Bags!

Finally felted and finished up all my bags (the ones that have been sitting around waiting to be fulled that is). I like them all except for one. The Lotrop II bag (from Noro Revisited) is HEDIOUS. I couldn't even bring myself to take a picture of it. Seriously...it is ugly as sin and because I chose the Berroco Hip Hop yarn; it just doesn't work for the pattern (which is really nice). The other bags though came out great. Here they are:

The Lucy Bag:

Came out fantastic! It looked nice unfelted and looks as good felted. I am really happy with it.

Yarn: Wisdom Yarn-Peoms in colorway 550; 3 skeins for the smaller version of the pattern.

Needles: US 7 dpns for the start and then circs.

Knitting for Peace Messenger Bag:

Fun, Fun , Fun! It shrunk up a lot thank goodness. It was so big before felting that I could stand in it and it went past my knees, with the strap going over my head lol. Yeah thats kind of big. After two times through the wash it know lays at my hip with the strap over my body diagonally. When it came out of the wash one corner of the flap was pointed outward and try as I might I could not get it to straighten so I pulled out the opposite corner to match and it looks great. It doesn't need a closure but if I find something that fits I will add one for embellishment. Its done though.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride, in Black, Supreme Purple, Amethyst and Wild Violet. 1.5 Skeins each.

Needle: US 9 circs.

Vikkie's Summer Sunglass Neck Bag:

This is a pattern I made up myself. I have the notes all written down, have to put it into a coherent format however so that it can be shared. I called it a Sunglass Neck Bag because its just big enough to throw a pair of sunglasses, some money and an ID in. I love it. I added some glass leaf beads to it in autumn colors because of the colors in the yarn. So the colors are not very Summery lol...but still. Love the yarn...its one of my favorites. It was knit in one piece with one end of the strap kitchnered into place.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals in New England Fall colorway; 1.5 skeins used.

Needles: US 8 dpns.

Squatty Sidekick Bag

First completed bag (Amanda's Squatty Sidekick Bag)from knit to closure. I am really happy with the way it came out. It is really cute, I think I will make another one at some future time. I have 5 more bags that are almost finished. Three need to be felted but I have to take them to the laundrymat.


I felted this one and three others by hand. I am not completely satisfied with the other three I did by hand so I will toss them into the washer with the others. Felting by hand sucks! LOL...I was exhausted after doing them in the sink. Will not be doing that again any time soon, unless its a really small project. :-) Just for information sake I used orangey smelly dishsoap to felt the bag with which left a nice scent behind and the yarn stayed soft. I am really happy with the closure, it is an old post earring. I sniped off the post and sewed on as the "button". I think it suits the bag and colors really well.


Specs: The pre-felting specs can be seen on an earlier post here. The following is what I got after I hand felted it:


Size:
Bottom: 8 1/2" X 3"
Body: 5" in height X 22" in circum.
Closure Tab: 4" X 2 1/2"
Handle: 1 3/4 " x 17"

Let the Felting Begin

I finished knitting the bag that I have made up my own pattern for and I found little things to embellish it after felting. In its un felted state it looks a little wonky. The flap has curled in on its self so it does not have the triangle appearance I was going for at the moment so I hope that after it felts I will be able to mold it so it will lay flat and have the look I was envisioning. Shall see what the magice of felting brings! lol



Also finished the Kureyon-Chan bag and it is awaiting felting. I actually like the way it came out unfelted but it would need to be lined and as I have mentioned before lining is not my thing because sewing is involved soooo in order to make it sturdier I will have to felt it. Its pretty small so shall how small it will get after its bath. :-)

