Fiber and Photography

2007-04-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

Come check out my new blog here to seewhat knitting adventures I'm up to!

2007-02-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

My almost 10-year-old daughter wanted me to post her latest creations! No patterns were followed, just her own imagination.

A crocheted stuffed bear and his blanket.

Close-up shot of "Stuffy".

The scarf came with the penguin, but he is now a pirate penguin!

A chic cat!

A really cool knitted cotton bag. Love how she embellished it!

2007-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Over at my new blog, Lilibeth's Garden, I've posted a new entry on the ball winder I'm going to be saving for over the next few months. I'm in love!

2007-02-09T09:01:00.000-08:00

I decided to delete this post....the privilege of a blogger! ;-)

2007-01-25T09:29:00.000-08:00

I know I've been very neglectful of my blog. It can't be denied that when I get onto something (like selling felted bags), everything else falls by the wayside.

Here's some dying I did last weekend, on a very neutral light coloured wool:

These are chubby hanks that are around 7-8 ounces each. The first one was done with Dylon Cold A3 Lilac. I found it at our local fabric store. I love the colour, it's perfect. I got very consistent results. I just don't fancy the idea of using chemical dyes, yet I can't deny the results are the best.

The second skein was an overdye job done on some cornflower blue wool that I wasn't in love with. I used Kool-Aid in Strawberry, with some grape thrown in towards the end. Not totally consistent results, but I'm sure it'll knit up fine. A little too rosey for my taste, but that just proves how strong Kool-Aid is!

The third skein was again the neutral wool, this time dyed with Wilton icing colour in Violet. Man you don't need much of this stuff! I used WAY too much and it wasn't even half a teaspoon. There was tons of colour left in the pot. Next time I'll use much much much less. I see the potential for a very nice muted violet. I wasn't going for ultra violet! But it's very pretty.

The orange below used to be orange from Kool-Aid, but it was too soda pop orange. I overdyed it with turmeric (an Indian spice, also called 'Indian Saffron), and threw in a bit of the neutral wool and boy what a yellow! The orange is still too orangey, it'll become part of my wool embroidery stash.

Dying is fun!!

2007-01-17T18:18:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited, I just purchased this walnut yarn swift online from Knitting Notions. Jon (hubby) is buying it for me for our 18th wedding anniversary. It looks like a piece of fine furniture. It is finished with "a blend of tung oil and linseed oil, followed by a topcoat of beeswax". It'll be such a relief to give my shoulders a break from unwinding a skein from around the back of 2 chairs. Now all I need is a ball winder!

2007-01-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

A bag with a destiny

I had a bag listed at my etsy shop that had at least 570 views and yet it sat unpurchased for a month. I had come to the conclusion that it must be awaiting a special destiny. On Saturday I had a woman in Helsinki, Finland ask if I shipped internationally. I had never shipped overseas but I offered to look into it right away. Later that day I was mailing off my little green bag to Finland! I was so pumped because it made me happy to see it go to a place where the Scandinavian culture embraces colour. It feels like it's going to where it belongs.

The buyer said that she wouldn't be my last overseas buyer, which was such a sweet thing to say. Can't deny this is all very fulfilling!

2007-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

I finally tracked down a way to work around my problem of logging into my Blogger account! Phew! Anyways, just a hit-and-run post of a recent bag I made:

Let me just say that weaving in the ends for each row of colour took about as long as knitting the whole bag! Not really, but it felt like it. ;-)

That's a seed/moss stitch strap, I think about 5 stitches wide. One thing I learned about doing a strap like this (the hard way!!), is that a seed stitch strap will grow in length, not shrink. Pre-felting the strap was 19" long. Post-felting it was 23". Something to keep in mind!

2006-12-22T10:20:00.000-08:00

Blue and Pink FO and Like Mother Like Daughter?

I love this pattern (my own). It's foolproof, has a simple design, and is a great "canvas" for embellishment.

I listed this on etsy before lunch and apparently my mom got home from work, got on her computer, checked out my stuff, saw this bag and had to have it.

I must say it is weird taking money from family. There's a side of you that feels obligated to just give it away. Thankfully I have a family who puts a value on handmade items, whether made by daughter, sister, or stranger.

Unbeknownst to me, my 9-year old daughter decided to do some freestyle embroidery on a dud bag that I had given her to experiment with. I'm amazed at what she did!! She didn't plan it out, just went for it and made decisions as she went along. Sounds a lot like me!

It's becoming a work of art!

2006-12-21T08:15:00.000-08:00

Ebay findings received today

I received these today from an ebay seller. I'm thinking they'll be perfect for embroidery since it's so beautifully fine. They are all variegated, though not quite as colourful as expected. It's a gamble when buying wool online!

Flowers, I see flowers in this.

Hmmmm, fall leaves on a tree perhaps? Fall'ish flowers?

There is a barely discernible lavender in this. I see Queen Anne's lace.

Last but not least, the felted handbag I listed on etsy today. Yes, being the first day of winter, it makes sense to list such a springy bag, does it not?! Am I in denial?? Must be. ;-)

The flowers are Koolaid dyed wool. I dyed very small skeins, removing them at different times. Towards the end, there was mostly blue left in the water and I threw in a fresh skein. It gave it a very blueish pale purple. It's amazing the variety of colour you can get in grape Koolaid alone!

