Photo Frenzy!

I have my camera back! I thought I'd update my knitting progress.

First, I finished my Stag Bag:
The liner isn't quite right...Tippi's how-to was really helpful. I think I need to reinforce my strap. I wanted an over-the-shoulder I knit two i-cords but they stretch and really pull on the bag so I might add a fabric underside to the straps. I haven't had time yet for that. The bag is usable (and being used). I have to admit to being a bit wary about my talents and desire for the bag, but it's so great. I'm so glad to have tried this bag.

I also made another bag this week:
I didn't quite have the right colors to make the Candy Corn Bag. My bag also really belled out when I felted it. I used Patons wool. I've felted with this before, but it really acted funny this time. The different colors seemed to felt at different times. I think the original is much cuter, but this was just a quick little project. Halloween is so close and I want to be able to use it this year.

Finally, I started another baby sweater:
It's the Jo-Jo Basic Crew Sweater from Louisa Harding's Natural Knits for Babies and Moms. I'm using Lion Brand Wool-ease worsted weight yarn, so it's not so natural, but I am trying to work through my stash still. There's a lot of cute ideas in this book.

It's done!

I finally finished the Stag Bag! Overall, I'm happy with it. I found a great lightweight cotton canvas to line it with - the dots match the dark yarn perfectly! I made it a tote rather than a shoulder bag, although the handles are big enough to fit over my shoulder, but not too long so the bag hits the ground when carried as a tote.

So, how did I line it? Well, since my sewing skills have deteriorated significantly since 7th grade Home Ec, I just winged it, taking some guidance from Grumperina's post on how she lined her knitted tote (check out the awesome ribbon handle tabs!). I made an inside-out bag just smaller than the Stag Bag (18 x 17 inches!) and sewed a couple of pockets onto it, then slid strips of plastic canvas into the top to give it more strength. I lined the handles with strips of fabric and hand-sewed it all together.

With the dense knitted fabric, the canvas lining, and the plastic reinforcements, it's a really sturdy bag and I hope it gets a lot of use this winter. This project was a real challenge for me, and totally worth it. AND! I have a whole extra skein of the beige Lamb's Pride left over! I can't decide whether to make a hat or mitts...




And here's the finished Eyelet Yoke Sweater from Lion Brand; the dye lot change isn't even noticeable!

My Picture-free post

I don't have my camera! I forgot it at my parents house this weekend! I might not be back before Christmas! What am I going to do?

I will still mention my weekend work. I finished the body of my stag bag. I am blocking it right now, but I don't know what I was thinking. I didn't knit the sides up before I did it! I now have a fuzzy bag and will have to find a nice seam when it is dry. It is huge! I was imagining it to be purse-ish bag size, but it's going to fit my lunch, book, and cat with room to spare. I think that a liner is required so it doesn't stretch to the floor when I stuff it full of my vagabond life. It sure would be great if Tippi could give a tutorial of how to add a liner...

My other weekend project was the socks that I've been working on all year. I finally got the bug to finish them, but I just finished the second heel and I don't have enough yarn! I'm about two inches shy. I really can't follow whatever rule I laid out all that time ago. I am constantly running out of yarn for projects. Gah. This makes me mad only because I should have enough for two socks, but I guess I like the sock to be longer than normal. Maybe I just have legs a piano can stand on :) In any event, I might try and find the yarn again--does dye lot matter all that much? On the other hand, I probably won't wear these things.

I feel like my whole weekend was a waste!

Stag Bag Front

Here's the front of my stag bag:


I think I knit the top wrong, but I looked at the directions several times...It doesn't look weird or bad so I'm not going to stress about it. I just hope the bottom knits the same way. :) I also dropped a stitch, and while I'm not an expert picking up dropped stitches under normal situations, it was quite the problem when I had two choices of yarn. I can't wait to finish this...just in time for deer hunting season

Ta Da!

I thought my camera had died this week so I was a bit frazzled about this whole knit-along, but all is good! And I have both sides of the front done now. Hopefully I will have the whole front done by the end of the weekend. It's knitting up to be a very large bag--bigger than I thought originally!

Stag Bag progress + first holiday project

Here is the Stag Bag so far, all pinned up for blocking. After I sewed the side seams I fulled the bag lightly to tighten it up, and now it has a nice fuzzy, dense, felty kind of feel. The mohair in Lamb's Pride really fuzzes up, which I like. I've started knitting handles, which I think I will do differently than the pattern; I will probably make two tote-like handles rather than one long shoulder strap. I'm also debating whether I will do an applied I-cord along the side seams or just leave them. In any case, I'm pretty happy with it so far - it's huge! And I do love big bags. Oh, and I will be lining it, too, at some point.


And here is a new work in progress, the first sock I've ever knitted, which will be a Christmas gift. The yarn is superwash merino and so far, it's going pretty well. I'm using a really basic pattern from Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd. I haven't gotten to the really terrifying parts of the pattern yet (heel, instep, toes) but I'm cautiously optimistic.

Stag Bag update

I'm a little slower of a knitter than Tippi, so here is my progress on the Stag Bag:


I have all month, right?
This is super fun yarn to knit with. It's so soft--it made me realize that I should venture out beyond wool and acrylic sometimes.

I couldn't wait

I know you are but what am I?

I was hoping to use the yarn specified in the Stag Bag pattern, and like Rita, I'd surveyed the colors and decided that the Chocolate & Fennel really were the best combination. However, the yarn store didn't have either Ultra Alpaca Light or Ultra Alpaca, and it's the only yarn store I've been to here that has nice salespeople, so rather than give my money to New York Yarn Nazis I went with my old favorite, Lamb's Pride, from the nice people. I chose a really dark reddish purple and a slightly heathered wheat color; I really really love this yarn and these two colors, but I hope my choices don't turn out to be too contrasty.


A bonus result of this change of plans is that the bag will turn out larger, and I love big bags. So then, let the great experiment begin!

Knit-along

I guess this is my inaugural post for the Stag Bag knit-along. I went to the yarn store this weekend to purchase the yarn. I wasn't sure if I was going to follow the colors in the pattern, but after looking at all the options, I thought the brown and fennel were the best choices:


Apparently this is brand new yarn, which I didn't know. I had the store employee opening boxes of yarn just so I could see what my options were. I felt kind of bad...