Summer of Socks 2007

I have picked my first pattern for Summer of Socks, which begins on Thursday (21 June 2007). I have picked Cookie A. "Moneky Socks" pattern to be the first one. I have wanted to make these for awhile. I have other socks in progress but the rules for the KAL require that you start a new on the 21st so that everyone is starting at the same time. So no working on old patterns already in progress. :-) I might not make them as long as the pattern calls for because the color (Trekking XXL 04) I am using is springy/summery and I think shorty socks go well for summer. I am also going to use a size smaller for the needles then the pattern calls for because I learned during Sock Madness 2007 that when doing a lacier pattern I tend to knit loose and then the sock will end up too big. I will post pictures when I start and while I progress. The KAL goes until September so I will be making other socks. There is a contest and prizes but unlike Sock Madness it is not a timed competition but I didn't join it for the prizes I am hoping to "meet" other knitters (like I did with SM) whom I wouldn't have come across other wise. :-)

Bag Update. I finished knitting (including the handle) the one skein Chan bag and am on the handle for the bag that I am making up. Once I finish that handle I will felt all the bags I have made together and then post completed pics. As I have said before I am putting the bags into the "Summer KAL - Cal Purse Round up" which also goes until September. Nice people in this KAL.

More Bags

Though I have heard the call of sock knitting I am still on a bag roll. Just finished my 4th one and started 2 smaller ones. I am participating in "Summer KAL - CAL Purse Round Up", so all the recent bags will be a part of that.



Here is the Latrop II Bag, unfelted. The specs are as follows:

Pattern: From a Noro Book; Latrop II Bag. I am sorry but I don't remember the title of the book (I know I should have written it down oops along with the name of author. If someone knows this pattern let me know and I will credit appropriately.) Oh btw...thats my Princess Lilly who insisted on posing with the bag. Isn't she pretty? (She says I don't need to ask that because its obvious. lol) Just as a side note about this pattern, when I finished it I held it up so that Honey could look at it and his first reaction was with a look on his face like he was going to puke! :-( He said "Its fuzzy." :-( for some reason he doesn't like fuzzy. Well I am not too keen on fuzzy either but the look on his face was shocking to me. Sigh. I hope after it felts that it won't be too fuzzy, if it is it will get a shave. LOL.

Needle: Addi Turbo US 11, circs.

Yarn: Berroco Hip Hop in 7265 colorway. (5 balls) The picture makes it look like there is more red in the varigation but there actually is more purple.

Size: 17 1/2 x 9 (t0 12)" for the body and 18 " for the strap prefelted. Shall see what happens after it felts.

Here is the botton of Kureyon-Chan bag. Using 1 ball of Noro Iro, 5 dpns (US 11 Brittany's).








This is a little bag I am making up. Right now I am calling it "Summer Sunglass Neck Bag". Using Brown Sheep's Handpaint Originals in New England Fall on US 8 dpns (5). I am writing it all out as I go along and will share the pattern I come up with. I really like this yarn because it felts nicely and the colors blend well. I like using all of Brown Sheep's lines though. I have plans (in my head) to add beads and doo-dads to this after felting.

Once I finish these next two bags I will then felt all the bags I have done lately, total of 6, together. I am going to go to the laundrymat to do it. I haven't used the laundrymat yet for felting but I have been told its the best way to go if you are felting more then one or two items at a time so that it will save your washer mechanisms. Also I am told the water at the laundrymat is very hot so the felting comes out well.

On another front: I am participating in another summer KAL: "Summer of Socks". There are a lot of people involved in it so should be interesting. Unlike Sock Madness it will not be a speed kind of KAL and patterns are picked individually. I have so many socks that I want to make and so much sock yarn that this will not be a problem.

Oh and before I forget: I WANT TO LEARN HOW TO SPIN. Unless anyone has forgotten. I now have roving. I tried the spindle thingy but that didn't work out so well for me. I found lots of info online on how to use it but I think a combination of my not being coordinated enough and also needing to learn from someone face to face, using the spindle was not comfortable for me. So the next thing to do is try a wheel. However, I cannot afford to purchase a wheell just to try it out. But I don't really know anyone who has one. Some of my lovely fellow Ravelry-ers (?) recommended that I post about this on my blog and ask if anyone out there (or rather in my area) would be willing to help me through the first steps of a spindle and let me try their wheel. I really want to learn but I also want to try it out first before spending alot of money on spinning tools. Anyone out there that can teach me??? Oh and before anyone far away asks...no there aren't any fiber, weaving or spinning shops here. None of the local knit shops carry spinning supplies. There is a spinning guild here but due to an episode with someone who belongs to the group I am shy to go to one of their meetings and ask if anyone would help me out. (Yes I KNOW it is hard to believe that I would be shy but it happens to the best of us! LOL). I am motivated to try it out but need some assitance to get started. Anyone? I can afford much for paid lessons but I can swap some original/unique ONE OF A KIND, handpainted (by yours truely) yarn. You could even choose the colors you wanted. :-) Would anyone swap spinning lessons for hand dyed yarn?