2006-12-19T06:51:00.000-08:00

Japanese influences....

Anyone who proudly considers themselves an obsessive knitter or crafter eventually stumbles onto the existence of Japanese craft books. Do such a search on Flickr and you'll see what I mean. Then go to ebay and get lost in the tempting titles offered. I did, and that's how this book came into my possession:

I love knitting and felting bags, and embellishing them with stitchery or embroidery has become my latest facination.

The publisher is Ondori, and I would definitely keep an eye out for books published by them. By the way, the book is in Japanese, but I'll manage. ;-)

Here's a website of a Japanese embroidery artist I've come to admire: Machiko Nishikawa.

2006-12-16T11:45:00.000-08:00

Surprise, surprise...more bags

I finished 3 more bags yesterday and today was bright enough to photograph them. I'm not in love with all 3 of them, I wish I was. I know we are all our own worst critic. I love the Noro Kureyon #165 bag, that one is definitely an interesting one. The colours are vivid and beautiful. Not a bag for one who wants to blend in with the crowd.

The lavender and blue one didn't have the stripes turn out like I imagined, but I adore the design and love the wooden toggle button. The last bag is nice too, just not my style. How did I end up doing that??

I think it's high time to get working on a couple new Fair Isle bags!

2006-12-08T17:26:00.000-08:00

Just couldn't do it

I was going to list a bag on etsy tonight, but my heart just wasn't in it. I was finishing it up earlier today and it was as if I was hearing in my head "this is mine, this is mine", but I pushed those thoughts aside. I was writing up the description just a few minutes ago and realized I was selling my soul for what? This baby is mine, a present to myself.

I made it with wool yarn from a sweater I found at a thrift shop in the summer. It was the colour I had been searching for, I like to call it "driftwood". I plan to make a duplicate bag and make some improvement on some little things (the leaf colour doesn't "pop" like I'd prefer, the upper trunk of the tree needs to be "redrawn"). Then I'd be happy to part with bag #2 and keep my original!

(Click on the photo to get a better view)

The bonus is this bag is bigger than my current one! Woo hoo!

2006-12-08T11:23:00.000-08:00

Been busy making bags....

Here are my most recent creations. The first bag is done in Fair Isle.

(Edited to add that the motif is from the book "1000 Great Knitting Motifs" by Luise Roberts).

Gotta love Fair Isle, you can only imagine how the colorwork will look after it's felted. I'm really loving this design for a bag. I'm working on another, but Fair Isle is slow going.

This is a VERY small handbag, only big enough for a medium sized wallet, cellphone, keys, and a few other small items. It's a fun bag though.

Here's another, which now belongs to my best friend:

Last, but not least, a green bag with embroidery. I love this one!

2006-11-28T18:19:00.000-08:00

No winter colors on this bag!

I'm particularly fond of this bag. This is the second of it's kind, I posted a picture of a light green one with a ceramic button awhile back. Heck I'll post it again because I'd like to see them together.

Oh dear, that ceramic button would have looked great on the bag above!! Oh well, I wanted the closure to blend in with the rest of the bag so the stripes would be emphasized. Besides, those buttons are $10tx each!

I sold the light green one on etsy and the pink/green/blue one was just listed today. Gotta make myself one of these some day!

2006-11-28T06:17:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of my latest work. This is a Fair Isle bag that was fun to knit. It's one of the faster motifs to knit up, and it's a nice effect. I gave it an i-cord knot and loop style closure.

Before:

After:

Here's another bag that I forgot to take a before picture of. I've been getting neglectful of that lately! It's made from Noro Kureyon #92, accented by a hand-painted ceramic button.

2006-11-22T19:19:00.000-08:00

More family pictures!

(Edited to add that I'm very bummed that I never got a picture of my dad!!! I'll have to make sure I get one next time!)

Little darlings!!!!

My sister's very talented hubby Todd, my beautiful sister Christie, my wonderful brother Carey, and his beautiful wife Janice:

My brother's beautiful wife Marissa, my other wonderful brother Brad, our son Mitchell, myself, and Jon:

Cousin Dolce! I now want a Boston Terrier!!:

My sis:

My son Mitchell, who hates getting his picture taken. Can you tell??:

An attempt to sneak a non-flash picture of Katie...oops, she caught me! Kids at this age, boy you could just eat 'em up! ;-)

2006-11-22T15:26:00.000-08:00

Goodies I bought while away!

On the top of my list was the Fiber Trends Needle Felting Starter Kit. In hindsight I wish I would have bought the coloured roving too, but I'm pretty sure my LYS carries some beautiful stuff. I didn't find any shops in my travels that had any, but then I didn't hit Toronto.

I almost didn't buy the book on the right!!!! I'm so glad that I did. It was $9.99tx and has some neat felted items in it. It also has some needle felting instructions. Thankfully all the instructions are in english. It's a Scandinavian company, here's their website.

Cool new purse ideas, woo hoo!!!
This is Canadian wool from a company I wasn't familiar with. It's very much like Briggs & Little. This colour was the most unique from what B&L offers, it's a nice dark foresty green. I just found the company, Topsy Farms.

