Inspired by Sil

I met Sil Frebrian, owner of Batavia by Sil on the wonderful world of Twitter. We finally met in person when we were placed as neighbours in the Rising Stars neighbourhood at the One of a Kind Spring Show and Sale 2011. I spent five days staring at and drooling over her upcycled hand made bags. Her designs are so sweet and you can totally see they are made with passion. Each bag is truly unique-no two are ever the exact same. She adds so many beautiful touches to her bags such as embroidery, hand made wooden buttons, applique, and braided handles.
After the spring show I went home and began work on my own bag. While mine is a very straightforward design I was inspired by Sil's work!

I made this pattern freehand. Project inspired by my neighbour at the One of a Kind Spring Show 2011, Batavia by Sil. I admired her bags for the entire show. She creates gorgeous clutches and purses with reclaimed fabrics and adds her own hand made wooden buttons.

Outer fabric purchased at Value Village.

Button by the Woodlot purchased at the One of a Kind Spring 2011

Lining fabric from Diana Brugos acquired in a trade. This is vintage seersucker with a light floral pattern.
One big inside pocket.

Nice and roomy to carry all of my knitting projects!

The Montreal (Craft) Experience

Last weekend was my whirlwind trip to Montreal for the Spring Puces Pop hand made marketplace. It was a fantastic trip and it provided me an opportunity to meet some great folks, to knit a little somethin' somethin' for myself, and to shop some products from great artisans.

My table neighbours were Coucou Salut, a fantastic little shop providing unique screen printed and hand crafted plush toys, cushions, coin purses, coasters, and tea towels. I picked up a tooth monster to give to my son.

I also met half the team behind one of my favorite Toronto shops, Bookhou. Bookhou is also a master at screen printing original designs on linens, sweet hand embroidery, and maker of stunning tote bags. I picked up a plush sparrow pin and a gently hand embroidered pin backed button.

I had an opportunity to try hand crafted edible treats as well. I brought home some creamy caramels, and mouth watering gluten free peanut butter cookies.

I picked up a wonderful print from Todd Stewart of Montreal. I highly recommend checking out his work!

On Sunday evening I had a chance to take a walk in the neighbourhood known as the Plateau district. I dined on Chicken Roti, fried plantain, and mango juice. Walked a few blocks to a book shop open late and picked up a sweet French language book called "Coeurs". 

This book is full of the sweetest heart themed embroidery patterns. I couldn't resist purchasing it as it included a piece of canvas, embroidery needle, and DMC floss to get you started on a project right away.

I am working on the girl on the right.

So I flew home on Monday. The flight is just under 50min, however we were delayed 7 HOURS!! I worked on this sock the whole day, sipping Second Cup Coffee, Strawberry Chillers, and finally 3 glasses of red wine WHOO HOO!

Worked on 4 needles from the toe up.

The pattern I chose is the Dead Simple Lace Socks from "Socks form the Toe Up" by Wendy D. Johnson. I reduced the pattern by 1 repeat for this particular yarn because initially the socks were just coming out way too big. (thought that I DID check my guage, oh well)

Well, that pretty much concludes my show and tell from last weekend, hope you enjoyed ;)