Tools of the Trade, Part 1

I'm Drea. I'm Meg. I'm Tina. And I'm Jess. And this is Pardon My Stash. Hey there ho there friends. Welcome to Pardon My Stash, a podcast about knitting within the Fabri arts and how awesome it is. Woo! Thank you. No problem. Before we get into today's topic, what are we working on? Tina? I started another Southwood sweater for my younger daughter. I was going to work on that, but I reminded myself that I've been putting off frogging my tea cozy make

along. I don't have to frog it all the way. I just have to frog the body because I forgot the whole part of like making holes for like the spout and stuff. Very good. So like, yeah, so it's okay though, because I really, really like the pattern and it goes super fast. So I'm okay with frogging this. Did you do the thing that I do where, you know, you read through the pattern and you're like, I got this. Yes. Nice. And then I got to the section after the first section and I went,

oh, I was supposed to go back and forth on one side. I went all the way around. Okay. I love it when that happens. Yep. Who needs to read the full pattern anyway? Can I share a funny story? Absolutely. So years and years ago when I got my MA, I wanted to make my graduation dress because I had a very specific idea in mind of what I wanted to wear. And I can't sew. I'm really bad at it. Jess was like, I'll help you. So I've got the pattern pieces all cut out because I can do

that. And I lay it, she's laughing because she knows exactly what I'm going to say. And I thought of this when you said you didn't do the holes and I lay the pattern pieces out and I'm like, okay, so you're going to, we're going to sew them together like this. And she's like, well, you forgot the arm holes. And I'm like, yeah, but I have no sleeves. So I don't need them. And she's like, well, you need to put your arms somewhere. And I was like, oh yeah, that's a thing. Right. I just

want to just wear a sack. I just want to reiterate that I was making this dress because I had earned an advanced degree. Oh yeah. I just want to say that. Very good. Very good. Everyone's got their strengths. You're an intellectual. I'm an intellectual who forgot that I don't, I meant to do this. I'm an intellectual who forgot I needed arm holes. I need to put my arms somewhere. But when you said you're like, oh, I forgot, I forgot the hole for the spout and the handle. I'm like, oh, I have also

done that. Yes, I have. The good thing is I had Jess right there to be like, where are you going to put your arms? Genius. I know it's sleeveless. The arms have to go somewhere. There are still kind of sleeves. So my pattern is tea in the tropics, tea cozy, and I am using less traveled yarn and amber and critical hit dyes in bless. Nice. Both in DK. What are your leaves going to be? Melon ball. Melon ball. I got you. From critical hit dyes. Meg, what you got? So I finally started

my tea cozy make along item. It is called lovely stripes by Leah Michelle designs. I've knit this before. I actually knit this pattern as a shawl for Jess for her birthday. I don't, I think it was two years ago. It was either two years ago or last year. I can't even remember at this point how long ago it was. But this time I'm knitting a little bit of a this time I'm knitting it out of a single colorway instead of two. I wanted something a little more

subtle. And I'm knitting it in critical hit dyes, barred in the discontinued colorway, sapphire dragon. Yeah, it's fun. I really, I've, I've talked about Leah Michelle designs before. I've done one test knit for her. I've knit at least three of her patterns. I love her stuff. It's super readable, super easy to follow. And they always come out looking really nice. So I really like her stuff. I should also preface that tea in the tropics tea cozy pattern is very well

written. I am a poor reader. That is the reason why this happened. I just want it because I heard you said that about the pattern. My pattern's fine. It's, it's the problem is me. Well, we knew that too. Jess, what you working on? I'm making a Phoenix as you do. All right. Um, I mean, I'm still working on the tea cozy, but I didn't like the way the flowers are done. So I'm going to come in and do that a different way. So until then I'm making a Phoenix. You could just put the

Phoenix on top of the tea. I could, and it could be making the tea. That may happen. And then I don't have to make flowers and then it all goes together. And then I have a fantasy tea cozy. That sounds fantastic. Do that. That does sound, you don't remember patterns or suggestions, you know, the pattern for this I'm using it's, um, I'm pretty sure it is just called Phoenix, but it's by crafty intentions or Megan lap. Uh, either one. I do a lot of, like I did a lot of

her dragons. Um, if you're into like making, like doing crochet creatures and whatnot, she's got a great fantasy line. So, um, she's also does really cute fish, which I also got the pattern for, and you buy like five patterns. I got three because there was a sale. So I got fish and I got the Phoenix and I forgot what the last one was, but it was something that I was like, Oh yeah, I need it. Um, Oh, it was a bird. It was a songbird. Um, I am plugging away on this, uh, a chemishaw by