This is some gorgeous 1 ply bulky from the UK. I had to frog what I started because I was running out of wool. I'm attempting to squeeze a bag out of it, but that might be difficult. Perhaps I'll have to finally make my first hat. It's very pretty stuff! It was purchased at Kniterary in Whitby, Ontario. Here's one source.

A Briggs & Little felted bag pattern I didn't even know existed. A nice surprise.
I got Pursenalities Plus for 40% off with a Michaels coupon, and I found the Stitch & Bitch book at a discount store for half the cover price. Yay!

2006-11-22T12:43:00.000-08:00

Finally made it to Briggs & Little

On our way out of the province we were able to pop into Canada's oldest woolen mill, Briggs & Little. I was thrilled to find that the colours listed at their site are not up to date, they had more colours than I expected.

Here are the pictures I took, plus what I bought. The wonderful thing is that since this is their mill, the price per skein is $3.75 instead of the usual $5.15 you pay in your LYS.
Look at all this wool!!!!
Nice felted bag.
More nice felted bags.
Had to buy the pattern, especially since it was $2.
What I left with. The colours are much better in real life. I'll be back for more after Christmas when I can convince Jon to go for an hour and a half long drive.

2006-11-22T11:50:00.000-08:00

Back home from visiting with my family

I'm back from visiting my wonderful family! Oh how I miss them!! All my siblings, parents, and extended family live in Ontario, and I in New Brunswick. I'm going to try to not be sad but instead look forward to going back again in early spring.

Here are some pictures:

Kids watching Alf in the hotel room. We broke the trip up into 2 days going there, but drove back in one day to get back home.

Preparations for my mom's killer chili (killer meaning beats all others I've had for a long long time). I'll have to attempt to duplicate it pronto.

Jon (hubby) and my mom working on the chili.

Eating breakfast out!

My sister's kids, Mason and Sophie, and my daughter Faith conveniently hiding behind the railing.

My mom and her boyfriend Lawrence, and Jon.

Well, as usual, Blogger is being a pain in the butt and not allowing me to upload any more pictures. I'll post more pics as soon as Blogger cooperates. I'll just say that I had a wonderful time and miss everyone like crazy. Can't wait to head up there again.

2006-11-14T19:15:00.000-08:00

Ah sheep, My new favourite animal. I'll be leaving in the morning to head to Ontario to visit my family. It's about a 15 hour drive but we'll be breaking that up between 2 days. Hubby is content to have time off from work, I have lots of wool and needles to keep me occupied, and the kids have their DVD players to watch their shows and movies.

Along our way we're going to stop in at Briggs & Little, Canada's oldest woolen mill. I'm excited because I've never been there! I love their wool, it's very affordable and felts nice and slow which makes for less felting disasters. I think they have a bunch of new colours which are not even shown on their site. I'm giddy with anticipation!

I hope to hit a few LYS's. My wish list consists of Fiber Trends Needle Felting Starter Kit, the book "Pursenalities", and roving. A few skeins would be lovely (and necessary). This is an economy trip, so I'll have to be very picky! :-)

2006-11-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

Finally fixed my Fair Isle bag...

I don't remember if I posted a picture of this Fair Isle bag with it's borrowed blue handles.

I finally made a coordinating grey i-cord strap yesterday and felted it this afternoon. It looks pretty good.

Fair Isle is very time consuming, but the end result is really worth it.

2006-11-11T16:02:00.000-08:00

My most recent felted bags...

I think it's about time I revealed what I've been working on. Over the past few months I've been knitting bags in hopes to strike upon ones that are worthy of selling on Etsy. I adore knitting and felting bags, picking the colours, being inspired by something unrelated to knitting that gives me a design or colour idea. I'm not even really a purse person! I carry next to nothing in my favourite felted bag. I'm not into having a purse that goes with this outfit or that. So what's a girl to do? Might as well enjoy making more bags and selling them.

Here are some bags I've made, including a few befores and afters. I keep needing my hubby's and best friend's assurance that they are "good enough"...yes I'm fishing for more opinions! ;-) It's too late anyways as I finally started an Etsy shop and listed some bags on Friday. The site is down for updating for this weekend....figures! LOL!

2006-11-09T08:54:00.000-08:00

Before and After Clogs

I love the colour combo she chose. Now I just need to gather up some colours for myself.

2006-11-05T10:01:00.000-08:00

One down, one to go

Yesterday I knit up one clog for my daughter. I've got to say that knitting the smallest size is fun because you get to skip all those "extra" rows. What a quick knit once you've gotten one pair under your belt. These are made out of Patons Classic Merino in Petal Pink and Rich Red. These two colours were made to go together. Hopefully I'll be able to cast on the second clog later on today.

I was in Michaels today and saw them putting out Lion Brand Wool for the first time. I'll have to search online to read reviews of it.

Happy knitting all you fiber artists out there!!

2006-11-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Fiber Trends Felted Clogs

I had until midnight tonight to get my Fiber Trends felted clogs done. I'm grateful that Janice had challenged me to a knit-along in the first place because knowing me, my poor hubby Jon would still be waiting for me to make him a pair.

