Silk

Where has the month gone?!? Oh, my. To be honest, I've really been busy and there has been some knitting going on. My grandfather passed away on July 12 and that cause a bit of a whirlwind. It was not unexpected, but it's always a surprise when a loved one passes. He was 95 years old and was in remarkably good condition -- he just couldn't remember anything. Then I had company for a long weekend, which carried over into a week of county fair. And the transcripts are piling up. I've been to the doctor, eye doctor, dentist, and hairdresser. Vacation is a mere 5 (the F-I-V-E) days away! And we're off to the beach for a week. (oh, how it wish it was two.)

I acquired some lovely silk and sea cell yarn for an obscene amount of money, but it's REALLY nice. A clever little pattern came with it for a scarf and I'm working on it with the addition of clear glass beads. First time I've ever tried beads. I like it. It does slow things down a bit, but I think the end result will be worth it. As I get a larger chunk of the knitting done, I'll post a better picture so you can see the pattern.

A blue lining

The lining in my Landscape bag is complete. It was a several night project, but I've learned over the years it's better to not rush these things. I used some plastic canvas on the front, back and base. It was lightly sewn to the inside of the bag, and then the lining was sewn in. Best thing is the magnet clasp is attached through the plastic canvas and it creates a nice firm place for the clasp to be attached. Now that I've been successful with my lining, I might try it again!

It's a good way to keep cool in this 90 degree weather.

Saturday Projects

First we have the refelting of the French Market bag. It seems to be going well. I have the bag drying over a bag o'DVD's. It will wind up being deeper. I'm happier about it.














Then I've been working on the lining for the Landscape bag. I want to enter it into the local county fair and I think it should be lined. I found some great lining guidlines/directions at Noni Felted Bags. Some pretty creative bags, too!

















My lining is some 100% cotton (left over from my quilting days) I used some iron on lining for some added body. Made some pockets for the inside. And folded over the corners of the bottom to square it off. I'm going to pick up some plastic canvas at Wally World this afternoon for some more body, add a magnetic closure on the inside and stitch to top edge in place. Hopefully tomorrow you'll get to see a finished picture.

But for now, we're off furniture shopping. The recliners in the living room are absolutely shot and leaning to the left.

Contemplation

Well, I'm still contemplating my French Market bag. I really do like the color. As a matter of fact, I'd love to have a coat make out of this felted material in this color. (Boy that would really use up the yarn to cover my butt!!!) Anyhow, I am disappointed in the size. But, not to worry. First, I'm going to make the bag wet and refelt by using DVDs. And I have an ancient bag of buttons that at one time I was going to sew onto a quilt.

Many years ago, after the Oklahoma City bombing, my friend over at A New Day, and I made small angel quilts that were presented to the families of those who's loved ones died that day. I've always felt honored that our two quilts were given to the lady who lost both of her sons that day in the daycare. The quilts were rustic, county-style with an angel pattern and sewn with much love. I bought the buttons for on that quilt, but they never got sewn on -- I thought it might be a little over the top. So, the bag of buttons was never opened. Until now -- I'm going to sew them on the outside of my French Market bag.

The other bit of info for today is how I repaired the wavy top edge of my other felted bag. I used doubled quilting thread and ran a running stitch along the top of my bag, drew in the bag a bit to make it not wavy and then refelted it. Much better.

French Market Bag

The knitting is done. It only took a couple episodes of "Deadliest Catch", "Ice Road Truckers" and a viewing of "The Queen" and viola, we have an unfelted French Market Bag. Here's another view where you can really see the handles. The yarn came from Elann and it's the Peruvian Highlands Wool.
And now, here's the felted version. The color in the photo is just about true. I blocked it with a round wooden bucket. Just couldn't find something square that was the right size. However, after doing a Google search of the French Market Bag, I think next try I'll use some DVD's.
My complaint is the finished size. I've placed a pair of my reading glasses in front so you can get an idea as to scale. I did run it through the washer twice for felting and I think once would have done it. The yarn felted up fast. The version took three and three-quarter skeins of yarn. Next time, I'm making it taller and making the handles longer. The pattern calls for decreasing the handles every four rows. I'm going to try decreasing every six rows. Also, the pattern calls for knitting the body for eight inches. I'm going for more. The plan on the next one is the bottom is being knit from black. When I get to the end of the increasing the circle for the bottom, I'm switching over the the lovely purple yarn I bought. I'm going to knit the sides for three and a half skeins. I'll let you know how many inches that is. At least twelve (instead of the 8 called for in the pattern).
Don't get me wrong, I do like my bag. I have some coordinating buttons to sew on and I need to find a jazzy lining. Maybe I can get to a fabric store this weekend. Unfortunately ( or fortunately) my transcript business has picked up and that really cuts into my knitting time. But I'm not complaining. It's going to buy me a new pair of recliners. The early Salvation Army look in my living room is out the door!

