knitting disciple

a few weeks ago i taught my best friend to knit. this was very thrilling for me, probably more so than it should have been, but i've always been dying to teach someone to knit. being this excited, or maybe because i think i'm the jesus of knitting, i erroneously started to call her my knitting "disciple" one day. i'm quite full of myself. that should probably be something more like "pupil" or maybe "scholar."

nonetheless, the fruit of her labors:




i'm very proud. 2x2 rib in the round for a first time knit. not bad. (actually, i'm also a little embarassed - she is much better than i was when i started).

given and to be given

a few more from the christmas season (one of which still needs to be given. a christmas present finished in november and given in february. of course.)

i really loved making this bag. i woke up one sunday morning and i decided i wanted to make this for one of my best friends and put it together in a couple hours, which is a record for me. it's gigantic and the pictures don't really show it; when i put it on the bottom falls below my hip, and i'm 5'10". i love gigantic bags. the hat is an unslouchy version of slouchy mama and looks better on my blonde friends with smaller heads (so hopefully it will look good on the recipient, who fits the bill).

get your act together

well, i'll probably never really do that. but i might try to revive this blog now that it's been good and dead for so long. there have been no shortage of projects to post, so i'll work on catching those up. above is the family christmas list (given, not received).

next post will be the friend christmas list and pretty soon that might bring us to the present tense.

bags for the bride

Not only was I lucky enough to attend a beautiful wedding this weekend and watch a good friend begin a beautiful marriage, I had my first commissioned "job" for this very wedding! Someone liked my "bucket bag" enough to ask me to make three as gifts for her bridal party, and it was such an exciting project!

A close-up of the fabrics:
The pattern was the same as the one I used for the Great Little Bag, with some new fabrics added in, all of which I purchased in the remnants at Osgood's and G Street. On the inside, the initials of each bridesmaid are embroidered, which was a 2-hour project per bag alone.

The bride and her bridal party seemed really happy with the results, and a lot of people have suggested I sell them. I'm not sure if it makes sense, particularly because I'm still pretty slow and each bag takes about 6 hours without the embroidery. I also don't know if they stand out enough to make someone actually purchase one; I mean I think they are a cool gift, but would you buy one? And how much would you pay for a bag like this?

(I haven't figured out the best way to photograph the inside besides turning them completely inside out).

demi is finally here

It's done! And I think I like it. I realize that yet another Demi sweater in undyed Fisherman's Wool is the least interesting thing on Ravelry now, but I'm excited to have made it, AND this is the first time ever that once I finished knitting something, I missed knitting it. Usually I want to throw it out the window when I'm done. This was fun and always kept my attention.

Modifications:

• I added length to the hem and the overall length of the body.
• And I added like 4 inches or something to the arms because I have long arms and I like the sleeves extra-long.
• I did a 3-stitch bobble instead of 5-stitch.

Things I Learned:

• I love cabling without a cable needle! I am unlikely to use a cable needle again.
• Definitely preferred working in the round, and using dpn's on the sleeves, if for nothing else but to be able to try on repeatedly.

Finally, I found these deep cherry-red buttons at What Cheer? (DAMN I love this store) and was psyched because cream and deep cherry-red is one of my favorite color combinations.

This is why I can't model:

a Great Little Bag

As a thank you gift for a good friend who helped me out this summer, I made a smaller version of the Great Big Bag, using the same outer fabric and a different lining.

The bag is "bucket" shaped, with a rectangular bottom, widening to the top. There is a small (I think 6"x6"?) pocket with a bright contrasting zipper, and this time I attached the straps to the outside of the bag, I guess to be more bucket-like?!

"Memoirs" from this project:

• Trim the corners and press the seams before turning the bag rightside out. Duh. This one would have come more naturally if I had made this bag after Ben's shirt.
• Stitch the corners of the lining to the corners of the bag, and then baste the lining at the top. Hopefully then it will sit nicer - this lining did not sit as well as I would have liked it.
• I've taken to fabric glue. My Great Big Bag is falling apart at certain parts of the pocket, and is the pocket is also filled with stray threads - on the Little Bag I painted fabric glue on the edges of the seams and I hope this did the trick.

Overall, I was happy with it and very excited because I've been commissioned to make three more similar ones as the bridesmaids' gifts for a friend's wedding!

happy birthday ben!

It's done! I gave Ben his birthday present yesterday and I think he liked it...


I had so much fun making this. I learned a lot. A few things:

• I don't like interfacing. The pattern instructed me to use interfacing in the button band, collar, cuffs, and pocket flaps. Uh, I'm not making a tuxedo shirt here, so I made it without interfacing.


• This pattern was somewhat of a 90's Zach Morris-style shirt (you know, kind of bloused and baggy - blech. Although, I imagine the hipsters might start rocking this style now that we've evolved to a 90's revival - which other than Zach Morris, I love. I'm psyched about the rebirth of flannel shirts and Doc Martens.) Anyways, so I narrowed the body (front pieces 12" wide w/seam allowances, and the back was 23.5" w/seam allowances). I made the pockets smaller, and placed them higher and closer together, and changed the shape of the front yoke and made it smaller. I also narrowed the sleeves a lot and took out the pleats.


• For some reason, the size M collar did not seem to fit. I used a S collar and collar stand and that seemed to work.


• I shortened the hem about 1.5"

If I made this again (which I think I will), I would cut the S pattern pieces for a M, I would make the back yoke from one single piece, and I would sew the tag in before stitching the collar on:
More pictures! What a handsome model.

I have to say, I truly cannot stand blogspot and how difficult it is to adjust the layout of text and pictures. I have to investigate other options.