What a fun pattern! Takes some concentration but its a very satisfying accomplishment. On the second clog I goofed up at a certain point. I either went too far before knitting in the other direction, or didn't go far enough. That's what I get for getting overconfident and knitting while watching a show. This is not the kind of pattern where you just rip back because you can't really keep track of the rows. Thankfully with the skills I've learned through this pattern, I was able to "fix" it. I had to fill in a section that wasn't even with the other side. So that imperfect one doesn't look quite as perfect as my first one. Jon doesn't care though, he can't wait until they are dry.

(drying by the woodstove; one has already gotten a "haircut")

I could have gotten them done sooner but I ran out of one colour. My LYS told me I might be able to get away with 3 skeins of Alafoss Lopi for a men's medium, but I needed half of a 4th skein. Thankfully the shop still had that colour, and the same lot #.

Now I'd like to get some yarn to make myself a pair, and a pair for my 9 year old daughter. My 13 year old son is not sure he wants a pair. Maybe he will once he sees us all wearing them this winter!

I had restricted myself to these clogs until I had them done. Now I can get back to knitting my bags!!!!! Woo hoo!

2006-10-30T11:03:00.000-08:00

Increasing my Stash

The mailman just delivered my latest supply of wool. I love the green, its even nicer than I expected it to be. It would be a great colour for a spring purse. Its DK weight, so I'll be double-stranding it. I'm starting to run into the problem of where to store my yarn! Scary thing is, there's more on the way.

Long ago, I posted about a Noro Iro bag that I had to completely frog due to newbie knitter error. I finally picked it up again and finished knitting a bag. It's felted, but I haven't take a picture yet. It took about a skein and a half. I don't know what I'll do with what's left over.

2006-10-30T05:28:00.000-08:00

I've been a baaaad blogger....

I've neglected my blogging big time. I'm afraid I've been, shall we say, obsessed with designing and knitting bags to felt for my soon-to-be Etsy shop. I'm a perfectionist, so that means lots of prototypes until I hit one that passes the test. I have a couple that my husband and friends say are great and that I should sell. I guess I don't want to rush into just whipping some bags up to make a buck. It has to be something I'm pleased and proud of. So I continue to knit, measure, and alter the patterns.

I have today and tomorrow to complete my felted clogs as per a challenge by Janice. I've realized I suck at knit-alongs!!! I'm too easily distracted. But the challenge is good because my poor hubby has been wanting these clogs for the past few weeks. I'll try to work on them today.

Here are some pictures of what I've been working on. The pictures aren't the greatest:

Thanks for looking!

2006-10-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

Open house is all over, apparently we had a good turnout, and the reaction was very positive. Our agent called to say that there are 3 people who are very interested and had a few questions which I readily provided answers to. I'm not holding my breath as nothing means anything until that sold sign goes up and it's a done deal.

In the meantime....I have a clean house!! I mean a super clean house! What to do??? I've been cleaning for 4 or 5 days now and hardly know how to just sit and relax without any pressing tasks haunting me. Obviously I need to try to wind down and pick up the needles. I'm also hoping that I'll be able to keep it clean. I'm not one who is naturally inclined to tidy up when I could be playing instead. But I'm going to try to keep it looking this way:

2006-10-14T20:49:00.000-07:00

Oh to have life return to normal! We have 2 weeks left on our listing agreement with our real estate agent, and tomorrow we're having our one and only open house. I was also busy enjoying our Canadian Thanksgiving with our best friends and their new friends from Northern Ireland. There is NOTHING like an Irish Thanksgiving!

I hope to post some pics on Monday. I've been making bags (no surprise there), and working on my Fiber Trends felted clogs. I'm enjoying that pattern, it is very well written, it's just that it takes concentration. But it works if you don't goof up.

I also started my first pair of heavy work socks for my hubby. I'm not very far into it, but I'm using this site here: Knitting Socks Online Class.

I put in my first order to Elann.com so that will be an exciting parcel to receive.

Now to get to bed and see if I can knit a few rows on something!

2006-10-05T09:52:00.001-07:00

Christmas in October - It's a Great Day Today!!!

Today I got 2 packages in the mail. One seemed hard like a book, and I was expecting one. The other seemed soft. Did my hubby buy yet another hunting vest off ebay?? A little ripping and lo and behold I see some wonderful yarn....what's this??? A package from one of my stitch marker exchange partners?????? Oh glory be! This one hails from Stephanie in Kentucky. I can hardly believe my eyes. Handmade stitch markers, handmade candy corn beads (guess what I'll be turning those into!), a cute kitty ornament, a gorgeous little dishcloth, and eyeball candy (LOL!), and last but certainly not least, handspun and dyed yarn from Uruguay! This colour is called Robles and can be purchased at handpaintedyarn.com. It's 160 yards/100 grams, 100% Wool, Bulky Weight. I LOVE IT!! I've started to make small totes that don't take more than 1 skein of yarn and I think this amount will be perfect! And if I want more, I know where to get it from because Stephanie told me, yay! They ship to Canada, and you can pay by PayPal, and shipping is so reasonable. I will definitely make a future purchase there and add their link to my blog.

