Another crossing

My trusty orange... How can you get lost so often?  

The scene in Bergen.  A drawbridge/footbridge, on a beautiful day.  Bergen's May weather was outstanding, and abnormally dry and warm.  Not at all like the rest of the summer... 

A slew of socks... I'm hooked on Zauberball/helical spirals.  Using up all the yarn and nothing matches...4 adult socks, 2 child's.

Adventures on an island.

And more adventures... The promising start...

And the grand finish!

Restructuring the bunad.

And summer weather with flowers, and colorful project bags.

Packing for camp (A Preview)

Knitting = Bags

Plane Knitting

My knitting bag, gift from K, made by K, with thoughtful buttoned strap to attach around the arm of a chair, OR the seat in front.  Yes, there's yarn in there, but it also doubled as a lunch bag!
Thanks, K! (By the way, the print is delicate hummingbirds and a lacey drawstring.)

Bag-o-blocks

Without meaning to advertise a certain type of building blocks, I would like to show you something fashioned from a pin on pinterest which deals with a number of problems.  Number one problem is TINY pieces, lost on the carpet.

Now they are easily contained, and the minky fabric is a delight to sit on.  I tried a drawstring first, but it's too bulky to cinch up, so I sewed eight tabs which can be collected with a carabiner, and YAY!  There's also a pocket for some set booklets and building ideas.  

One of many projects around the house with a four-year-old.

What happened to September?

Somehow, September became the shortest month of the year!  It takes a four-year-old to do that.  Her 12 hour days are cyclonic!
Much time was spent in the hot tub.  Grandpa helped her learn to use a snorkel, mask, and flippers.  I've never heard such silence!  She spent a lot of time UNDER water!!!

The sewing machine got lots of use, too.  Two crib/lap quilts were assembled.

A pullover that I knitted in 2007 returned for an updated collar.  It was "thought about" more than worked on, so it's still here needing to be tacked down.  I hope that the finished look will be this.  (It was a regular rounded neckline, with striped garter stitch.)  Ravelry link

It's a Loop-d-loop pattern.  A tricky fair isle with short rows.
I often become a "bag lady"... Used a pattern (from a previous post) to make a larger version as a satchel.  Dang... didn't take a picture of that either!  Maybe the owner will send me one!
And then there was the knitting that I carried around.  Didn't get much done...
Socks for the four-year-old, which if I don't get them in the mail soon, they won't fit.

Yes, photo is complete with cat tail...
And my Mystic Mosaic Jacket.  Ooooo... I love the colors which don't seem to reproduce well in photography.
I managed to finish both sleeves, and started the body, but yesterday I (again) thought that there seemed to be A LOT OF STITCHES.  Well, of course, there are a lot of stitches in the body of an adult knitted jacket... so yesterday, as I finished off row 10 of the chart I thought I ought to check gauge AGAIN!  The sleeves are fine... but the pattern is different on the body, (mosaic patterns), so I pulled some inches off of the needles and measured.  My calculations showed that with the number of stitches I had (which should give me a 46" diameter body, I confess---LARGE) I probably had close to 60" to wrap around me!!  I took it completely off the needles:

 Yikes!

 It was almost 60"!  Below I'm holding it out to show my friends... "Do you think it will fit?"

I spent the rest of the evening frogging and casting on.  Crazy lady... but better than discovering it later.
To my Shelridge Farms friend: I'm going to try casting on using the size SMALL, with lengths adapted for me.  WHEW!  Disaster averted, ....again and again and again and again.

Busy?

It's TRUE!  I get things done when I'm busy... hmmm.  That sounds a bit like---duh!  Busy=Productive!
But that isn't what I mean.  It seems like I have been relaxed and idle all Summer, and suddenly with one week until September, which brings a visit from my daughter and granddaughter, I can think of a zillion things I wanted to do before they get here.  So here it goes!
I have taken on one class, twice a week, which means I get out of the house on a schedule two mornings a week, and dang!  I suddenly want to pull weeds, and sew!  Sewing:  You have to do it at home, that is, if you want to use the sewing machine!  A project I started thinking of last Spring, and carted to Norway in May, and never touched a stitch, until last weekend, is now to the point where I don't want to finish until I get some feedback.
It's a little purse, cute as can be, by Betz White called Caitlyn Handbag.  Here's my attempt using fabric I purchased a few years ago.

