Sew Geeky - how to make a dice bag

This next project is a perfect gift for the game geek you love, or make it for yourself! 

Nothing says "Shiny!" like your own personalized dice bag, & it is oh sew simple to make.

The pattern is for a simple fabric drawstring bag, which can hold many little treasures, not *just* dice, for you non-gamers out there.

*Click on the pattern images to enlarge*

 

 Personalize your bag with an awesome pic, quote, or meme! When using printable iron-on-transfers, don't forget to reverse your image prior to printing, so the writing doesn't come out backwards.

This pattern is copyright Vanessa Carter 2013
www.knit-fish.blogspot.com

Terms & Conditions:
You are welcome to use this pattern to sew items for yourself, for charity, and for gifts. You
may not distribute this pattern for free or for sale. 

Happy Crafting!

How to plan a crafternoon

This little project has been hanging out for a very long time, but I never blogged about it. I think this might have been my first 3D felt project! I made it at a needle felting craft night with the girls. My talented friend, Robin, knew all about needle felting, and had an inspiring book with lots of projects in it. She hosted a craft night and taught us all the basics of needle felting, and we each went home with our own adorable little felt item(s).

If you've never had a craft night, or crafternoon, here's how I do it:

1. MAKE A LIST of people who you love to spend time with, who are also crafty.

2. CHOOSE A CRAFT PROJECT or make it a bring your own project event. Keep in mind that while some people love the organization of a one type of project for all event, where one person directs or teaches and everyone else makes the same or similar items, some people like to do their own thing, and feel restricted by this. Another option is to have a variety of craft supplies available for people who want to just follow their own creative flow. It is always a good idea to take a vote on project types if you choose to do one type of project for everyone.

Here are some crafty ideas:
Needle felted animals
Sewn felt food
Terrariums!
 And a whole bunch of crafty projects
 More ideas include making papercraft gift cards, hand stamped gift cards, hand painted nesting dolls, small decoupaged items, small watercolour paintings, small sewn felt or fleece projects, small knitted or crocheted projects, decorated magnets, or scrapbook pages.

Pick a Project for Success!
The key is to choose a craft that will fit your time frame, and everyones skill level. Unless you've got a group of expert level crafters, you want to keep it fairly simple. For example, don't choose a knitting project, if some of your guests can't knit, unless you are having a crafternoon specifically to learn the basics of knitting.
If you are doing a tutorial, keep it brief, so people can get to the fun part: crafting!
Keep in mind that people craft at different speeds, and you don't really want your guests to go home with incomplete projects. So when in doubt, choose something small, then if there is time left over, your guests can make several items.

3. SEND OUT INVITES by mail, email or make a facebook event: be sure to include these elements...

When?
You may choose to select several dates and have your friends vote on which works best for them. Otherwise, weekends afternoons often work well, or evenings on weekdays. Choose a time that works best and allow around 3-4 hours for the event to take place, depending on the craft you choose. Keep in mind that you will need to factor in arrival times, time to eat and chat, time to plan out projects, time for a tutorial (if some people haven't done the particular craft before), and time to craft! I would allow for about 1 - 1.5 hours for everything up to the tutorial and crafting.

Where?
It could be your home, ask for a volunteer to host if you can't, or take it to a local cafe or public space (imagine a picnic in the park crafternoon!)

What to bring?
I often make my crafternoons potluck, and ask everyone to bring a dish to share. I usually provide tea, and other beverages. I also either ask for each person to bring $5 to cover the cost of craft supplies, if I am picking up supplies, or to bring their own craft supplies. Make sure you have extras of tools that everyone will need such as scissors, glue, sewing needles, pins, etc. Or you can ask that people bring their own.

4. HAVE FUN! Remember, the aim is just to have fun crafting with friends. Don't put too much pressure on for everything to be perfect, and just enjoy the time :-)

I felt like a hummingbird...