The stitch markers are gorgeous, so very pretty and fallish. These babies will be replacing the ones I've been using, which were the first stitch markers I ever made, very nice, but not artsy like these ones are. Now my knitting will look like it has REAL jewelry on!

THANK YOU STEPHANIE! Yes I'm yelling. I love it all. The yarn is so me, I love autumn colours. Everything is wonderful. Oh and this is my first exchange of any kind. Stephanie you outdid yourself, I feel spoiled. I would have been pleased as punch with just the stitch markers, but thank you for all the extras. :-) By the way, I'm still working on your package, but will be mailing mine out in about a week or so.

Oh ya, my other package, the book. I ordered "1000 Great Knitting Motifs" by Luise Roberts. Boy will this book get some use. I've been wanting a source of Fair Isle charts that could be worked into a small bag, but most free charts online are quite large and would have to worked on a larger bag. They are very time consuming. This is just what I needed. (Blogger.com doesn't seem to want to upload any more pics, so I can't show the book or a few pages, darn it!).

Well, today is my day to feel spoiled. My kids told me I was acting like it was Christmas...well it sure felt like it!

2006-10-04T05:21:00.000-07:00

Fiber Trends Felted Clogs Mini-KAL

Okay Janice over at Willow Way Knitting, I'm up for a felted clogs knit-along. I signed up for a class at my LYS but I'm thinking they didn't get enough people on the list and therefore haven't organized a class yet. I have everything I need, so I'm going to go ahead and make them. Perfect timing too, with the weather changing.

So thanks for suggesting the KAL Janice!

Someone on ebay finally had Fiber Trends Gelato Purse pattern. My LYS doesn't have it, but now it will soon be in my hands. It's so cute, I can't wait to make one...or two...or three...

2006-10-01T20:27:00.000-07:00

I just did my very first online yarn order! Little Knits has Noro Kureyon #165 for sale for $4.40 per skein, or $39.50 for a bag of 10 skeins. I got the bag of 10. Here in Canada Kureyon sells for $10 each. I couldn't let this deal pass me by now could I? I also got a skein of Ella Rae Classic in Khaki Beige (Color #22). That will be for a nice small neutral purse.

2006-10-01T15:25:00.000-07:00

I'm putting this link here for my own benefit, but I found a free pattern that matches what I had hoped to find: a vest that has a deep V neck and close fitting (to be worn over a blouse). The pattern can be found at the Ram Wools website: Gilmore Vest. Here's a closer look at Ram Wools.

Here's why I want to make a vest like this, I love the look! I'm not up for argyle though, at least not yet!

2006-10-01T14:45:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all who encouraged me to go ahead and try to make the sweater below. I have no doubt that if I run into any problems, fellow knitters will be there for my questions. I hope to be able to order it soon, but if I can't wait, I might have to borrow the money from my 13 year old who's saving up for the Nintendo Wii!

My Bully Woolies bag is felted, but I have to put on the button and shorten the strap somehow, I just haven't decided how (design-wise). After it was felted, I was hurrying around the house trying to find something to block it with. Thankfully I espied our big jug and it was a perfect fit.

Here's our yorki-poo, looking very tempted to attack my ball of yarn...

2006-09-26T12:50:00.000-07:00

I got my Ram Wools catalogue in the mail today. In case you didn't know, I've only been knitting for a couple months and my biggest accomplishments have been knitted and felted bags. A cropped Lopi hooded jacket has caught my eye and I'm wondering if I'm up for it. Its classified as "Easy". I'm sure that's a relative term. If I can convince hubby to buy it for me, I might give it a shot:

2006-09-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a few pictures of my growing stash. Michaels had Patons Classic Merino on sale last week so I got a few skeins, though not as many as I really would have liked to have gotten. I envision a few Fair Isle bags.

Now this picture is a little embarrassing because it seems a little, um, extreme (purchase c/o Mr. Visa). One our our local dollar stores here in Canada brings in wool from Briggs & Little every fall, for $3 per skein. If I could get more I would, and believe me I will try! It's a lot of wool for one person, but I have thoughts of some day designing and making bags to sell. I have too many ideas and desires for knitting bags, way beyond what I personally would need.

Below is the finished/modified Teeny Tiny Tote that I made for my daughter. I love it and want to make something for myself out of the wool that is left, but I think I might need another skein, maybe not. It's Noro Kureyon colorway #92. Maybe I'll make myself a larger version with 2 flat straps replacing the cord style ones. A friend at church yesterday asked if I'd make her one, that she would pay me, but I think I'd rather make a note of her wishes and keep it in mind for a Christmas present. Not that she and I exchange gifts, but being paid to make a bag adds an element of pressure I have no desire to feel. I want to make something for the pure joy of it. If someone wants to buy it then, well be my guest! LOL!

This is my current project, I FINALLY started my Bully Woolies tote. I'm lovin' the colours in this thing and this will be mine, all mine. I had to frog the entire bottom of the bag because I did it wrong. I was thankful to have realized the mistake now and not after felting! The bag is worked from the top down, which was new to me. I love how the top edge is worked, you *K2, P2* the first row, then K the second row. Repeat these two rows 2 more times, increasing by 3 stitches on the last row. No roll whatsoever!