 The greenish band at the top is really turquoise... I think!   It's made with pleats, and I'm stuck.  What color should the strap be?  You tell me!  The strap is supposed to be 36" long (1 meter), and skinny, so my visuals are not to scale.

 Or

 Big button?

 Little button?  The button is ornamental.  There's a magnet snap under it.

So far, I like it!  I'm going to have to make more...
What do you say about the strap?  It could be in the red fabric but I have to send for it... It's in Norway. Or maybe they still have it at the shop.  The other fabric I brought back with me, and I thought I was clever.  

Taking a break...

Life at the museum makes me think of all the things I could be doing at home.  With a day and a half off, I started sewing like... like... well, like I'm going away for a month!  Only a few days left to wrap up projects, and get things done so I don't have to look at them when I return!
One of those ideas is to sew tote bags.  Since I finished one last week, I couldn't wait to start cutting and sewing.
I have this false impression that by doing this I will diminish my fabric stash.  Hardly a dent, my friends!

 I got more and more crazy... the above and below pictures are the same bag.  One outside pocket on the side.  Cactus and...

Fish.  And big roomy pockets on the inside.  I think I'll call it "Wet and Dry".

 Pastel Southwest:  "Cheater blocks" that I always thought I would use for pillows...

 Two outside side pockets.

I used "Fusible Fleece" for filling.  Let's see:  Where should these live?

Bags o' Bags

I've been busy, and we all know that begets busy-ness!  My mind has been churning, how to make less clutter... never mind the yarn stash... but the fabric stash, and the jewelry, and books, and tea cups, and...
Inspired by someone else's sewing of bags that are for sale at the museum gift shop, I thought, "I can do that!  And I have the fabric, too."  What I don't have is the time, and the imagination, and sometimes I need interfacing or fleece backing.  So it isn't ALL stored in the house.
I found a great pattern, and I've begun the task of using scraps, and stashed fabric.  As I started looking at it all, I wished I had taken the time for a color class.  It would definitely step up the visual appeal, but instead, I went ahead and made the first proto-type of what I hope is a long line of bags.

 There's little pocket center front and back.  And when you turn it around, you get a different view!

 Looking inside, you'll see pockets and a nifty label that says I knitted it... oops!

Maybe it means it will be full of knitting!

Bag Business

A cute bag from the cutest of prints! Who recognizes the formulas? Hint: think apples

New Stuff!

Yep!  Can't stay with the old for too long... and with a class starting next week, I whipped up this Q-UTE mini bag.
Before felting:

Dimensions:  11-1/2" x 11-1/2"

After felting:

Dimensions:  7" tall, 7-1/2" (base), 9-1/2" across the top

Easy!  This one is already spoken for...

Colors:  No, I didn't use two shades of blue.  They are the same, only next to the red and green they look different.

Curious...

Pattern:  Grab-&-Go Bag by Eileen Adler from Creative Knitting, November 2008

Yarn: Classic Wool by Patons, 100% Wool, Worsted / 10 ply, 210 yards / 100 grams (red and green) Greenwich by Valley Yarns, 100% Wool, Worsted / 10 ply

109 yards / 50 grams (blue)

Bags

Everybody needs them... everybody makes them!  I decided that my knitter friends don't need knits... but they need project bags.
I looked up (googled) how-to sites, and since I needed to get one (above) in the mail ASAP, I never found what I was looking for.  I 'reinvented the wheel' and it's OK, but THEN, (sorry, Pattie) I found what I was looking for.
Thanks to Kristina, who made the "cosmetic bag" over a year ago, and a link to the tutorial she used.   I love you all!   Thanks for sharing!
My tip... I've had this little doodad for years and rarely use it, but when I do-- I'm ecstatic because it works!  I used it here to make the straps.  Makes a neat turn:  You set the iron on the folded end coming out, pull and iron.

 Here's what the bags look like before the corners are sewn, wrong side out.

 And finished!

 Project bags for everyone!  Happy New Year!