In our family, the meal planning falls to my husband.  To lighten the burden a little, I made a template for him:

First Column: Meal
You'll notice that there are no days of the week.  We plan our meals, but we like to spontaneously eat out a couple times a week.  Leaving off the week day names gives us that kind of flexibility.  Our eating out is also the reason there are only six meals on the sheet.  Well, that, and the fact that seven would be too squished.

Second Column: Need
Here we list the items we need to buy for that meal.  Usually it's fresh vegetables, but it can also be stuff that we've run out of.  Being able to see what we need for the next several meals helps us plan our shopping so we don't end up walking to the produce store every night right before dinner.

Third Column: Notes
The note might be about the meal we're making, such as, "remember the corn" (which I seem to forget to make on rice pilaf night) or the note might be a reminder to take the steak out of the freezer and defrost it for the next night's meal.

I had so much fun drawing all the ridiculous little illustrations.  If I had to pick a favorite, it'd be the top view of the TV dinner on the TV tray.  I can't remember the last time I ate one, but I always thought they were *so* awesome when I was growing up.  Holy smokes, I just realized I remember when they came with FOIL over the meal, not plastic.  I'm getting so old.

If you'd like to use it yourself, it's available on my free downloads page.

My peacock paisley intarsia chart is going to be included in Picture Perfect Knits by Laura Birek, from Chronicle Books!  I love every single thing Chronicle Books puts out.  It's so exciting to know my design (and name!) is going to be in one of their books!  Yay!

Here's the announcement on their blog.  Here's the design:

To make the intarsia chart, I made a quick sketch in black marker, I placed the drawing under a sheet of Doane Paper, and then I started coloring in boxes.  Dramatic reenactment to the left. :)

Doane Paper is my newest-favorite office supply.  It's an awesome grid paper that's also lined.  I was hooked right after I printed my own sheet using his free sample pdf. It's perfect for lists, futuregirly graphs, intarsia charts, and project diagrams.  Plus, buying Doane Paper supports an indie creator. What's more awesome than that?

When I posted the Supercute Sea Creatures pattern, I gave the first five commenters a free copy.  Lucky for me, June, of Planet June was one of those people.

She made these adorable all-white sea creatures using my pattern.  Her post includes a details about how she sewed each creature and a close-up photo of each, so go read it. :)

For all you crochet lovers, June sells awesome amigurumi patterns for a staggering array of cute animals.  Definitely check them out.

I'm so excited about completing another pattern, which you can now get on the free downloads page. I designed the octopus in April, and he languished on my craft table since then.  Just last week, I decided to re-do my starfish pattern and add a jellyfish and fish to the group.

They are all easy-to-make and perfect for customizing.  There's lots of room for experimenting with color combinations and embellishments.  I think an all-white set would be really cool, too.  There are a couple extra photos in the Futuregirl Supercute Sea Creature Flickr group.

Each creature is between 3 and 4 inches tall and wide, which makes them the perfect size for ornaments, package tags, or clip-ons for backpacks.

I was really excited that a crochet project of mine was included in the Anticraft  book.  I designed this lined crochet tote bag so it would be a canvas on which you could add your own personalized design.  I submitted two designs for the book.

The "I [Skull] Trouble Tote" is actually mentioned in the promotional blurb, which totally set me on fire when I noticed.  I included a chart for the whole alphabet with this design so that the saying could be personalized,  Everyone has something important to say on their tote, right? :)

The second design is the Apothecary Tote.  I was inspired by Victorian apothecary medicine bottles.  When I was adding this design to the tote using my graph paper chart, I miscounted the spaces and had to redo it 4 or 5 times.  It was driving me nuts!  But I really loved how it turned out.


While writing up the crochet instructions for the tote, I realized how hard it is to actually explain in words how I do the seamless crochet technique.  Supplementing this pattern is a lot of the reason I put my seamless crochet tutorial on the web.

I also plan on posting a tutorial showing how I hand sew my linings into my crochet bags.  Several people have asked about it, and it would be a good supplement for the book, as well.

I'm compelled to write tutorials because I HATE it when I get the instructions for a project and they blithely say things like "sew the lining into the tote."  HOW?!  It seriously drives me nuts when they give no hint or clue about the techniques they actually used to do it.  I don't want to be a part of THAT problem. :)

I originally designed the Bad Eggs around Easter of 2006.  I did a set of four in black with embroidered designs.  At the time, I thought subversive Easter eggs (traditionally-colored eggs with non-traditional imagery) would be hilarious, and I got my chance to make some when they were accepted  for the Anticraft  book.

Look at that squirting arterial blood!  I can't tell you how much I love that decapitated bunny.  It warms my heart.  I couldn't be happier about how it turned out.  The white-on-white embroidery outlining his leg doesn't photograph well, but it looks good in person.  His tail is a bunch of floss loops making a 3-D puff.

Ahhhh ... a cute chick with a taste for eyes.  Chirp!  The eyes filling the basket are made with a tiny sequin and a black seed bead ... and embroidered eyelashes.  I do realize that if a chick was digging the eyeballs out of peoples' heads and collecting them in a basket that they wouldn't still have eyelashes, but I think that makes it all the more creepy. :)  It totally oogs me out that the chick is holding an eye by the optic nerve.