I so love this knitting thing. I feel like my creative side was lying dormant for the past 13 years while my kids were young. Now with a 13 year old and 9 year old, I can start exploring my own personal passions.

2006-09-21T06:26:00.000-07:00

Here are my latest projects, a bag for my 9 year old daughter loosely based on the teeny tiny tote, and a Sophie Bag with a flat strap. My daughter's bag will have either a heavy artsy pin or a hand painted ceramic button to keep the flap weighted down. I used Noro Kureyon, colourway 92.

I had originally planned on having a flap on the Sophie, but I'm going to either add a toggle style button with a crocheted loop, or I'll crochet a chain and loop a circular stone embellishment on it to keep the purse closed.

2006-09-13T06:37:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest WIP, another Sophie Bag done with Paton's Classic Merino in Denim Marl. I wanted to see if I could do a much better job than I did on my last one/first one. I got the body of the bag done in about 24 hours (minus sleeping, eating, surfing etc.) but I have a feeling the rest will take a little longer. I was about 3 inches into making the first I-cord and realized that I must try something different because I was getting that unsatisfied feeling. Why keep going when you're feeling that way. So I ripped all the way back to the last row. After doing a bit of math, I decided that I would do a seed stitch (flat) strap, and even add a front flap. Now I have to go out and buy 9" size 10.5 knitting needles (my knitting tools arsenal is small). It'll be slow going doing k1, p1, k1, p1....but I'm too curious to see how it'll turn out. Oh and I definately need another skein of Patons.

My only fear is that it will turn out to be a small purse. I still haven't gotten a grip on that, whether I should knit double stranded, or bigger needles/more yardage (more money!). The only way to find out is to just do it!

2006-09-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post a picture of the Fair Isle bag in it's blocking phase. I should mention that this is basically a modified Booga Bag.

I'm quite excited about this technique, it's very forgiving since it ends up felted.

2006-09-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

I went into my favourite LYS (Cricket Cove) this past weekend (I have to be careful not to drool on things when I'm in there!!). A week or so before this I bought a copy of Fiber Trends felted clog pattern there. This time I got some Alafoss Lopi to make my first pair (for hubby). The colours he chose were Grey Green, and Forest Heather. As a new knitter I've never used this yarn, and I look forward to trying it out. I also signed up for a felted clogs class. I could figure it out on my own, but this way will be much more fun. I can't wait!

I finished knitting my Fair Isle bag. For the top edge, I knit 1, purl 1, before binding off. This helped a little with it rolling over. I was quite nervous about throwing it in the wash, especially since my last felting project (see little Sophie Bag below!). Its turned out great so far. I can't wait until its dry! I ran out of Patons dark grey, so I have to get more to do the straps.

Here are a few before pictures, the first one shows the inside, plus my poochy!:

2006-09-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's what I've been up to lately. For one thing, I discovered that I've been doing the knit stitch wrong. As a newbie self-taughter knitter, I suppose this is a risk you take. The discovery was made while watching Philosopher's Wool video clip on how to do the Two-handed Fair Isle Technique. You can probably see the bias I had going on my pre-felted Sophie bag in the previous blog entry. So now I have my Noro Iro Booga Bag that I had been working on needing frogging. If you look at the picture below, you can see where I attached a twist tie to mark where I starting knitting correctly. What a difference, DUH!!

A closer look:

Oh well, I'm happy that I saw the light. I can now say that I am a continental knitter, where before I just figured I had my own style.

Here's my latest project. I mentioned previously that I was going to do this bag for my Bag Me KAL. Here's how it's going so far. It will be felted and I must say that if this works out there will be more to come. Maybe next time I'll show what it looks like on the inside. I'll be lining it but I don't think it looks half bad for a beginner.

Here's my latest handmade stitch markers:

Oh and I've got to show off my latest recycled yarn from a men's wool sweater I got at a thrift shop. Sorry to say I didn't take a picture of the sweater first, but so far I have 5 skeins at 272 yards each. I love this colour and have had my eye out for something like since the start of my knitting journey. I see a Sophie Bag (knitted and felted properly this time), and I'm not sure what else.

Well I have some major catching up on reading fellow knitter's blogs....I've been too busy knitting so I'm behind! A good excuse to brew some coffee. Thanks to all who leave comments, I find them very encouraging and love having an excuse to see what you are also up to with your projects. :-)

2006-09-01T12:25:00.000-07:00

A short while ago I threw this bag into the wash for felting:

Well, any fears of Patons SWS yarn not felting has totally left my mind! I now have a cute little purse, big enough for my wallet, the cellphone, a package of gum, and lipgloss. Figures I'd get this felting thing down THIS time, when before it always took about 3 runs in the machine. THIS time I added the pair of jeans, I also soaped up 2 faceclothes with a sunlight soap laundry bar instead of using baking soda. I walked away. WHAMMO! One run and we've gone from shoulder bag to wrist bag!

Note to self: CHECK felting process instead of throwing caution to the wind! This little thing WAS 12" wide and 12 1/2" long (excluding straps). It is now 6 1/4" wide and 6 1/2" long.

In reality I laughed my head off as I pulled it out of the pillow case. It's a good thing I wasn't in love with the colourway and looked at the whole thing as an experiment. Just seems like an awful lot of knitting for such a small bag!