The Bag Issues

Finally some knitting...I know amazing!

Even though I haven't posted in over a week I have been knitting. I had to knit...needed it for stress relief from all the work I had to do for the intensive 3 credit class that I took in just 3 weeks. Wow was it a dozy...I have only taken one summer class once before but it was over an 8 week period. This was a new experince for me. I have to say though that it was well worth it. The Professor, Dr. Jennifer Ring, was enthusiastic, extremely intelligent and passionate about her topic. The course was called Race and Gender in the U.S. It was under the heading for the Political Science Department and the Women's Studies Department. Excellent, course! Challenging with the amount of reading that I had to do in the last 3 weeks and with having to write a term paper (10 pages AFTER cutting it back from over 20!)

Anyway, on to the knitting. As you can see from the opening picture I have made three bags. I finished two last night. They are scheduled for "shrinking" (a.k.a felting/fulling lol). Thought before I subject them to the process of size reduction I would post about them. I have wanted to do some bags for awhile but have been in "The Sock Zone" for a while. So while taking a break I did these. They went really fast. I have a fourth one on the needles still and hope to finish it by early next week and will then process all 4 together. I have made 3 other bags prior to this but they have been on hold due to issues I have with them which I will discuss below.



First, "The great purple bag" (as I am calling it). I pulled together several patterns to come up with this one. It is basically a typical messenger type bag. I have been wanting my own funky knitting bag. There are many cool knitting bags out there for purchase but they are a bit pricey for my budget so I figured that I could come up with my own and then it would be unique. Pre-shrinking this bag is huge and though I know it will be smaller I hope it won't shrink too much. Here are the specs:

Yarn: Brown Sheep's Lamb's Pride. I used 4 colors, black and 3 purples; about a skein and 1/2 of each color.

Needles: Addi turbos, U.S. 9, 36" circulars.

Pattern: Part from "Knitting for Peace" (a book that I want badly!) messenger bag and from 2 other sources plus my own ideas. I have written all down and came up with my own pattern by combing things I liked from the other patterns and my own ideas. It was done all in one piece, from bottom to handles.

Size:
Bottom: 16 1/2" x 5"
Body: About 20" in length (5" per color) and approximately 60" in circum.
Handle: About 4" x 61" (about)
Flap: 19 1/2" x 18 1/2"

Notes: Really easy to do. We shall see how much it shrinks, will be interesting. I know that Brown Sheep felts to a nice texture. It really is a lovely yarn to work with (as I have mentioned before).




This was a REALLY quick bag to do. Super easy and cute. Here are the specs:

Pattern: Knitting Daily's "Amanda's Squatty Sidekick Bag".

Yarn: Paton's SWS, in variegated pink. Really nice and soft to work with. I read somewhere that it felts fuzzy, but if I don't like the fuzziness I can use one of those clothing shavers to smooth it out and then it lays nicely. I am not really big into fuzzy so will see. I bought the yarn a long time ago to see how it felts. It is part Bamboo and was meant for felting projects. Everyone who has seen this bag so far, pre-felting, thinks I should leave it as is. However, the problem with doing that is that it would need to be lined so that it would be sturdy. I DO NOT sew and DO NOT care too...I have never liked sewing. I could pay to have someone line it for me ...but geez who can afford that! lol...so it WILL be shrunk. (SO THERE ;-p~~~ ) Oh btw, it was done in one piece and I only used about 200 yds, which was about 2 balls. Not too bad.

