Alchemy Hour Give Away!

I am hosting an Alchemy Hour give away this month to celebrate my official opening of my newest yarn shop on Etsy.  One super lucky reader will receive a one of a kind small project bag and a hank of wool and silk lace weight yarn.  


The Goods:

Dot Art Small Project Bag 

This small drawstring pouch will protect your project and hold your yarn, needles and any other notions you may need. The bag is fully lined and has two inner pockets prefect for holding stitch markers, tapestry needles, double points or any other small knitting or crocheting accessory you made be using. Two drawstrings make closing you bag easy and keeps all your items safely within the bag.  

The colorful print is the best part of the pouch.  It is based off Australian Aboriginal Dot Art and the way the pattern moves and the colors used really make this fabric special.   The interior of this bag is lined with a teal batik fabric that reminds me of water falls and warm rain.  

Bag Stats:

8" tall x 6 1/2" long (at bottom of bag)x 4" wide
Opening at top of bag: 20"
Inner pockets: 5" x 4 1/4"
Drawstrings: About 10" apiece when closed

Pigeon, 440 Yards Hand Dyed Wool and Silk Lace Weight Yarn

This yarn is a lovely lace weight perfect for a small shawl or a lovely lace scarf.  The blend of Merino and Silk give this yarn a soft and lofty hand. 

The color was difficult to achieve, but worth the extra time in they dye pot, it has beautiful undertones of pinks and blues and the silk adds extra depth to the slate color of this yarn.  

Yarn Stats

Yardage: 440

Weight: Lace

Needle: US 0-3

Fiber: 70% Merino Wool, 30% Silk

How To Enter:

You must reside in the US for this giveaway.  Sorry internationals I'm not set up for international shipping just yet, but I will have a giveaway that is open to everyone later in the month.  

You must go to Alchemy Hour and pick out your favorite item, heart it and then leave me a comment below about it.

For additional entries you can do the following:

(Make sure to leave a new comment with your user name/link for every additional entry.)

-Follow @bluebetty on Twitter.

-Like Blue Betty on Facebook.

-Add Alchemy Hour to your circle on Etsy.

-Tweet about this giveaway.

-Follow this Blog

-Sign up for the Newsletter.

 All entries must be in by Sunday July 15th.  The winner will be announced Monday July 16th here on the blog.

Alchemy Hour: It's Official

Forest Birds, small project bag

It's offical, Alchemy Hour now has new stock.  Brand spankin' new stock of lace weight and sock yarn along with some new items, small project bags!  

Inside view of Lotus Blossoms, project bag

I love me some project bags.  I feel like I should have one for every project I am working on.  It keeps the project protected in a purse or tote bag as well as keeping all of your supplies together in one place.  The plan is to start with some small project bags and then start to make them in two more sizes down the road. 

French Lavender Hand Dyed Lace Weight Yarn 

I am also excited to start selling all of the beautiful hand dyed yarn that has come from my dye pot.  There will be lots more yarn added in the next few months.  There will be at least one shop update every month.  Here's a peek at some of the things you will find at Alchemy Hour this month. 

Midnight, Hand Dyed Lace Weight Yarn 

Tangerines, Hand Dyed Lace Weight Yarn

Cherry Wood, Hand Dyed, Fingering Weight Yarn

Night Watch, Hand Dyed, Fingering Weight Yarn

There is much more colorful goodness over at Alchemy Hour.  Go check out what's in stock.

Do you want to know what's going on at Alchemy Hour and Blue Betty before anyone else? Sign up for the Alchemy Hour and Blue Betty Newsletter to get sneak peaks at new patterns, special deals, and advance notice of shop updates.  Click the link below to sign up.  The newsletter is sent out once or twice a month, and only when something exciting is happening.

Newsletter Sign Up

Day 8: A Project Bag for a Knitter

I have a lot of friends who knit, and every holiday season we have a Pollyanna and go out to dinner.  We usually wait till the new year, but I am getting a head start on my gift with this great project bag.  Here are the instructions so you can make one for the knitter or crocheter in your circle. 

Materials and Equipment
1/3 yard 45 inch fabric
1 yard cord or ribbon for drawstring
Thread
Chalk
Pins
Scissors
Sewing machine
Iron

First and mark your fabric for cutting your main piece.  You want your piece of fabric to be 12 1/2 inches by 22 inches.

Once your piece is cut give is a good pressing and fold it in half width way.  (Or hamberger way if you ever had a kindergarten teacher like mine.)

On the folded edge mark 1 1/2 inches in and over to form a square.  Do this on both corners of the folded edge.

Cut these square bits of and set aside your main bag piece

Now with the remaining fabric cut a piece of fabric that is 10 1/2 inches by 12 1/2 inches.  Fold this piece of fabric in half so that the right sides are touching.  Pin along the edge and sew into a 5 inch by 12 1/2 inch tube.

Turn the 5 by 12 1/2" piece right side out and press so that the seam is at the bottom of the piece.  This is your pocket piece.

Pin your pocket piece to the right side of your main bag piece making sure that there is a 3/4 inch space between the pocket and the cut out corners.  Top stitch along the bottom and up the middle of your pocket piece.  use a zig zag stitch to attach it to the sides of the main fabric piece.

Lay your main bag piece with right sides facing and pin your side seams together leaving about 1 1/2 inches open at the top of the bag.  Sew two straight side seams.  Press your seams open.

With a straight stitch sew your seam allowance at the top of your bag down on either side.

When you have done this it will look like the picture above.  This is where your drawstring will hang out of the casing.

Give the top edge of your bag a quick zig zag stitch on either side to prevent fraying and fold it over and press.

Sew the casing for the drawstring with a straight stitch.

Pin the side edge of the cut out sections to the bottom of the bag.  When you pin them they will look like this. This is how you will get a box bottom on your project bag.

Here is the bag all sewn up standing mostly by itself with its two pockets in the front.

Next feed the cord threw the drawstring casings with a safety pin and tie the ends.  There you have it a project bag perfect for socks or a hat or whatever you want to carry along.  Put some yummy yarn and new needles inside for a great gift for a knitter.