Hi all! As I announced on my shop page back in August, I was scheduled for surgery on 8/17 and expected to return to work 2 weeks later.

Well, the universe had other plans. and I’m here to tell you about it.

At my 2 week checkup, I was doing great and my doc was really impressed with my progress and gave me clearance to sew (but not iron, fold fabric, cut fabric or use my press). So what did I do? All the things, because it needed to be done and I had deadlines looming (pop-up shop in Cambridge on 9/17, Southern Adirondack on 9/24 & 25 plus club bags need to be delivered to my club partner by 9/30).

The Saturday after my 2 week checkup, we had family over for dinner and ate on the patio. I went out, put my feet up and noticed a spot on my ankle. Upon closer inspection I saw it was a #$%$ing tick! It was pretty tiny and I barely touched it and it fell off, but you could see that it had bit me. I kept an eye on the spot over the next few days and never noticed a bullseye so thought nothing further of it and kept trying to prep all the things so I could start sewing bags for my pop-up shop.

Fast-forward to this past Friday, I had a great night’s sleep (unheard of, trust me) and felt ready to take on the world. By 1pm I was flat on my back with a 100+ degree fever.

I checked with my doc and she gave me some antibiotics thinking I might have something going on due to the surgery and overdoing it all week.

My temp spiked high on Friday in the wee hours but I woke up with a somewhat normal temp. By dinnertime, it was back to 103 and I was told to head in to the ER. Where I got to enjoy a lovely barium cocktail and a CT scan then admission to the hospital for an overnight stay and more IV antibiotics. After multiple conversations with many medical professionals, it finally entered my fever-riddled brain to mention the damned tick and that changed everything.

A few more blood draws (oh.my.god. I now have a new respect for my pincushion) and a few more tests and it was determined that I had contracted ehrlichiosis. I was happy to have a diagnosis that wasn’t some kind of horrible abscess that would need God only knows what to treat it and also happy to hear I was going home.

I’m feeling much better today, but still nowhere near ready to stand in a booth for 6 hours (and sew to fill it in 3 days, and travel and setup etc) so I’ve had to cancel my pop-up shop at Mind’s Eye Yarns in Cambridge on the 17th. BUT they will have a whole bunch of my bags since I’m sending out a box to her tomorrow! I also expect to be able to be back to sewing for a few hours a day starting tomorrow so I will have a pretty full booth for Southern Adirondack next weekend and club bags out the door within their expected date.

…as long as I don’t manage to contract some other crazypants thing between now and then. I might look into getting myself a nice bubble… and, as I said to all the doctors, I don’t get sick often but when I do, I go full bore. I mean, why do only half a job? ;)

Thank you all for your patience – I do have fall/halloween prints to get listed and I’ve been trying to move my shop over to a self-hosted site for weeks which is holding up the listing process too. I wish there were more me’s and more hours in the day, and I’m pretty sick of this being sick thing, trust me. xo

Hi all! First, I can’t believe it’s been almost 2 years since I changed the shop theme (and posted in the shop blog)! I’ve switched it up again to something even more simple, with a lot less fancy overlay, which will hopefully be easier for some of you who had trouble finding info and how to check out! :o)

Spring show season is here! I am vending again at the Chancellor’s Sheep and Wool Showcase in Clermont, NY on April 23! The Clermont show is on some beautiful property that is situated on the Hudson river. It’s usually a wonderful day with wonderful views, I hope you’ll be able to make it!

For more show info, please visit my show schedule page. If you are looking for a bag for a gift or don’t think you’ll be able to wait until June to get a SbJL bag of your very own, please contact me through the shop contact page and I will see what I can do! Thank you all for your patience during my show seasons, one of these days I’ll be able to invest in that clone I keep talking about ;o)

I’ve done a little tweaking with the shop theme, I hope you all like it! I love the overlays and the clean look – hopefully it will make it easier for everyone to find a print they love!

The new look meant moving some info around so if you’re looking for info, check the shop policies or about pages :o)

ETA: Well it appears the new theme doesn’t automatically recognize the line breaks that are in my product description, I’ve sent an email to big cartel in the hopes it’s something they can fix on their end.

After years of being asked, “do you sell those?” I decided to open up a shop where I can put my project bags and the odd skein of handspun or CSM cranked sock for those who might like to own something that was stitched by me. I’ve since stopped listing handspun and socks but the box bags are going strong! I’m so glad that so many people want to keep their knitting cozy in a bag that was stitched by me!

You can read about my knitting and sewing at my blog: http://www.jessaluknits.com (In fact, if you’re wondering what to do with a bucket bag, I have a tutorial here)

I’m also on Twitter, Facebook (and Ravelry, too!). I post shop updates to Twitter and I try to post updates regularly in my Ravelry group so if you follow me or join the group you’ll get a heads up with a shop announcement!

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Box Bag Info: Each bag includes a color-coordinated zipper pull made of swarovski crystals and a silver bee – a signature addition to all Stitched by JessaLu bags. Sometimes the zipper pull you receive isn’t the same color as the one in the pictures since from time to time I’ll change my mind regarding color coordination but it *will* match!

Box Bag dimensions:

Regular: 7.5″ long, 3.5″ high, 4.5″ wide – large enough to hold a sock project or a spindle. Handles are long enough to fit over your wrist.

Large: 12″ long, 4″ high and 6″ wide – just the right size to hold a larger project

Bucket Bag dimensions:

Regular: 7″ tall, 4.5″ wide and 3.5″ deep

Spindle Bag dimensions:

One Size:  12.5″ long, 3.5″ wide, 3.5″ tall

**PLEASE NOTE** If you are worried about how to clean your bag, you CAN machine wash in cold water on delicate cycle after removing zipper pull (they have a clasp) and then air dry. You CAN put it in the dryer, but it will lose it’s shape.

All hand-sewn items are lined with coordinating fabric and interfaced. They are made on a c1937 Model 15-91 Singer sewing machine in a smoke-free and cat-free home (but not dog-free, though they’re little and aren’t allowed in the sewing room). Feel free to convo me if you have any questions! (you can see pictures of my sewing machine here).