2006-09-01T07:43:00.000-07:00

My latest project is for the bag KAL I just joined. The challenge is to knit and felt a bag that has colour work. An image, wording, whatever you want to knit into it using a chart. Being a novice knitter who only began knitting for the first time a short while ago, I haven't had the chance to add this technique to my arsenal of knitting weapons. After days and days of searching and thinking, I've decided to try my hand a Fair Isle as opposed to my first choice of intarsia. This pattern below will be worked with Patons Classic Merino in dark grey and leaf green. You should be able to click on the link and get to the site where I found the pattern.

I knitted and frogged, knitted and frogged, until I finally decided to knit in the round. This way the pattern will be all around the bag. My plan is to sew up the bottom in the end. Maybe I'll put a rectangular bottom in it, I'm not sure. All I know is knitting in the round is much easier than going back and forth on straight needles!

2006-08-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post the progress on my Sophie Bag done with Patons SWS yarn. I have 19 more rows until I start working on the handles.

I joined Stuff Knitters Want and Gotta Have Exchange (Stitch Marker Exchange and More!). Should be fun to give and receive handmade stitch markers...and more!

I was so bummed that I didn't discover the International Tote Exchange II until it was too late to sign up...I was late by like 3 days! My name is down for a possible third run in the new year. I hope they do it!

Now I'm toying with the idea of joining the Ohhh Bag Me KAL. September's project looks like fun to try for this newbie knitter. I already have an idea in mind.

Well, here's my Sophie Bag so far:

2006-08-27T10:03:00.000-07:00

For my Bag-A-Holic buddies, my current progress on my Patons SWS Sophie Bag. I'm about to pick up stitches all around. I'm liking how the colour changes, at first I thought it was unpredictable, but it seems to have reverse repeated itself! It's not perfect, but keep in mind I only started knitting for the first time a week ago!

(Edited to add that yes I realized I mistakenly knitted 5 extra rows than needed for the Sophie Bag!)

2006-08-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Just to show how much yarn one can get from thrift store wool sweaters, I'm posting a picture of the basket of yarn gleaned from 3 sweaters. The thing is, the pink one's from pieces were unsalvageable, the burnt orange's front has yet to be unraveled, and the green sweater was a child's size. These are destined to be turned into either felted bags, bowls, or my first pair of felted clogs.

2006-08-26T16:41:00.000-07:00

Today on my Yahoo Bag-A-Holic group, all it took was for someone to mention the new Patons SWS yarn and that sent me on a trip to Michael's. I bought 2 skeins of Natural Earth and will use it to make my Sophie Bag. Can't wait to see how it felts!

2006-08-26T13:08:00.000-07:00

Here's what I've scavenged so far off the wool sweaters I bought at a local thrift store. The pink yarn was from a J Crew sweater. There's still more to come of the burnt orange (Old Navy), and the green (American Eagle) coloured yarn, I've only just started unraveling those sweaters. The green is from a sweater that I washed incorrectly, it was on it's way to being felted. It'll be fine for a felted bag. In the end I'll have a heck of a lot of recycled yarn for next to nothing. Through this process I learned how to wash wool sweaters properly, and how to tell good seams from bad seams. I'm also getting quite proficient at unraveling!

2006-08-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

The other night I was knitting in bed with my 9 year old daughter sitting beside me. She asked me if I would teach her how to knit. I told her to get some yarn and needles and I proceeded to cast-on a few stitches and showed her the knit stitch about 5 times in a row and then handed it to her. The kid just picked right up where I left off, slowly but surely! Now somehow she's inadvertently added a few increases since it's now wider than when she started, but I'm very proud of her.

The funny part is later on when I went to go to bed I walked by her bedroom to find her light still on and her still knitting. She said "I know I should go to sleep but I keep telling myself just one more row". I nearly fell off her bed laughing and told her she sounded just like a knitter!

I love having a new knitting partner!

2006-08-24T07:08:00.000-07:00

Even though I'm a beginner knitter, I'm already showing signs of being an addict. Having one project on the go is NEVER enough, there must be multiple projects waiting in the wings. My Booga Bag is barely underway, and now I've collected what I need to start a Sophie Bag. Maybe it's the plight of the artist-at-heart, the incessant need to create, whether it's knitting, painting, photographing, baking, designing, or gardening.

Oh and my Bully Woolies "Round Tote" Kit arrived at my LYS. As a newbie knitter I sure am adventureous! That's me though, once I find a new obsession, I'm unstoppable.

I also tried my hand at making stitch markers. Most of what I got was on sale since I wanted to see if I could do it before investing in expensive pretty beads. The beads I got are faceted glass and are quite nice. It's a good thing they were on sale. Gotta love Michaels.

In the photo above, you can hardly see the stitch marker on my Noro Iro Booga Bag because by some freakish coincidence, it totally matches the lines of colour in the yarn!