The world of needle felting is something that I picked up during my time working at my LYS (that's Local Yarn Shop for the uninitiated). It began with a little pin,   which I blogged about here. Now I have moved on to more complex three dimensional shapes.... which you are all dying to see... so here you go!

This little hummingbird was made for my mom for her birthday.
I began with an ovoid body shape (made of the blue roving), and began to add the head shape through strategic needle work. Eventually I added the belly colour, and shaped the tail. Finally I worked on the wings separately , folding sections of roving into rough triangle shapes and working them from there into wings, then attached them to the main body, again, with the needle.

I think my experience working with clay really helped me out with this, because I am used to creating three dimensional shapes. It was just a matter of changing the medium and getting used to the technique of the felting needle. I use single needles to make my creations, in sizes 26, 28, and I think 30 or 31.

The first hummingbird was made from  Fleece Artist 100% Merino Sliver in the Mermaid colourway (for the head, back, wings, and tail), and 100% Merino Sliver in what I *think* is the Blomidon colourway  (for the belly). The beak is made from another part of the Mermaid colourway.

The second little hummingbird was made on commission for a friend. It is made of gorgeous  Fleece Artist Merino Silk Sliver in the Aurora colourway (for the head, back, wings, and tail), and 100% Merino Sliver in what I *think* is the Blomidon colourway  (for the belly). The beak is made from some left over dark purple roving I had lying around. The eyes of both birds are made from little blue glass beads, sewn in after I needle felted little holes for them to go into.

If you enjoyed this post about needle felted hummingbirds, check back later as I will be posting more of my creations soon. I am also planning to do a tutorial post, at some point, where I will go through the process step-by-step.

May in pictures

Wow! It's been a long time since I posted! I have been battling with my RS injury, so knitting has been out. I have been so busy that not much crafting has happened... but I've been taking some nice photos with my new Canon DSLR camera! Here is a little photo recap of May.

something artsy....

Wow! The fall just flew by and now it is winter here in Canada! I am kind of wondering what happened to November, because December is here and I just don't feel ready for it yet! I have no Christmas shopping done, nor do I have decorations up! i did make some pretty tasty mandarin orange marmalade with my mom yesterday, which felt pretty Christmasy.

Anyways, I haven't posted anything artistic on here lately, so here are some little art tidbits to tide you over~

The little raccoon is a watercolour card that I made for a friend, when she was going away to school. We worked together over the summer and sometimes dealt with baby raccoons and other wonderful wildlife.




The next one is a little pen and ink sketch. I like tofu, especially the custard flavoured dessert tofu, but I always get flack for it when people catch me eating it. I get a response like, "Eeeewww... that's disgusting!"
Well Mr. Tofu has something to say to you!



Enjoy December and just try some dessert tofu, would ya!?

dog day

Olive was pretty impressed by Jasper the dog's blog by a dog and she decided that she wanted to do a guest post on Knit Fish:

"Today mum and I went out into the world! We went to a place called Mount Doug.





I saw that a mountain is a thing what is full of nature and goes up and more up! I don't know who is doug, but he has BIG mountain!



At the top we could see the WHOLE WORLD I think!




I was so happy to see the world. It is bigger than I thought.



That is me beside the world. There is railing so we dont fall off doug's mountain and onto the world.



Sometimes on mountains there are sticks. This is very good stick!




This stick is good to chew. It has nice mountain smells.



I'm bring it, okay?



Leaving already? Lets see more world soon!"

more pretty fall pics

Fall imagery

Still no knitting... sorry, but my wrist is still battling with tendonitis or carpal tunnel or whatever you call it when your wrist gets all sore easily. But I have been playing with my new Canon Rebel DSLR camera and capturing some fall imagery.



Here on the West coast, we are enjoying some gorgeous fall weather. Warm sunshine, with just that little bit of crispness in the air.



The little puppy has grown into a big puppy, but we think she's still pretty cute ;-)



Hope you are all enjoying the loveliness that is fall!

one more baby saved!