The other two eggs in the Bad Eggs set are based on the original designs.  One is embroidered with 360° flames and the other has evil eyes on each side in alternating warm and cool colors.

Certainly, you could make non-snarky Easter eggs with the pattern ... but why would you? ;)

Amazon.com is already shipping the Anticraft book!!!  I don't have my free copy yet.  I'm freaking out because I can't see the book and the pictures of my projects.  Is it professional looking?  Is it a nice book?  Are the instructions for my projects accurate? Ack!

Deep breath.

Without further ado, here is project one of the three projects I have in the book:

You probably recognize the Three Owls, the first original stuffies I designed.  For Anticraft I made them a little scarier.  Thank goodness for the felt and floss stash.  Look at all those greys!

This project might seem a little anticlimactic, which is why I started with it.  I love my sweet little owls, though, and I think their goth/industrial incarnation is cute in a menacing kind of way.

The red beady eyes on the little one make me think of Amityville Horror, which I read in one night when I was in the third or forth grade.  I wasn't quite old enough to realize "based on a true story" didn't mean it was true.  It scared the hell out of me. In that book, the demon, which appears as a pig sometimes, also appears as a set of red glowing eyes.  I swear, the red dots on my alarm clock still creep me out a little because of that book.

** update: This pattern is now available as a free download! **

Yay!  I can't believe how fast I finished up the pattern and all the web changes I needed to make.  The PDF includes the pattern pieces and instructions for both an adult and a baby seahorse.  They are super cute, if I say so myself.

You can check out the seahorses made by my awesome testers in the Futuregirl Seahorse Stuffies Flickr group.  Thank you so much Korallin, Diane, and Sara!

I should have mentioned in my last post that Andrew is the genius behind the seahorse photos.  He's the one that knows how to light things, knows how to position things, and knows how his camera works ... you know, everything.  I've learned a ton from him since I started this blog.  We always have so much fun setting up the elaborate photo shoots together.  He's the best and I'm so lucky he's mine!

Last night after I posted, I tied my copy of Crochet Me closed.  I'm totally serious.  I didn't just do it for the blog.  I haven't even opened it once - not once.  I think if I hadn't tied it closed, I would have been crocheting today instead of finishing up the pattern.  Now I'm so excited to get started on swatching!

** update: pattern on free downloads page **

I'm *this close* to finishing the pattern and instructions for the my seahorse stuffies.  I know I shouldn't say anything before it's ready, because I'm totally jinxing myself, but I'm sure it'll be up soon!

I'm including the pattern and instructions for both adult *and* baby seahorses.  The adult pattern looks just like Sasha and the baby pattern is what I used to make the two little cuties pictured here.

The only thing holding me back is that I just got my copy of Crochet Me in the mail and I'm fighting the urge to start swatching for the Icelandic Cowl.  I've decided that I'm going to use every bit of my will power and not open the book until I have the seahorses finished and posted.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to resist ...

Here's a little behind-the-scenes shot from today.  It's pretty ridiculous how much I love setting these things up. Oh, I just realized I need to add 'photoshop out the strings' on my list of things to do ... I better get to work! :)

Now that I have two tutorials on hand sewing felt, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about the benefits and disadvantages of both.  Each works well and brings a distinct look to your hand sewn item.  It's worth it to think about what sort of effect you are going for to help you choose the right stitch.

Whip Stitch        tutorial    project featured above

I like to use whip stitch to sew together felt stuffies when I want the stitching to melt into the stuffie.  Usually, I use thread that matches the felt when I use whip stitch.  Occasionally, I will use a contrasting thread color with whip stitch to get a more primitive, hand made vibe going.  In the case of my rose pincushion, I tried to create a woodcut feel with whip stitching.

Benefits : Whip stitch is great for sewing together stuffies when you want the seams to meet up flatly to create a shape.  This is especially good for round shapes, like heads or bodies.  Whip stitch is also pretty simple and forgiving of mistakes, especially when you use a matching thread color.

Drawbacks : Whip stitch doesn't always come out as straight or evenly spaced as you might hope because the thread goes diagonally through the felt on the inside bit of the stitch.  This can also cause your felt pieces to come out uneven near the end of your work, unless you are careful about "felt creep."

Blanket Stitch        tutorial    project featured above

I use blanket stitch when I want a decorative edging on my hand sewn item.  It's especially interesting when done in a contrasting thread color as an edging for a patch, like my travel stickers, or along the seams of a 2-D stuffie.  Blanket stitching is easy, once you get started, and I think it looks very professional and bold.

Benefits : When using blanket stitch to sew the seams of a stuffie, there won't be any "felt creep" because the needle goes straight through the felt from front to back.  Because blanket stitch creates a thread outline along the edges of your piece, it can mask uneven edges and wonky cutting.  Blanket stitch seems to be easier to use to create evenly spaced stitching than whip stitch.

Drawbacks : When using blanket stitch to sew together stuffies, it becomes a ridged seam that is equal to the depth of your stitch.  This creates ridges in 3-D stuffies that might look weird and distort the stuffie's shape.

If you have any thoughts, lessons-learned, or blog posts about hand sewing that you'd like to share, please leave a comment.  Lots of people come to my site after searching for "hand sewing" so people (including me!) really want to know your tips and tricks.