I went on the hunt for 100% wool sweaters at our local thrift shops. My plan is to unravel them into balls for knitting. I want to see if I can experience the satisfaction of having nice wool for a few dollars. We'll see though if I can actually figure out how to unravel them! Well a simple google search came up with this site which might help: The Recycled Yarn Tutorial. I also found a great site about washing wool sweaters that I wish I had found before I washed the first 2 items. I did them in the machine (whoops!), and used Woolite which is actually a no-no, and they came out a little fuzzy. Let's just say they'll need one less run in the washing machine when it comes to felting whatever I knit them into. Either that or I'll truly felt the sweaters and use them for cutting up into flowers etc.

2006-08-22T06:28:00.000-07:00

My First Official Knitting Attempts!

Here are the very first things I've knitted since teaching myself to knit last week. My daughter wants me to make another mitten to match the one I made since it fits her perfectly. The cuff seems a little small but hey it was my first try. The slipper is sooooo 70's! Stands to reason though since I used a pattern from an 1986 learn to knit book, who's patterns were obviously old even when the book was published.

I used Patons Classic Wool for the mitten, and Brigg's & Little wool for the slipper. I have serious doubts I'll be making a mate for the slipper, but it was good for experience. I learned to bind-off in this one.

2006-08-21T08:49:00.000-07:00

I finished my "In Bloom" crocheted purse from the book
Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker that we're making this month at the Happy Hooker Chain Gang crotchet-along. You can look at Thursday, August 17th's blog entry below to see how it looked before I felted it. I bought some more of the Lamb's Pride periwinkle coloured wool to knit the flowers. I'm a total newbie at knitting but they didn't turn out too badly. I had to felt them over and over and wish they had felted some more. Perhaps I should have used bigger needles. The leaves are made from a recycled wool sweater I got for $2 at a local thrift shop. I love that green. I had previously felted the sweater and had it in my stash. I cut out some leaves and felted them again so the ends would curl a bit.

The fabric that I bought for the lining matched perfectly in the store but when I got home it didn't match as well! Oh well, it's a cute print with rubber'ish "sprinkles", reminding me of a colourful cupcake. I didn't quite get the lining into the corners of the purse but it'll do. I added a magnetic snap for a closure.

It was a fun project. I'm not much of a clutch purse person, but I hope to find an excuse to use it some time.

2006-08-18T09:49:00.000-07:00

I must be crazy!! I just bought a knitting pattern on ebay for one of the most gorgeous felted bags I've seen so far....and I barely know how to knit! The seller (search "pippspurses") told me that the pattern has been used in a beginner class. Sold! I'll give it a shot and it would certainly provide plenty of inspiration to master the basics. Tell me this isn't beautiful:

Jennifer of Pippspurses can send the pattern as a file and offered to help me through e-mail should I get stuck. She offers this pattern on a regular basis so it's worth watching for. Or if you wish, she'll make one for you in your desired colours. Check her stuff out, she has other patterns too!

2006-08-17T14:57:00.000-07:00

When I uploaded my crocheted purse pictures I found that I had some older photos that I hadn't uploaded yet. Just for fun I'll post one here. I love macro photography.

2006-08-17T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here's the periwinkle crocheted clutch purse I'm working on from the book Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker. That strand of yarn is all that was left. I added 5 extra rows than what is called for in the pattern, so I was pushing my luck as far as having enough yarn. Only thing is that I had planned to crochet some coordinating flowers onto the bag so now I have to decide if I want to spend $7.99tx on another skein (assuming the store has more of the same colour lot), or if I want to embellish it with something else. I'm going to felt it for sturdiness and then line it with some fabric.

Who knows if I'll keep it, sell it, or give it away as a present. So far it's awfully cute though! I hope the stitches still show up somewhat after felting.

2006-08-17T06:11:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post the crocheted bag I finished yesterday. I used Patons Classic Wool Merino in Leaf Green and New Denim. Two days after felting it was finally dry and I could attach the handles. The handles were made with a corking/knitting spool as opposed to knitting an I-cord. I have yet to master knitting so this was a good alternative. Silly me though, I had intended to have the stripes towards the bottom of the bag but inadvertently sewed up the wrong end! Of course I only discovered this after felting it. Oh well, it's not so bad and it's my first official bag so it was really just a practice run.

Overall I'm pleased and it'll make a nice little purse for autumn, or a grab-and-go project bag.

Well, off I go to work on my "In Bloom" purse!

2006-08-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

She's started a Blog??

I had absolutely no intention of starting a blog until I was lured into it by the resurgence of my interest in crocheting. What does crocheting have to do with blogging you might ask? I stumbled upon what's called a crochet-along at The Happy Hooker Chain Gang Crochet-Along which happens to be working on the very project I was considering starting. So here I am starting a blog of my own so I can join in! Never say never!

Here's a picture of the 2 yarns that I'm considering, both of which are quite different from each other. I made the mistake of going to a local yarn shop and now I'm spoiled for shopping anywhere else. No more Michael's or Walmart. Hello $25tx skeins of heaven...yikes!

The Lamb's Pride (85% wool/15% mohair) is called Periwinkle and it's much more purpley than it shows up on my screen. The glorious Noro Iro (75% wool/ 25% silk) is colour #43. I adore this stuff. This is the the yarn that has prompted me to vow to learn to knit.

Now to choose which one to use to make my "In Bloom" crocheted purse out of the book Stitch 'N Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.