This week in crafting

Despite starting a new full-time job, this has been a fairly productive week craft-wise.

Super Secret Long Term Project:
I finished the embroidery on the penultimate square of my Super Secret Long Term Project. Once I finish the last square, I will pass them all on to a friend of mine, who will initiate phase 2 of this Super Secret project. Considering that I started embroidering these 3 or 4 months ago and tend to have crafting ADD, this is a huge accomplishment for me. It'll be a huge relief to be done (DONE!) with these, and I'm going to be very proud of myself. I look forward to having the whole project finished so we can share it with everybody!

iPod Cozy:
Due to my new job, my iPod is doing a much more traveling, so I decided that it is finally time to make a case for it to travel in (it normally lives its days in the speaker dock and serves as my home stereo). Wednesday morning I rooted through my yarn stash and came out with a beautiful skein that had been languishing unused for nearly 4 years. It's a beautiful metallic bronze color and it's working up beautifully. I've crocheted through 2 lunch breaks and a doctor appointment, and I think I'm over halfway done with it. I still need to find a suitably gorgeous button to close it with.

Crazy Quilting:
The two books I requested from the library came in, and are providing me with some wonderful eye candy. I'm most impressed by Crazy Quilting: The Complete Guide by J. Marsha Michler. It doesn't have any projects in it, but it's a great reference work with 10 different ways to piece a crazy quilt, diagrams for 100 embroidery stitches, and 60 pages of different types of embellishments and surface work. When flipping through this book for the first time I had to be careful not to drool over all of the options. I'm not sure if this craft form is a blessing for those with crafting ADD or a curse. It certainly manages to incorporate a wealth of techniques, but how am I meant to decide what to try first?

I have decided on my first (and possibly second) CQ projects, to be started after I finish the Super Secret Project. First, I will make a new slip cover for my camera. I know that this won't provide any padding for the camera unless I use batting and actually quilt it, but it will be as good as the hastily crocheted cover it currently has, and will at least prevent scratches. My next project will probably be a throw pillow. Both of those seem simple enough that I can probably manage their construction. I am tempted to try one of several purse designs in the other book, but I think I should start simple. Unless I change my mind, which is always possible.

ETA: Scratch the pillow idea. I'll make a bag from this pattern!