Isabelle Kramer. I'm using faded jeans and, uh, silver moon fiber arts fingering waves. Lovely. It's looks like faded jeans. And I finally finished the, uh, lace section. Hey, sweet. So it's just, thank you. Thank you. I'm proud of myself. No, it's a, it's a big shawl. Yes, it is a little bit big, but I think the person that I'm going to be giving this to will appreciate the extra, um, width to it. So I think it was a good choice. Good. Nobody's ever complained about

a big shawl. No, a small shawl is awkward, but a big shawl is, is fine. There's so much that you can do with a, with a larger shawl. So right. Exactly. So many different styling options. Be sure to check out our website, part of my stash.com for more information, as well as pictures regarding our current projects, patterns and yarns. So for this week's topic, um, a couple of weeks

ago, we put out a little poll on our Instagram to find out what you guys wanted us to talk about. And, um, we had a lot of feedback about, uh, revisiting notions, notions, bags, needles. So I feel like we're it's, it's been some time and I think that it's time to do a little bit more of a deep dive into, um, not only what you should have in your bag, but the brands we recommend. Yeah. I feel like, um, our, our older episode right now, there's probably some outdated references

in there at the, at this point. Yeah. Um, I know the bags I recommended, she's no longer in business. Pour one out. I know. I'm so sad I only ever got one. Well, I wouldn't say like, outdated so much as, um, well, some of it's outdated, but our preferences have changed and we found new things along the way. New stuff. So what do we got? What do we got right now? Where do you want to start? I'm sorry, bags. Yeah, we can start with bags. Um, so since your bag is

out of, out of the picture, what do you, what are you using now? So I used to use paisley and gold. They are no longer in business. Um, yeah, I miss I missed out on getting one of those. You know what? Honestly, you could probably buy one for me because I bought way too many. I know you did. I really did. And I'm trying not to have 15 whips at a time. So yeah, I have, I have a lot of like the same size.

So I, you know, I don't mind selling one off. Um, but yeah, um, they are out of business now. Um, they made beautiful leather or it wasn't leather, it was vegan leather. Um, just impeccable, like, uh, craftsmanship, just really well done. Um, so because they are out of business, I have joined the stitched by Jessalou team. Yes. Um, I mean, like it, it's just so reasonable. The, one of the

good things about stitched by Jessalou is that she does custom orders. So say you like a fab, a specific fabric, you can ask her if she still has some of the fabric to make bigger or smaller bags, which I really like. Um, she had this, uh, D and D fabric, um, that I really liked, but I, I wanted it in a giant bag size for like sweaters and, uh, she made it super fast. It got to me, probably, I don't know, I don't remember it taking longer than like maybe a week and a half,

like when I ordered it and I ordered from a show, it was the new England fiber fest. I ordered from her. Um, and, uh, it's very high quality. I haven't had any tears, holes, zippers, been fine. I want to say I own about five or six of her bags now.

And you know what the other thing I like about her bags that I hear sometimes people, um, at least maybe she's made a reel or something about people complaining about it is that it doesn't have an inner pocket because for me, the, the inner pocket, like the smaller little pocket, um, because for me, I find in my, um, uh, paisley and gold bags, those, that little pocket will

catch my needles sometimes and pull my stitches off. So I like the fact that there's nothing because you know what, if I want, um, something small in there, like a pattern or something like that, I find that, um, I can either fold it and put it in and it's fine. Or if I need to put an accessory, I put a smaller bag in it. Yeah, that's what I do. Things get lost in your pockets. Yeah. I keep my notion bag in my, in my current knitting bag or my project bag. And I find that to be fine.

Um, but if I have too many pockets, then what's in them? No, there's a pocket. I will fill it. Yeah. And I don't want to find things to fill the pockets with. But yeah, I also like that there's no pockets on the inside. Yeah. It's, it's just straightforward and, um, she has them lined too. So they have a, they usually have a different lining on the inside. Um, yeah. And I really, I look like I have nothing ill to say about those bags. Like they're just really high quality, good,

affordable, reasonable bags, like for all your projects. Also, I have like the, oh, and they're machine washable because I had to, I had to wash my sweater one because it was like a hot mess. Right. I threw that thing all over the place. Um, I would put it on the floor. Like I was really bad with it actually. And, um, when I took my sweater out of it, um, so just for everybody's note, my Engel sweater did go to one of my followers. Um, and she, she did try it on and it fit her

