Less than 24 hours later...

My shelves to store the thrifted sweaters

Yaayy!!  I actually completed it!  I built the shelves, organized the sweaters and even put little bins to organize the scraps.  The only thing left is to label the shelves, but the batteries were dead in the label maker.  It will probably take me a month to get the labels on there...some things never change!

The closet under the stairs in the basement...perfect hiding spot so no one thinks I'm a hoarder!

Out of Control Sweater Overload

I didn't quite realize how many sweaters I have acquired until my niece and I start rummaging through the bags I had tucked in the closets. After washing (fulling) them, I have been just putting them into bags until the perfect project pops into my head. Needless to say, there was a mountain of sweaters on the floor after the quest for her pink sweater. I decided I would build shelves in the closet under the stairs - I mean, really, what else can you do with a weird shaped closet like that?

I went so far as to purchase the materials I needed, took all of the sweaters out and folded and sorted them based on type of yarn. And, that's where the story ends. I was looking at a fashion magazine that suggested capes are hot right now. Ding, ding, ding! The little epiphany bell was going off in my head, and I started to embark on another project. That's the love/hate relationship I have with my ADHD. It feeds my creativity, but certainly impairs my organizational skills!

Heather's Handbag

My niece visited last weekend and asked me to make her a bag.  She liked my iPad bag, but needs something bigger as she has three little ones and is always hauling around extra diapers, snacks, baby wipes, etc.  Her favorite color is pink, so she selected a hot pink wool sweater (it was a Forenza from the 80's, anyone remember those?).  She also liked this gray cableknit.  It was pretty loose and stretchy, as it was a blend, so the bag doesn't have the same stiff structure that my bag has.  I even had to sew in some pieces of leather inside in order to add support.  She also wanted a zipper on top rather than a flap, so I purchased a heavy duty jacket style zipper.  That way it completely zips apart so she can even overstuff it with the kids' clothes, diapers, etc, since the fabric will stretch somewhat.  I had some gray angora scraps, so I felted those into the already existing sweater pocket for a monogram.  We'll see what she thinks!