Knitted Chalk Bag Redux

My simple knitted chalk bag has been serving me well at the bouldering gym so far, and has even gotten some compliments from other climbers. I’ve gotten another friend to start climbing with us, and instead of carrying around her chalk in the plastic baggie it came in, I made her a bag of her own:

The black and blue color scheme might be more appropriate for my bag, as every climbing session I bang my knees or legs into something: a hold, the wall, the floor, etc. My knees are so often bruised it has become a running joke with the friends I climb with.

Instead of making an I-cord drawstring like I did before, I used a round shoelace and a drawstring cord lock, which is so much easier to use. The I-cord is too thick to really feed through a cord lock, so I just tie it closed. It doesn’t close as tightly, though, so everything in my bag gets a decent dusting of chalk.

This pattern is available for free at pdxstitch.net // check out the Ravelry pattern page

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Simple chalk bag for rock climbing

I know it’s been radio silence here on the blog for nearly a year, but I can assure you that it doesn’t mean I haven’t been crafting. The time has been full of ups and downs – a new job turning into an old job, new friends turning into old friends – but I’ve still been busy working away at the Helix Nebula cross stitch, knitting various things, and even taking up a new hobby: bouldering.

The great thing about bouldering (at least inside a gym, which is where I do it), is that you don’t need much equipment: just shoes and a bag of chalk to keep your hands dry. For obvious reasons, I don’t much care to make my own shoes, but making a bag to keep chalk in seemed a simple proposition. And I could make it colorful and fun, so it didn’t look like everyone else at the gym’s plain black chalk bags.

I poked around Ravelry and r/knitting for inspiration, but didn’t like how the patterns I was finding required picking up stitches on the cast-on edge to knit the bottom. I was thinking of knitting from the bottom up in one piece, analogous to a toe-up sock, but the math was too confusing to get a nice circular bottom. So I just knit from the top down, creating a channel for the drawstring, too.

For the ombré effect, I loosely followed the chart from this ombre hat pattern by Emily Dormier. The bag lends itself well to all kinds of decorative colorwork or stitch patterns. If I had infinite free time and a need for a lot of little bags, I’d make a rainbow striped bag, or a three-color ombré fade.

Get the free pattern from Ravelry or PDXstitch.net.

If you like the free pattern, show your support at ko-fi. Thanks!

Finished Project: Companion Cube in 3 Dimensions

I had to take a break from the giant Helix Nebula to work on something short and sweet. This need perfectly coincided with picking up Portal 2 again, after taking a five year hiatus (I had stopped literally during the final fight, much to the annoyance of my spouse). Well, the good news is that I finished both the game and this three-dimensional cross-stitched companion cube.

The cube is stitched flat with two strands of floss on a scrap of aida (I think 18 count but I’m not sure). After stitching, I cut around the stitched area, folded it into a cube shape, and sewed the edges shut with black thread. It’s stuffed with leftover thread pieces. It’s tiny, about 1.4 inches on each side (3.5 centimeters).

The cube now lives in my cubicle at work, and occasionally gets loaned out to coworkers having a difficult day.

The free pattern is available on pdxstitch.net.

 

Free Pattern Friday: No Ban No Wall

It’s been far too long since I posted anything for free pattern Friday, but I’m back with a vengeance this week, with the first in a series of resistance-minded cross stitch patterns.

Click here to download the PDF from Craftsy. The pattern download includes both a full-color and a black and white version of the chart.

Although you can download it for free, if you enjoyed this chart, I encourage you to show your appreciation by donating to the American Civil Liberties Union, Border Angels, or the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Keep fighting & keep stitching.

Free Pattern Friday: I Choose You!

Today for free pattern Friday I have another magnet or badge cross stitch idea featuring Pikachu!

This pattern is a simplified version of the same Pikachu pose originally posted by Birdie Stitching. You can right click and choose “Save As” to save the pattern, or download a PDF version from Craftsy.

Here is what Pikachu looks like when stitched on plastic canvas:

I hope you enjoy stitching up this Pikachu; share pictures if you do!

