Birthday bag Mark II

Never let it be said I leave things until the last minute.... but I do. :o)
It seems like the only way I can get it done, not the most pleasant way to get it done though.

Another talented knitting friend was having a birthday.
I like making gifts for those who craft, you know they'll appreciate the work and thought (well you hope they do!) but as far as my knitting goes, I'm closer to Kermit than the Yarn Harlot.

Sewing however, well I love sewing.
And as I mature *cough cough* my sewing skills are refining.
I unpick now - instead of just going back and forth till I get it right.
I measure twice and cut once and I try to be quite careful about what I do and how I make it.
(I have to admit though, I have outgrown my "simple" sewing machine and often get cranky at it as it doesn't always sew straight. I'm not just blaming the machine for something that might be my fault, I actually think the feed dogs pull strangely every six or so stitches. Just can't decide which new sewing machine to save up for.)
I modified this pattern (once again) to give a wider gusset and I am very happy with the way this one turned out.
When I started it I wondered if it would turn out all right (and yes I know the stripes don't line up, but I did try and it was fairly late at night) - the colours and all, but in the end I love it. It feels like a summer day, sitting under a big shady tree, with cucumber sandwiches - no crusts.
I tried putting red lining (I'm a red person, my friend is a red person) but it just didn't go, wasn't quite the right colour. I am very happy with the cream lining, it seems red isn't the answer to everything - who knew.
I did manage to cut another one for me (I'm learning) just need to find the time to sit down and sew it.

Birthday bag

This bag is for a friend of mine who is having a special birthday this week.
She's a prolific and talented knitter.
I hope this bag will get filled with some of her lovely projects.
With a 'knot bag' style closure, I drafted this pattern myself and every time I make it I seem to change it a little, this time it's a little deeper.
Although my friend uses lots of colours in her knitting I read somewhere that green was her favourite.
Inside the bag there is a little garden - I love that and pockets to keep all the what-nots in.

Christmas Bag

My Mum gave me a bag once, a very simple project bag. It actually has sheep all over it and she had made lots for her Spinning Group's 21st birthday
I always enjoyed using the bag, possibly because it was so simple.
Anyway I needed to make a bag for my Christmas swap package and I didn't want it to be too complicated (so I could finish it quickly) and needed to fit into the scraps of material I had left over.
I spyed my little bag hanging in my craft room and thought that it would be perfect - with a few modifications of course (since when do I leave good enough alone?).

While drafting the pattern I made a few changes, I made it a little bigger and added enough room to make a gusset (I love my gussets), but basically I kept it pretty much the same.
I did line it though.
And added an internal pocket.
(The inside of this one is done in 'patchwork fashion' ie two pieces were sewn together, mainly because I was making it from my left overs and I really wanted this red inside. It's not as bright red as the pictures, more a lovely rich cherry red.)
I'm very happy with it and a lot of that has to do with the fact I think this fabric looks great with the red inside, but also the shape works well.
Typically I didn't make a second one for me but now have plans to make my own.
Yep, add that to the list.

Neck warmer

I've finished one item on my must-get-finished list.
It's hard to get the colours right.
The blue is actually quite a dark petrol type blue and the red buttons are very cherry red, when I looked at the photographs I instantly thought 'erk, that looks awful' but in real life it looks quite nice and the red and blue compliment each other.
It's crocheted. If I'd read the pattern properly it would have been done length wise, but me being me I just went at it and did it width wise, so doesn't really follow the pattern at all. It does use the same stitch though.
This just means I'm going to have to make another one the proper way I guess.
This neck-warmer is off to quite a cool climate and will be under a swap partner's Christmas tree on Dec 25. I hope it suits her and that she likes it.

Yarn: Moda Vera Tucano (Wool/Bamboo)
Colour: Blue
Hook: 5.5mm
Buttons: 2 large.

The Knitpicks Fairy

The Knitpicks Fairy visited me on Saturday night. (Yep the genuine Knitpicks Fairy, not the dodgy Knitpro one.)
She was tucked away inside the suitcase of a work colleague of my dear husband, who was travelling to Australia from the US.
Look at all the nice things she brought.
More cables (you can't have too many), some needles for sock knitting (yay!), a lace chart keeper, and a set of the nickel tips. (I have the harmony ones but just hankering for some metal.)
There are the odd little trinket in there too like coils for needles and stitch markers.
No acrylic tips though, just not sure they're for me. I was after something slippery, hence the metal tips.

I haven't had a chance to play with them all, I've been concentrating on my 'must-get-finished' list - although, if you're like me, that one never seems to get smaller.

Christmas Crochet

I had grand intentions of crocheting 25 Christmas trees to form our very own advent calendar.
I've managed two so far, well two and a quarter.

The are about 5 inches tall and five inches across the base when folded flat.
I tried using a pattern, but the first one got undone so many times that I just made it up as I went along. (The light green one is my first attempt.)
I'm trying to felt them but my washing machine water doesn't seem to get very hot and the wool doesn't seem to want to co-operate with felting, so I'll make a bunch of them and find a laundromat.

The kids are going to help with the decorations when the little trees are finished.

Socks in the Blue Mountains

Yesterday a few girls from my Guild Knitting Group (including me) took a trip up the freeway to the Blue Mountains to participate in their Sock Workshop.

It was a really enjoyable day, and even those who were already proficient sock knitters learnt something (a really nice way to cast on and start top down socks).

Lynne had done a lot of work to set up the instructions for every possible method of knitting socks that you can imagine (including on two straight needles), which must have required a mammoth amount of work. And I enjoyed her teaching.

I would have said over 50% of the class had not knit a sock before - some were very new to knitting. So everyone did a great job to produce something, even if we didn't get it all finished.

Some photos...
(we were knitting a baby sock in 8ply, by which ever method took your fancy - dpns, magic loop, 2 circulars or if you were brave 2 straight needles) This is the wool/acrylic blend that Mel was knitting into a little sock for me. And Kate knitting some Opal.
Gemma powering through her sock.

Helen working on her sock. Some of the ladies on the day working steadily away.


Lynne, our teacher with Kate paying attention.


The beginning of my sock in the dyed 100% wool.