House of Steph: Stuff to show...

I guess I'm in the middle of a bad week, but I can't help but think it's helping my creative energy. I'm staying up until 4 a.m. (regularly) and sewing and knitting as much as possible! So much that my wrist hurts (tendonitis??) from knitting and I'm trying to give it a rest. So much that I'm not doing regular life-type stuff like laundry or dishes (oh wait... Do I normally do that stuff?) Back when I first started knitting I thought I broke something or tore something in my wrist. Given what I was doing at the time, I figured I hurt it at work because I continued to hurt it at work--again and again and again.... Given the pain now, it must be the knitting. The more I hurt the more my brain is telling me to knit. Physically and mentally.

Good ol' sewing machine makes a timely appearance to stand in for the knitting hiatus... And it's a good thing! Check out this bag! (I'm decidedly not going to be modest about this one. I really like it.)
This pattern is my own hybrid--a modified version of Lotta Jansdotter's easy bag pattern with help from the Japanese quilting book and Amy Butler's Madison Bag pattern lining instructions. I love making these things! I like having them around. I had a plan for this one. Really, I did. I like it too much to give up! As usual. Sometimes I have a hard time letting go when I make bags and stuff from pants or other clothing I've cut apart for scraps. Plus, this bag is a reminder of the pieces I've cut for a new quilt. It's the stuff I got back when I visited mom and dad two times ago... Yep.

Mom got me the awesome Knitpicks interchangeable Addi-esque needle set for the ol' birthday! I promptly made a new case for them. The pink/white one was made last Tuesday night and the red/white one was made tonight. I went all-out on both the bag and the needle case--this time, using interfacing and piping. It made the pieces turn out so much better! I still hate working with interfacing, though.