Free charts are for personal use only. Please read my free chart use policy here.

Free Pattern Friday: Bees in Four Directions

Today I have a very small and simple pattern for some tiny cross-stitched bees. These are based off the bees for the August flower of the month square, but I’ve altered them slightly and made a pattern for a bee facing in each direction.

Right click and choose “save as” to save the chart to your computer.

These bees are super cute when stitched, I just love their little antennae. I used a three-quarter stitch for the black fractional stitch on the head, but only used half-stitches (one leg of a regular cross stitch) for the wings. Trying to make three-quarter stitches on the wings made them look too bulky and strange. Here are some close-ups on my August flower of the month square showing two of the bees:

I hope you’ll stitch something up with a few tiny bees, and please share with me if you do!

Free charts are for personal use only. Please read my free chart use policy here.

Free Pattern Friday: Free Pattern Round-Up

For this installment of Free Pattern Friday I’ve brought together a list of resources for free cross stitch patterns across the web. Of course, it isn’t difficult to find “free” patterns on the web, but I’ve curated the list to include only those that have been made free by their designers.

• First, of course, is the free pattern category here on PDX-Stitch
• Craftsy has a large variety of free embroidery patterns, both for hand embroidery (including cross stitch), and machine embroidery. Patterns are provided in PDF form by their designers, and the site includes both free and paid patterns for many other crafts, too.
• Daily Cross Stitch features a new free, simple pattern on their site each day. Their other patterns are only $1.
• Birdie Stitching posts a new free cross stitch pattern nearly every day, often fandom-based (particularly Pokémon, Sailor Moon, gaming, and anime charts).
• A search on Deviantart reveals many free charts, though the search functionality on the site is sorely lacking
• DMC’s website has a lot of patterns & projects, separated into projects for regular cotton floss, variegated floss, metallic floss, etc.
• Anchor’s website also offers free tutorials and patterns for cross stitch and other embroidery projects. They do require a free registration to download projects, but registering also allows you to bookmark things for later and to comment on projects.
• Tiny Modernist has some really cool charts for sale in her Etsy shop, and also conveniently lists all of her free patterns on her blog (I love the sewing room project; I’m adding it to my to-do list!)
• Artecy Cross Stitch posts “10-20 new patterns… each fortnight” to their shop and makes two of these available for free for two weeks. They also continually offer some flag patterns and awareness ribbon patterns that are either public domain or free for personal use.

Surely I’ve missed some great free pattern resources, so please add your own favorites in the comments below!

Free Chart Friday: Social Media Logos

It’s been awhile since the last free chart Friday, but today I’m back with a chart of some popular social media icons:

As always, you can right click on the image to save the .png file, or get a PDF copy from Craftsy. This chart may not be sold, but you are free to use it to make things for sale. Just give credit to PDX-Stitch & link back to this blog or page.

Free Chart Friday: I Lobe You

Today I have a brainy cross stitch chart for Free Chart Friday.Download the chart as a free PDF from PDXstitch.net!

I made this chart and stitched it as a Valentine’s gift for my boyfriend. It is inspired by a quotation from an episode of House. Here is what it looks like stitched up:

I used some unmarked red thread from my stash, but I think any color would look great here. The backstitching on the cerebellum is possibly my favorite bit.

Enjoy the chart and please share pictures if you stitch it up!

Free charts are for personal use only. Please read my free chart use policy here.

Free Chart Friday: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot

Free Chart Friday is back! Today’s chart may be not safe for work if you happen to work as a sailor:

This chart shows the maritime signal flags for Whiskey (W), Tango (T), and Foxtrot (F). It is bordered by Morse code reading “SRSLY WTF.” The chart is designed to fit nicely in a 5 inch hoop when stitched on 18 count aida.

Download the chart as a free PDF from PDXstitch.net!

Enjoy the chart and please share pictures if you stitch it up!

Free charts are for personal use only. Please read my free chart use policy here.