UFO sighting!

So January is officially UFO month here at Samsara Designs. I'm seriously tempted to join Craftsters FOC swap; I have a couple of days to decide whether I can afford it and in the meantime, I am trying to rein in all my UFO's to get them organised and hopefully finished. I have a nice black corduroy fabric to make the dress with, I cut the pattern pieces out last week and I'm aiming to get it started this weekend. If I don't manage to get any sewing done, I'll at least get the fabric cut (she says hopefully). I wanted a contrast fabric for the decorative bands and stopped at the Fabric Warehouse after school today (I did batik with the students, so it was a fun day) to see what bargains I could get in their sale *Woohoo*. I spotted this gorgeous embroidered black corduroy which I think will go wonderfully, and it only cost me £1. Happy days!

They had a 50p yarn bin too, where I got these three lovelies. Shirdar Fizz I think, unfortunately the bands are missing. I tend to pick up novelty yarns when I see them cheap because they always come in useful for accents and decorative projects.

My Tassel Edged Wrap is coming on well, I've done 10 rows now, believe it or not! I went to my Sis' last night for a mini Stitch 'n' Bitch and got another couple of rows done. Just another 10 rows to go, plus the flower and tasseled edge. It's difficult to see in the photo, but the pink yarn has a lovely shimmery silver thread running through it. I've got a confession to make too. I've well and truly fallen off the yarn wagon and ordered a skein of sari silk yarn, and a skein of self patterning (fair isle) sock yarn! Hee hee. I can't wait to pet it all! It was all on sale on eBay, so I don't feel too bad.

While searching my stash boxes for my black corduroy, I was distracted by this UFO. Ever done any latch hooking? I started this years ago, with the idea of making a cushion cover or something similar. I think the design will be more obvious when the rest of the yarn is added. It's quite a therapeutic project, I learnt to latch hook as a very young crafter and picked it up again a few years ago. I think I got flooded shortly after I started this project and it was packed away for a few years in the disruption after that. The design is my own, just a simple one to play around with, I think the rug mesh was a remnant from a local craft shop that has long since closed down. I don't think it could compete with the huge Hobbycraft store that had just moved into town. I'm not sure what to do about that lower right hand edge, I think one of the furbabies has been playing with it.

This next project is a sort of UFO FO. I made this Kittyville hat ages ago, but it was too big. I decided to line it with some polar fleece, which would hopefully make it fit a little better and also make a super warm hat. I cut a strip of fleece the right length, sewed the narrow end together, and then, turning my hat inside out, pinned it to the head band. To make the inside fit, I tacked around the top of the fleece and gathered it a little so that it was the right size. Then I sewed it to the crown of the hat. It fits like a dream now and is very snugly and toasty.

M has to work tomorrow morning so I get to have a few hours to myself. My plan is to have a go at my hula hoop DVD which I got for Christmas, and then to maybe get my pattern pieces cut out. Sis is having a Spanish booze and salsa night tomorrow night; I haven't decided whether I'll go or not, it depends on how far I get into my sewing. I haven't managed to get my overlocker looked at yet, the one sewing machine repair specialist in my town doesn't do the brand which I have, typical! I'll have to do a bit of ringing about.

Oh yeah, did any of you Brits see Spike crop up in Torchwood the other day? Sis is a big Spike fan, so we exchanged lots of texts that night. He was a little older and a brunette instead of a bottle blond, but still in a military style jacket and kinda hot. I admit it, I have a thing for bad boys! *lol* It was the main topic of conversation in the staff room the next day :-)

By the way, you may have noticed that I've sorted my camera issues out. I bought a new battery (one of those teeny tiny Li-ion jobbies) and it seems to have done the trick. No more nasty lines down my photos. The top of this years wish list is a digital SLR so that I can take some quality photos, but for the moment, I'm glad to be back in optical business!