Slave to the Needles

OMG! Ok! So, then...

I finished the strap situation, so the finished thinger looks like this:

 

 

The pattern that I was (somewhat loosely) following had the strap as one big loop through two small loops on the top of the bag. I felt that was faulty engineering, so I copied the leather messenger bag that I have and made it fixed on one side, and through a loop on the other, with a sliding buckle, so it's adjustable. Because...duh.

 

Also, this thing is HUGE, and seems to be OK with a fair amount of weight. Like, you could park your car in this thing, and then haul it around. Not that you'd want to, but there it is.

 

Oh, and THEN!

 

I made a matching clutch purse, so she can corral the important things rather than lose them in the bowels of the Bag of Holding. It looks like this:

 

 

 

I kind of had to wing it a little, since the pattern called for a 9" zipper, I had a 7" zipper, and I was too fecking lazy to go swap it out because I was on a total roll. Eh. It works, but now I know for next time.

 

So, lest you think I was done, the cuff of these particular pants had drawstrings (what with being proper Military Issue, and all), and the back pockets were besom with a flap. And I have quite a bit of dress left. Can you say two drawstring pouches and two cross-body pocketbooks (with straps macraméd out of yarn I have that's the perfect color)?

 

I knew you could.

 

I'm feeling LIKE A CRAFTING GODDESS very resourceful, with this. I had NO IDEA I'd be able to get so damn much out of one pair of pants and one fugly dress. So! Awesome!

Lookit what I made!

Recently, I've become OBSESSED with making purses. Well, more with the idea, really, in the "billions of cool ideas in my head, but no real chance to make them."

 

Until today. When I turned this:

 

 

(A pair of my brothers USMC fatigues and a nasty jersey dress) into this:

 

 

(A messenger bag that still needs straps, but I've run out of steam for the day.)

 

Inside!

 

 

 

The bag is fully lined, and metal snaps hold it closed. In addition to the GIANT cargo pockets, the adjustable waistband of the pants adds another layer of security, to help things from falling out. I toyed with using the flap pockets from the bum as interior pockets, but that was beyond my brain power, today. Maybe next time.

 

I'm pretty chuffed about this. I'll be giving it to my niece, the daughter of the previous pants owner, because it's the Right Thing To Do. Too bad I don't have another pair and a different dress to make one for myself.

 

Oh, wait...

 

[Watch This Space]

 

 

Still here

So, I still have this blog, and it continues to languish, albeit patiently. My life has taken some interesting turns, of late, and I'm just not knitting as much as I'd like, so I'm contemplating the direction I want this to take.

I have an increasing interest in other crafts, as well as a renewed interest/obsession with fashion. Also, I'm now a full-time music student, which, may or may not garner some interesting tidbits.

We'll see where this goes, I guess...

I have just finished swatching for my Very First Original Knitwear Design.

It pleases me.

That is all. :)

I just won this on The eBay.

I am a-squee.

Wow. It's still here! That's great.

I'm embarking on a new knitting adventure, and will post here about it as I go. This blog may morph into something kind of cool, although I may need to change the name. We'll see how it goes...

It's been a weird year for projects

Well, weird in the sense that I've done hardly any knitting, but made a major shift in focus in my SCA costume.  But, I made stuff, and it was fun, so that's all good.

I'll post some pictures later, after I format them, but suffice to say, that I hope to pay more attention to this poor, neglected little blog... 

*tap tap* Is this thing on?

...another year (and change) has come and gone, with nary a post to this poor, poor blog. I think I might turn it into a Project Blog in a more general sense, rather than just knitting. Because, while I've done some of that in the last year, I've also done other things. And there are more other things on the horizon in the short-term that I think I'd like a repository for than I have plans to knit.

All in favor?

Hurray! The motion passes...

I'm back!

Yeah...three blogs is apparently too much to maintain.  But...I'm not giving up.  I'm still knitting, so I'll still write about it.

I changed up my queue quite a bit after Hexmas.  Re-did the hat for Ma, but then pulled the cashmere vest off the needles and loaded up the dark green cashmere Somewhat Cowl instead.  And now THAT'S languishing while I work on the Apricot Jacket*, just because I couldn't wait any longer.  Stupid Ravelry queue reminds me of all the fun things I want to be knitting.  And I have can'tfinishitis.  I'm one seam and some ribbon away from finishing the cute little dress, but can't seem to bring myself to do it. And Caroline gave me a big bag of cotton to knit up some bibs, that I just can't bring myself to do, either.  I need to not knit for people who ask me to, and only knit what I want and give it away, I think.

*Notes on the Apricot Jacket: Holy hell, is that a crappily-written (or, possibly, well-written, poorly edited and then even more poorly translated) pattern.  Thank GAWD there was a KAL on Craftster, and people on Ravelry took good notes, or I would have never figured it out.  I mean, "edge stitch?"  WTF?  So, to translate what I learned, you can do something fancy for the edges that will be seamed (I slipped the first stitch of each row) or just start the WS with K2 and rib away happily. Also, after you've gone through one full set of the first 8 rows of the pattern, move your stitch markers in four stitches, stockinette to that point, and then repeat the first 8 rows again. You don't do rows 9/10 until the pattern meets up in the middle, and then you just repeat those two rows until you're done.  They could have saved a page and a half of instruction in the pattern if they'd just written that instead of the clunky direction given.

I'm now on to the Left Front, mostly going by looking at the picture and hoping for the best.  The pattern isn't hard, per se. You just have to use The Force a lot to figure stuff out.  But I will soldier on, because the end result is so super cute, and will look fabulous in the obnoxious pumpkin yarn I'm using. I can hardly wait to wear it. I might even be so bold as to wear it with the matching skirt. Won't that be a sight?

Long and long it's been...

December marked the end of the production knitting for the bazaar.  All but one of the cowls sold, which was awesome.  I learned that $2-$25 was a good price, and that the bright colors were more popular.  The ornaments didn't do so well, but I think that was largely owing to poor merchandising.  Next year I'll have some sort of tree-like display thingy thing so people can see that they're ornaments, not cat toys or something.  I'm also considering a few other things - washcloth sets, coasters/java jackets, maybe some fingerless mitts...we'll see.  I'm thinking about it now, though so I can build up stock over time rather than all at once.

I'm also trying to finish up some things that have been on my plate - the hat I knit Ma last year was a bit too snug, so I'm about half-way through a do-over on that.  I also want to finish up the cute little dress and get it to Stacey for Sophia.  Just a couple of seams and some ribbon, and that's done. Then it's back to the cashmere sweater vest and the rest of the queue.  Which seems to just get longer.  I should probably re-org it to be "projects I actually have yarn for" first, and then the rest of it in the order I'd like to attack them.

Met another knitter at a party a week or so ago, and she runs a knit-in in the U-district on Mondays.  I'm going to try to remember to get there, because it sounds fun and a bit more...amusing, I guess, than the one at Miro.  Not that I'd know, since I've never gone and it's right down the street, but if her personality is any indication, it should be a good time.

My camera crapped out, so I need to get a replacement so I can take more photos of my stuff.  One thing at a time, though, I guess.  Maybe I'll just borrow Ma's in the interim.