ball sacks!

Made two ball sacks to hold balls of yarn for two shawls I'm working on.

I used my sewing machine!

I was going to post this yesterday, but after going to dinner with Curt, I was so tired I fell asleep somewhere after the drop of the green flag of the truck race.  It seemed like everyone had taco's yesterday! (Ok Thom taco salad - but still) Even the Angie found a new taco truck on campus and said they made incredible carne asada tacos.  So i told Curt I'd treat him to dinner - and we went to Applebees. Yes, I know not the big name in tex-mex , but I wanted a waiter - which La Salsa doesn't have, and Chili's is far, and the new Mex place in the borough I just don't like.  We had the Ultimate Trio appetizer - mozzarella sticks, queso blanco dip and asian pork wonton taco's (they come in chicken Min!) Then I had steak/shrimp fajitas and Curt had steak/chicken.


But on to sewing.  I got a sewing machine before I got married.  I sewed a few straight lines,  but not many.  Then I got a swap partner who lives in Tallahassee,  FL.  And I got said partner in the middle of July, so thinking of something to hand make for my partner was giving me a blank.  I was going through my craft stuff, and I saw a kit I bought at some point in life for a reversible small tote bag.  And I thought everyone can use another project bag right?  So I put my sewing machine on the table. Wound a  bobbin without too much trouble and went for it.  

So here is side one which I am calling spring/summer

and this side I am calling fall/winter

Grace's Birthday & Spoiler Alert.

If you are doing the she-knit's mystery knit for Kimmy or Samantha - and you do not want a Kimmy Spoiler, do not scroll down any further.  There is a picture of Kimmy after clue 3!

That being said, a little bit late I have pictures from last Thursday.  Last thursday was my friend Grace's Birthday.  I picked her up and took her to lunch in Montville.  It had been literally months since we got together, since she was ill and hurt her knee. (two seperate reasons, sad, but true.  A few months ago she had a blog contest.  I don't even remember what it was.  But I was one of the winners and I won a great shawl. ( Grace makes the best shawls)  Also the last time we had gotten together I was all whiny because the store where I had been buying my favorite tea (yes I sometimes put the coffee cup down and have a tea) stopped carrying it.  So Grace, who buys the decaf (yuck) version of the tea, ordered me 2 boxes.  Grace has been making the cutest gnomes lately ( she goes on such fun knitting sprees, cats, bunnies with their heads on their butts - funny story-)  and she made me  a gnome!  


My gnome hanging out with Kermit - my eggplant plant.



My gnome,  tea and shawl.

THANK YOU GRACE!!!!

Here's a peek at my bag - Kimmy-  after clue 3.  The final clue, involves interior pockets and attaching the strap and then felting.   But I need to catch up on the other bag - Samantha I am making.  Hopefully I will finish clue 3 on Sam before I need to drive Angie back to school tomorrow.  

Clue 1 is tomorrow!

The colors came out awful.  The top right is a bit purplier (without being purple) The bottom right is a deep dark blackberry purple.  The center bottom is more of a golden/camel tan, the top center is a dark chocolate.  The bottom is more of a darker sage, and the top left is a much lighter shade of the same green.  Hopefully as the project progresses I will get some daytime pictures.  I still need to make sure I have the right needles (don't know why I didn't check that before... aw geez, may have to hit an LYS... geez...)  

This is another she-knits KAL  for Kimmy, a slip stitch color work messenger shaped bag.  I love Sharon Dreiffus's bags ( I usually don't do mystery KAL because it can turn out to be a lot of work for a disappointing finished object.  But Sharon hasn't let me down yet!)  It is supposed to be all bulky weight yarn, which will be felted when done.  I didn't want to spend the $65 on Sharon's kit this time ( all the dorm shopping has made a dent in my wallet) so I went with knit picks instead.  I couldn't get the light green or purple I want in their bulky, but I have in previous felted projects, mixed 2 strands of their worsted with their bulky and it felted to an even fabric, so I went that route.

She has another simultaneous KAL going on for Sammy, a bag with I think it sounds like organizer pockets.  I bought both patterns together (cheaper that way)  but, haven't bought yarn for Sammy yet.  I want a variegated dark blue yarn.  It uses 3 skeins variegated/heathered/nonsolid bulky yarn, 2 of a solid mathcing bulky and 1 of another solid.  I want a REALLY deep blue bag.  I am leaning toward Aruncania, but that seems like a waste to felt! I MAY  do a swatch with some leftover Aruncania and some leftover knit picks bulky. and felt it.  If it felts together well, I may get 3 skeins of A from Webs, and the other 3 from Knit picks.

Until tomorrow - Happy Knitting! 

Why does it take so long to dry?

My autumn is felted and drying.  I still have to futz with the braid.

Another Creepy Cute Crochet!

 

Meet the Vampyre Queen!  My latest evil minion!   You have no idea how hard her hair was to do!!

Here she is before assembly:

I am FINALLY ready to felt my Autumn ( the name of the mystery bag I was making) YAY!  I made a whole bunch of changes near the end, but of course I am prone to that.  I added a side cell/glasses pocket, 2 other interior pockets on the long side, and decided I didn't like the way the Eco-alpaca scarf bunched up in the "belt" loops.  A few other knitters posted on the Rav group that they had made a second i-cord braid to go through the loops.  I liked the way that looked a lot better.  SO last night I whipped out three i-cords and braided them.  I guess the scarf will be a scarf! LOL

The back & outer pocket of the bag (yes only I post the back first)

The front of the bag.

Really bad picture of the interior pockets!

So now it's off to the washing machine for felting!  I can't wait to see how it comes out!  I've done a lot of felting, but it is an inexact science to be sure, so even though I think I know how it will come out, only the washer knows for sure!  Pic's of the finished bag in a few days!!

Project Updates

I have revived my dumpling bag.  It was relegated to the almost done pile, because I wasn't happy with how the vine looked after felting.  I recently saw several dumpling bags that were embroidered after felting, and they looked good.  So I thought about it, and I bought the heaviest embroidery floss that AC Moore and Michaels carry.  I got gold, black and white,  I think I'm only going to use the gold and white. 



I went over the vines with the gold.  I tried out french knots with the white and wasn't happy.  I then tried a funny three petaled flower with a beaded french knot in the center.  So eventually the bag will be done.

My mystery bag has all 4 sides done- I need to knit the top and do a icord bind off and seam the sides, then I'll be ready for the final clue.  I did cheat a little and wove all the ends in ( which I'm assuming is in clue 5 somewhere. )  One of the KAL participants had mentioned that it would be easier when the bag was flat.  Also that the stem stitch embroidery  was easier.  I don't have a picture of the stem stitch outline and veining on the leaf.







Look how many ends I wove in!!