Priority Mail

Priority mail from Elann can only mean one thing!

I'm almost through the first ball of yarn on my French Market Bag.

I know, I know. Where's the Booty Bag, you ask? Well, it may wind up in Davy Jones' Locker, matey. The pattern is not a problem. It only took me casting on four times to get the method for doing double knitting wrapped around my brain. Once I got that down, I do have about ten row completed, but to do double knitting you have to knit 1, purl 1 FOREVER! It takes a LONG time.

So for now, with my patience run very thin, I'm working on the French Market Bag. Pattern at Knitty.

Before and After

Here's the before felting picture of my tote bag. It's huge! I really like the colors. And it was all done with yarn from my stash. Wool of the Andes and Patons Wool.

And here's the "after" picture. I've got it stuffed with plastic grocery bags while it's drying. The idea is to have a tote for my laptop for when I need to take it with me. And it's a good fit. I have an IBM Thinkpad and it will fit nicely, including the power supply and maybe even some files. I'm very pleased. I'm also going to enter it in the fair.

Now, I'm done with "fair" knitting. I have a cotton towel I'd like to work on, socks that need to be ripped back past the heel because I didn't make the leg long enough, and the "Pirate Queen Booty Bag."

The weather here in Central PA has just been beautiful. Highs in the upper 70's, low humidity. But it is going to heat up the middle of the week. We got all our air conditioners in place in anticipation. But it's to cool off again before the weekend. Only draw back is it's very dry. The yard is parched. I did some home improvement over the weekend and did some painting in my bathroom. The wood work is now all a nice light blue. The color is called delight. And it is. But painting the baseboard behind the toilet was not a delight.

Box-O-Yarn

My yarn has arrived from KnitPicks! I'm planning felted clog slippers -- I've worn out another pair. And then there's the Pirate Queen Booty Bag purse in red and black for DD. She wanted to know why she needed a booty bag. (12-year-olds just have no sense of humor.) And I picked out some Gossamer in three colors to play with.

We've changed internet providers (my old company isn't going to be providing residential service anymore.) I must say, we switched to Embarq. It was relatively painless, less expensive, and MUCH faster. Now to work on changing over my e-mail. At least I have until the end of July.

Back in business

Now, I'm back in business. The old Fuji camera still works. And I was even able to get my laptop to recognize it and download the pictures. I'm going to try some superglue and duct tape on the Kodak Easyshare. What a pain these digital cameras can be -- don't get me wrong, they are wonderfully easy to use and it's so nice that you don't have to pay all that $$$ to get the photos developed and all. But this is the third digital camera that we've had battery door issues with.

Anyhow, here's a shot of my Garterlac dishcloth. You'll find the pattern here. The border around the edge is my contribution to the pattern. I'll be entering it in the local fair as a set with a towel.

















The towel shown below is just a test drive of the pattern and the yarn. It turned out very nice in person, but the white in the red-white-blue varigated yarn is really cream. So, I'll be keeping the test drive for myself. I'm currently working on a towel that matches the dishcloth. I know there's been a thread on the KnitList over the past week about towel toppers/kitchen towels and the like. Yes, they are an old fashioned thing, but a strategically placed towel is a God send in the kitchen. Plus, this is much nicer than one that's made from the cheapest dollar store tea towel with a crocheted topper made from Red Heart yarn. In this case the entire towel and topper is made from cotton dishcloth yarn.

I even have hot pads on my table that are round dishcloth pattern made from cotton yarn and they are great. They serve as hot pads, placemats, clean up for emergency spills and the like.

Anyhow, I'll keep you posted as to what items I'll be entering in the fair. So far, I have two felted bags, two pairs of socks, a pair of felted clogs, a shawl, dishcloth and dishcloth/towel set. My only goal is to win a few bucks to buy more yarn with.

Pardon the technical difficulties

You'll have to excuse the lack of a photo. The battery door has broken on my digital camera. Seems like that is always the problem with digital cameras. In the mean time, I need to dig out my old digital camera, find some batteries that have a bit of power in them and crank the old thing up. Then I have to find the thing-a-mag-jig to actually get the pictures on my computer. It's always something...