The SPCA paws for a cause fundraiser is coming up soon! This event is a major source of funds for the BCSPCA Wild Ark rescue, which helps rehabilitate cuties like this who have lost their moms as well as injured wildlife here on Vancouver Island.
The event is happening in 36 locations across British Columbia and supports the BCSPCA and its affiliates. Think about donating, or get some sponsors and be a part of the walk for a cause!

You asked for it!

Back by popular demand! The Wild Ark animal pics!



The other night we had a veritable zoo in the isolation room! This tubby little seal was amongst the overnight visitors. We love his fat little chin rolls. He was sleeping with his face up against the corner of the kennel he was in, so you can't see his eyes. The craziest thing was that he smelled exactly like the ocean: all fishy!



I don't want to spoil you with too many pics at once, so more to come another time :-) You can check out the SPCA Wild Ark website at www.wildark.com to learn more!!

homemade is always better.... and not just knitting...

I love homemade pizza. I love it so much that I prefer it to take-out pizza any day! I've spent almost a decade perfecting my homemade pizza recipe and it is pretty awesome if I do say so myself! (and I do)
So I thought that some of you would perhaps like to try out my recipe for pizza success! NOTE: I use my breadmaker for the dough. If you don't have a breadmaker, you may want to try another recipe. OR you could try this one made by hand... I've never done it, so I can't vouch for it. You will want to check out other recipes for the basic dough making instructions. It takes the breadmaker 2 hours to prepare the dough, and it has a double rise. If making by hand, always *proof* the yeast for 5 minutes in warm water prior to adding to the dough, it should become nice and bubbly. If not, you need new yeast.


Nessa's Delicious Pizza Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
1. 1 1/2 cups beer (I prefer a nice amber or brown ale for a fuller flavour, but lager works too)
2. 1 1/2 tsp salt
3. 1 tbsp sugar
4. 2 tbsp olive oil margarine (or regular marg, but NOT oil)
5. 4 1/4 cups white flour (Health foodies won't like this, but after years of experimenting with both white and whole wheat crusts, we prefer white flour. It gives a lighter, fluffier crust than whole wheat)
6. 2 tsp yeast
7. A sprinking (maybe 1/2 tsp? herbes des provence)

Put all ingredients, in order of listing, into breadmaker. Choose dough setting and hit start. Remove dough after 2 hours (when dough is finished) and cut into three peices (We make 3 8.5"X8.5" pizzas with 6 slices each, you can also probably get two med-lrg pizzas out of this). Roll pieces into balls and cover with a light coating of olive oil. To do this, I put a bit of oil into the palm of my hand and rub it over my palms. I then rub the dough ball with my hands to lightly coat it. Place the dough into a large bowl and cover with a tea towel. Take the first dough ball and roll out thin (~1/2 cm) cover pan with 1 1/2 cm over hang of dough. Roll dough back onto itself to create a puffed up edge. You can also fill this with thin strips of cheese for a stuffed crust! YUM! Repeat the rolling process for all three.

Nice amber or brown ales add a full bodied flavour to the dough. Enjoy the rest of the bottle with dinner!

TOPPING:
Pizza sauce, I use spaghetti sauce for this, amount is dictated by preference really. I use about 1/4 large can of Hunt's four cheese tomato sauce. You can use whatever sauce you love. Layer bottom of pie with sauce, then a layer of chopped up fresh basil leaves. Top with whatever you like! For the top pizza, I did brown mushrooms, followed by some mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and yellow peppers, and a sprinkling of white Aged Canadian cheddar for extra flavour. The top was lightly sprinkled in Herbes des Provence before baking. I like to let my pizza sit for 15-20 minutes before baking them to get a nice fluffy crust. If you prefer a thinner crust, bake immediately after topping. Bake for ~25 mins in a 350 degree oven, broil two minutes until your cheese has nice golden flecks. Let cool for about 10 minutes before slicing.

