any sewing done, but such is life. I know I’ll be crocheting!