Wednesday, October 16, 2013

I've been Knitting a Sweater

I usually buy the Knit Simple magazine when I have the urge for a new project.  Well, this spring I was instantly taken by the first pattern in the magazine.  The lace detail is a honeybee design that I liked instantly.  Here's how mine turned out.


And now for the back....extra cute....



I started it on May 16th and finished a few days ago.  Yeah!  Don't you love finishing things??


Monday, October 14, 2013

New Hat Love

We spend some of our time on the weekend driving in a cute little car with no roof. My hair of course suffers some.  Not just from the breeze but my head is sometimes cold... OK, it's fall here and the daytime highs haven't been above 10C for a week (or maybe more...)

Anyhooo, I undertook to make the Wanderer hat from Weekend Hats: 25 Knitted Caps, Berets, Cloches.  It is really pleasing how it turned out.

knitted beret, blue beret, tasselled beret


I thought it would be too small for my big head.  You see mine measures at 23inches in diameter.

blue beret, knitted hat, wanderer cap


So I undertook to make the hat a tiny bit larger by adding in six extra stitches (as the decrease on the crown was in six places)  My machinations worked and but the hat is more like a beret.  I love it tho.

The details are:
     Wanderer Cap
     1- 100 gm (192m ) ball Patons Classic Wool Worsted (4)
     colour: new denim

New Shopping Bag

So I have this problem with the shopping bags you buy for a $1 or so or maybe the ones that are given to me - they are just too big.  If I let the grocery store carry out people fill them they are often too heavy for me later.  Plus, I seem to have crushed stuff when I get home...so I looked at the grocery bag made of flimsy plastic

plastic grocery bag

and thought they are designed this size and shape because they work....so....

grocery bag, blue bag

I made a simple pattern by cutting the bag open....

carry bag, simple bag

After that I finished the edges, first with the serger and then by turning under a smidge and topstitching .

shopping bag, simple bag. blue bag

Voila, it's a wonderful thing.  In case you wonder the bottom was double stitched on the outside and then serged also on the outside as befits such a utilitarian item.
I made two like this and my DH promptly expropriated them for his lunch (all those round glass dishes) and his gym things.