OTHER AWESOME TOPPINGS:
- diced onions on the sauce layer
- portabella mushrooms
- broccoli tops cut small
- veggie ground round (seriously, sooo good!)
- pepperoni (Jeff's fave, always put on top with a tiny sprinkle of cheese to get crispy pepperoni)
- olives
- sundried tomatoes
- feta cheese
- spinach (cut into small pieces and placed apart from each other)
- salami (see pepperoni instructions)
- all kinds of peppers (put them in the top layer, under a sprinkle of cheese to prevent soggy dough)
- artichoke hearts (under layer one of cheese)
- anything else you love!


Veggie ground round is delicious under a sharp white cheddar topping.

wild ark

another reason why I love my job...



The vet hospital that I work at is a drop off point for Wild Ark, an SPCA affiliated wildlife rescue foundation. So, we often get cute injured or orphaned wild life brought here until the lovely people at Wild Ark can pick them up. Here is a cutie that was brought in today. At first he was a bit sick looking, but perked up by the time Wild Ark got him. This little bird will be cared for until he is healthy enough to be released back into the environment.

Today is the first day I remembered to bring my camera, I will try to do it more often, because many photo opp's have been missed! We've had baby racoons, baby deer, ducklings, a baby heron, baby squirrels and injured seagulls to name a few...

Don't you love Olives?

So for all of you who are a bit worried that this blog will turn into an "aren't my pets so precious??" type of blog... don't fear. I just haven't had much blog material lately, since the carpal tunnel in my hand keeps me from knitting and I have had my hands pretty full with the puppy, so drawing has fallen by the wayside. I will update with more art later, when I get time to make more art. The end of the art hiatus is in site...Olive is getting bigger, more well behaved and generally calmer. Tomorrow is her 2 week anniversary with us, or perhaps her 10 week birthday (we only have a guess as to which day she was born...) We are thinking she might have been born on, or very near, our anniversary, April 6th! This is kind of weird, because our cat, Roo, was also born on or near our anniversary. Completely unintentionally of course :-)



Anyways, I can't believe how much she has grown! When we got her she was so little that she could walk under the coffee table with ease; now she is about head level to the top of it, so she can check out what's on top with ease (note to self: do not leave knitting on the coffee table). Last week when I took her to the vet, she weighed 10 lbs, when we got her at 8 weeks, she was 6 lbs. I know she weighs more now... I wonder if it is four more pounds again? This week she has gained heel, leave-it, let-go, off, gentle and stay to her repertoire of skills. I think she is doing fabulously well, especially considering she is a puppy!




One of her favourite things is getting scratches all over. I love her fur! Her head fur is so soft and silky and her body fur is scrunchy and wooly. It is like sinking your fingers into a recently shorn lambs wool: so satisfying. You knitters out there will understand what I mean ;-)
She's lovely.

money can't buy me love?

Sorry John, you forgot about this...



This is Olive. She is our new 8 week old loveable mutt baby.
After almost a month of waiting and wading through the slow adoption process, not to mention about a years worth of pining for doggy love, we have finally welcomed a new puppy into our lives.



We got her through Rest Haven Rescue in Victoria BC. For those of you who are looking for a new bundle of love, she has about 8 brothers and sisters (some of whom are gone now, but I'm sure some are still available). The process is a bit involved, requiring an adoption application with previous pet history, a home visit to assess suitability and a good match, meeting the dog, then filling out the adoption agreement and payment and finally you can take home your bundle of furry love. Although the process can seem tedious, it shows that the wonderful people at Rest Haven really care about the animals they save and want to make sure they are going to the best forever home possible.




Olive is a love bug! She tries really hard to be a good puppy and we've already taught her to come, sit, and lets go (heel). She loves to chew but is learning which toys are acceptable and which are not (to her credit, she's only been with us for 2 days!!). She also has learned to have no separation anxiety. I am using Jan Fennell's book, The dog listener + 30 day guidewhich is amazingly simple, gentle and effective.

And just so Roo doesn't get jealous, yes, we love you too roo!