perfectly. So I'm very happy that it went to somebody that's going to actually be able to wear the sweater properly. Um, so when I took that out, I was like, oh, wow, this bag, like the bottom of it was just like so dirty. And I was like, okay, maybe I'll do like a gentle cycle or something like that. And then I forgot about saying that to myself. And then I put it on a normal cycle and it was fine. Everything was fine. Yeah. But that says a lot about the craftsmanship

and the quality that you can just toss it in the wash if you need to. I do, I do use cold though, just so everybody knows, like I don't, I don't ever, hardly ever put it on a hot. So I don't know how it would do in heat. Um, but it, uh, or at least hot water, but I can tell you, uh, at least for a cold wash, it's fine. So, and it was fine in the dryer too. So I just grabbed one from, um, uh, one of our local yarn stores, stars hollow. Um, Oh, their bags are nice. It's have a couple of

beautiful, uh, Jessalou bags, but they're all small. They're all accessory bags. I, I haven't gotten a sweater size one yet. And the sweater I'm working on was getting too big for my little bags. So I bought one. Um, they're not available on the website right now, but, um, stars hollow is also on vacation from now until, uh, August 1st. So they may be getting more of them in stock. I know they said that they were running out, um, but it's beautiful. It's an eco-friendly canvas.

Um, it has their, their logo on it, but it is big enough for a good size sweater. So I really like it. And it has a couple of pockets, which is nice. Nice. Jess, what do you got for bags? Diaper bags. Very good. They're waterproof. Stick into the old episodes. Diaper bags. I still use a couple. I do too. I mean, I have a couple like, well, like, um, I think I got one from, um, a hundred Ravens,

but I don't think she actually makes them. I don't know who made them, but it was super cute. So I have that, um, and that one's just a small basic drawstring, um, and it's a little bit of a drawstring. Um, and then I only had, like I said, I've got like three diaper bags. I have like a couple nicer ones that I kind of got random. We're talking about wet bags. Yeah. Well, like when you say diaper bags, sometimes people think of like the actual bag. Like, no, it's not the hard

coordinator. Like the wet bags you keep, you keep diapers in until you can toss them. Um, um, yeah, for, or for we, we did not use these ones as diaper bags. Um, I got the idea using an old diaper bag that I washed and then I'm like, and I remember something spilling in my bag and the project was fine. And I was like, Oh, perfect. Well, this is a bonus I hadn't considered. It's great if you have cats or kids that knock stuff over. Yup. And they have a good front zippered

pocket to put your notions in. Are they waterproof? They are absolutely. Yeah. So like you could go in the pool. Yes, probably. Ooh, that's a good idea. You, you probably could. I mean, if you put not, I'm not saying dunk it in the pool, but if you put it on like a float and it falls in,

Oh no, if it got splashed, no problem. I mean, I don't know if I would like immerse it, but, yeah, I mean, if you don't close the zipper all the way, but if you were like, yeah, if it, if you had it on like a floaty or something and you got splashed, nothing is going to happen to it. That's that, that's really the biggest benefit to the, and they're cheap. Yeah. You can get like a three pack for like 15 bucks, 20 bucks at most. Not bad. Yeah. And you can get bigger ones and

smaller ones. So I mean, in a pinch, those are great. Um, and then I have a couple of like the smaller notions bags that again, I got at random, like stalls at Reinbeck. I don't even remember. Well, one was a gift and then I have my eight big gamer one, which is super cute. And the eight big gamer one stores all my extra needles and then the other one stores everything else. And I just have

to remember to swap them out between bags. I think that's the hardest thing. And at this point, I just try to keep all of my bags together because, well, no, like I do feel like it really sucks. If you have your bag and you, you grab your project, but realize that you left your notions bag in different project pack, your princesses and another castle. So I've actually been accumulating

smaller notions bags and making new ones for each of the individual bags. And one of the, um, bag makers that, and I'm pretty sure I've mentioned it in the last episode that we talked about notions, but, um, June price fiber arts, they do really good bags too. Um, they usually are tall drawstring bags and they have like a, um, a, a sturdy base with the drawstring, but they all come with these little notions bags with it. So it's like, you're getting two bags for the price of one.