Size:
Bottom: 9 1/2" x 4"
Body: About 8 1/2" in length and approximately 27 " in circum.
Closure Tab: 4" x 3 1/2" at the base and 1 3/4" at the tip
Handle: 3 1/2" x 21 1/2"
Needles: Addi turbos, U.S. 9, 24" circulars



This was the fastest of the three for some reason. LOL. I was sent the yarn as a gift for my bday and it went perfect for a bag that I have been wanting to do for a very long time. The person who sent it to me (who asked me not to say who they are though I have no clue WHY! Silly woman! but I love her so its cool), said that when she saw it that it screamed to her "VIKKIE!!!" She was right of course...she said that it the lady in the craft store said it was perfect for "shrinking", lol, I am sure the lady told her that it felted but that is what she told. When I asked her "shrinking? or felting" She said "Whatever, if I put my cashemer sweater in the wash it will shrink...so what the hell is the difference. It shrinks and I knew you would love it because of the colors and I don't know one damn thing about yarn so shut up!" LMAO LOL! So here are the specs:

Yarn: Poems (I could not find a link for this yarn, a search only gave me links to actual poems about yarn and knitting...sheesh) in two colorways....and umm I was so excited to get the yarn that I ripped off the labels...which my dog promptly grabbed and shredded so umm yeah. I could google it but I am lazy today so...no. It has a mat sort of finish (unlike SWS and Lamb's Pride which has a sheen). It isn't that soft but the color patterning is nice and even. Transitions from one color to the next nicely. I used about 3 balls of the colorway with the purple and one ball of the graduated blues. (Edit 09/07/07: Wisdom Yarns Poems; 4 Stitches to the inch on US 7s, 109 per ball, and I used colorways 550 and 558. I just found it online)

Pattern: "The Lucy Bag". I was gifted with the pattern. Even though everyone around here (in my area that is) is making this bag, and I don't usually like to make the same projects everyone else is making, I love the way the bag works and looks and have wanted to make it for a long time. It worked up really fast. I had started in Lamb's Pride in blues but when I got the poems I ripped it out and started over. I basically made it in about 3 days. It was also made in one piece from bottom to the handles. I chose to do the smaller version.

Size:
Bottom: The bag is constructed in the round. You cast on the bottom and join into a small circle and increase to a certain number of stitches. At the end of the increases it is 7" diameter.
Body: 16" in length and about 24" in circumfrence.
Handles: The longer one is 3" x 25", the shorther one is 3" x 16 1/2"
Needles: U.S. 7, bamboo, 24" circulars



The first bag is made from Sari Silk remenants and was completed back in the fall. The 2nd bag is an Entrelac bag that I did a few months ago (with Noro) and then felted. The last one is a Booga bag (in Berroco Hip Hop and Cascade Pastaza). I am not going to post details on these at this time because of the issue that I will discuss below. I loved making the bags but the lack of being able to totally complete them as me disappointed. When and if I can work out the issues then I will post details about them.

Issues:
Ok so here are some issues I have been having with all the bags.

Closures: I am having difficulty selecting closures for my bags. I do not want the same (typical) closures everyone else uses. Like buttons or beads. I want things that are different and unique. But, what? Does anyone out there have ideas? I want original, unique and different....NOT typical. But exactly what that is I have not figured out yet! LOL...so I am open to ideas.

To line or not to line?: The entrelac bag and the Sari Silk bag definetly need to be lined because they just aren't sturdy enough for use. But as I said I do not sew. Do not know how too (well barely)...so not sure what do.

Handles: As with the closures...I want different and unique and not something that everyone else is doing. I made handles for the entrelac and Booga bag but they are what everyone else has done and they really do not call to me nor do they do anything for the bags. I really love the entrelac bag and I want something classy and special for it...as well for the Booga Bag. Any ideas?

Well I have more to post about...but not about bags. I will save it for the weekend so I will have another subject to post about. Plus this has ended up being a long post and if you are still with me at this point you probably are saying "Enough already!" LOL...plus I want to go knit and play yarn! Woohoo.