So I load all those up with notion stuff so that at least when I have those bags, I always, I always have a notions bag with it. Nice. Yeah. I have, I have one per bag at this point. I've, and I only have two projects going right now, but I don't have like all of the things in each notions bag, but you know, you at least have like the crochet hook, the pair of scissors, you know, things like that, the tapestry needle, as long as you got the basics, which is why, like instead of

doing that, I just had the knit kit. Oh, tell me about that. Well, well, I think it was last New England fiber fest. Um, I ushered you all to, to a booth. I saw her on Instagram, uh, advertising her wares. Um, I actually, the first time I saw her was she was interviewing one of Kate, which is somebody I follow. And, uh, she has really cute patterns and she was doing a live with her. And I was like, who is this lady? And then I saw that the username was the knit kit. And I'm like,

what is that? So obviously intriguing minds need to know. And I clicked into it and she has all these different like crochet and knit kits that you can get with like literally it's like an emergency kit. It has everything that you should have in your kit. But if you forget, like it has stitch markers and scissors. It has a measuring tape. It has a place that you can like cut yarn. Like it has a little razor. If you need to cut something, it has like, um, uh, bro counter,

uh, stitch counter has like, it had a bunch of stuff on it. And I was like, oh, this is so cool, but I didn't buy it outright. Cause I was trying to be good. And then when we were at New England fiber fest, I, she had a booth there and I was like, Whoa, you know, this is my tat. I remember checking those out with you. Yeah. And I, we ended up, did we all get, did you get one? I did not get one. We each did. Yeah. Megan just did. Um, and I, that I take that thing everywhere. It has to be

in my big bag with all the other projects. So that then, and a lot of times too, I like taking that in my purse. If I can't take my project bag with me. Yeah. Um, so like if I'm stuffing like a small beanie or something like that inside a really tiny bag inside my purse, that, which hasn't happened recently because I changed my purse to like a satchel, like a, this small little, like,

I don't know what they're called. What's the word for it? The clutch clutch. Thank you. Um, I switched my main purse to a clutch, so I haven't really needed to put anything into it recently. Um, but it stays in my big project bag. And, um, I can see how it's very convenient. Yeah. I mean, it's not perfect, but it definitely has, it has saved me a bunch of times already. Um, just for the kind of stuff it has in it. Hold on. Let me see. It has here, cause I only talked about a

couple of things. It's a, it says crochet hook, cable needle, collapsible scissors, tape measure, knitting and crochet needle gauge, uh, row counter, thread cutter, point protectors, darning needle, and round and locking stitch markers. And the one that I got is, has like a, has like an octopus on it with like a tartan. Yeah. I thought those were really cute. Yeah. And then it has like, um, the, actually the thing that made me get it was it looks like the, the, um, locking stitch marker that it

had looks like a pineapple. And that's why I ended up showing me. It does. It looks like, hold on. It's, I don't think it is. It looks more like grapes or something, but when I first saw it, I was like, Oh my God, it's a pineapple. It's like a little, I think it's grapes. I think it's grapes too, but I would have been excited. Right. I would have been like, Ooh, I was all into it. Grapes or

maybe a pine cone. Yeah. I just, I don't know. I liked it. It was cute. I think one of the things I liked about that thing the most is that it has a triple digit row counter or stitch corner or whatever. Like it is, um, that is so great, especially because most of the ones you find in the stores only go up to two digits. And especially if you're making a bigger garment, like a sweater or a shawl, um, you need that three digit. So it's nice. Does it, and it locks,

it doesn't lock. Yeah. I don't think it locks, but it's also not, it's backwards though. Yeah. It doesn't, it doesn't roll. Like you're, you're never going to throw that in your bag and then pick it up and it's all messed up. Yep. So yeah, the, the biggest issue that I've had with it is, um, the back closing mechanism that will pop open a lot, um, on me if I push up against it. So I have to make sure it's like really closed. Like if it's closed closed, I'm good, but as Dreya plays with

the tape measure, it's a button I gotta press. But it's calling to me. Well, maybe she'll be at New England Fiber Fest this year and then you can grab one. Yeah, I might because I like that. I like yours. Yeah. Like all, all of you guys, you, you guys all have one. Yeah. Yeah. I've used it quite a lot. It's, uh, it's a really good little tool and it's nice because you're just randomly like, Oh, need a crochet hook. There it is. Need a darning needle. There it is. Yeah. Like especially

for those quick things that you don't need for the project or something. Yeah. It's, it's really nice. I've actually swatched, swatched out, switched out, um, the stitch markers. I've put in more stitch markers because of course I use them and then I forget to replace them. Um, so I've put more stitch markers in mine, but other than that, it's a really good tool. Um, I have a notion to,

what do you got? What have I got? What's your favorite? Honestly, so a couple of months ago, uh, Jess and I were at webs and I picked up a set of Fox and Pine Stitch, Stitches, Stitch Stoppers. Um, they are little stitch are shaped like animals. They have them in a bunch of different, uh, animal shapes. I think you have some too. Don't you have like llamas? I do have alpacas that Tina got me, but I don't know where she got them from. I got mine from Etsy. They're not the

same make, but they look close. Um, they're made of rubber. Um, I got owls because I like owl everything. And what did you got? I got goats. I love goats. Um, but they're very nice. They're really cheap. They're under $15. Um, and there, I have found with stitch, uh, point protectors the same way with stitch markers that, um, they, if the cuter they are, the less likely I am to lose them. Yes. So, um, I have lost so many point protectors over the years, the random cone shaped

ones that you just, you know, drop places. Um, I have not lost those. And when I did drop one and I couldn't find it, I got real upset and I tore apart the room looking for it. So, um, well, there is something to be said about enjoying looking at the things that you get for yourself. Yeah. If you, if you get cute things, you don't want to lose them and you're more inclined to keep them. Whereas if you buy just the regular like circular stitch markers, they're going all

over the place. It's true. And I buy, I still buy the, um, the little green and purple ones. Of course. Well, they're cheap. You know, very easy. You can always get them. And I don't care if I lose them, but I have like these little metal, uh, pineapple stitch markers. You don't want to lose those. Yeah. So freaking cute. Yeah. Did I give you those? You did. I think I did. I don't remember buying these, but I don't remember where they came from. Yes. Now that you

say it. Um, and I don't know who made them, but, um, they're so freaking cute. You know what? That was probably, you know what? I'm looking at my Etsy hoarder history right now, because I feel like all of this stuff was from Etsy at some point. Um, but, um, on that same vein of, uh, stoppers, um, knitting cords, that's the name of the Etsy shop. They have the cords to put in so that you can take your work off of the needles to try it on. And it includes the stoppers that you can put on

the end. So, um, so that you don't like it, it doesn't budge. Like you can actually try on your sweater. Yeah. And you can actually try it on. And then the llamas came from wish wishful knitting shop and that's on Etsy. And the other Etsy thing I wanted to point out, because if you've seen my reels and stuff, I've essentially switched over to Portuguese knitting, which is when you throw the yarn over your neck. Um, but sometimes, um, I'm sweating like a pig and I don't want to put it

over my neck. So to avoid that, I, um, have, uh, essentially there are Portuguese knitting necklaces and the place I got mine from, because they were very hard to find. It was hard to find like a nice, a lot of people do the pins. I don't like the pins because I pull too hard because I do have to shimmy it just, then it just goes right off. So the necklace is, I found these, you can pull as hard as you want. They really don't come off. They're really well made. Um,

and the shop is called 220 Penny Lane. And I got, I was able to get a single, uh, thread necklace and a double thread necklace. So I've been able to do like my cozy, which is two different colors and do the color work with it. And it's been, I really, really liked them a lot. They are, they weren't, and they weren't that expensive either. Um, I think I paid for the two necklaces for less than $40, which is very cheap. That's pretty affordable. Yeah. And not like,

not only are they affordable, but they're really freaking cute. Oh yeah. No, I, uh, the thing I like the most about them is that if I'm, if I need to take a break and I'm like, if I'm at church or something like that, it just looks like a necklace. It just looks like jewelry. Yeah. So yeah. So nobody like quite, well, I mean, now isn't what a turtle one is. Yeah. One is a turtle with like a blue stone in the middle. And the other one is like a floral with a black stone in

the middle. The black stone floral is my double. Um, I think I have it in here. Yeah. They're both really cute. I don't unless I took it out. Nope. It's right there. Yeah. This is my, oh no, it's not a floral. It's a, yeah, it's kind of floral. It's a more of like a medallion. Oh yeah. And it has the two hooks so that you can hook onto it. Um, yeah, it looks like a broach kind of, no, it's pretty. And then it looks like jewelry. The bat, the, no, I'm like going through all the stuff

that we talked about now. The notions bag that I got Jess, the one that she's using right now, um, is from a shop called Becca Ron and that's on Etsy. And then I think I, did you get all of our notions bags from the ones with the funny sayings? Yeah. She had all the funny saying ones, like Jess says double agent and it has the crochet. Yeah. Mine says swatches are for wimps. Accurate. Mine says critical knit. Yeah. Which I liked cause it was like, like the, um, D and D.

Yeah. Yeah. Uh, and they're actually really good bags too. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. They're sturdy. Very much so. And they're lined. To be continued next week on Pardon My Stash.