Month: July 2012

Knitted cable purse; style

Aynaria 4 Comments

A few days ago, I mentioned that I’m working on a knitted cable purse. Although I’m not a purse person, this one really appealed to me…

The simple cable design, combined with the contrast (white purse accented with a black bow)  drew me in, and I saved the .pdf pattern for the knitted Christine bag.

When I saved it to my queue, I had no intention of working on it while I was on vacation, but somewhere down the line, I knew I’d be casting it on, but I had no idea it would be this soon. I worked on it the past few days, several (stupid) mistakes were made. Such as the repeat of one of the cables I was making. It took me about five attempts (which is about six rows) before I finally paid attention and got it right. You’d have thought that I’d be more attentive after the first few froggings (ripping out stitches) but that didn’t happen. 😉

Of course, I brought my knitting needles with me on vacation. Crochet or knitting, is a perfect pastime, when sitting around visiting with family.

Oh by the way… I found the amazing  knitted Christine bag on Ravelry! Ravelry is my favorite crochet and knitted website; so many patterns, and not enough time to do all the ones I adore. That was about a month ago. This bag, is one of numerous purses, (crochet and knit) that I browsed on that site, and it’s the one that appealed to me the most.

Christine bag knitted cable purse 3

My knitted cable purse; it’s almost completed. Yeah!

The above picture, shows the almost completed purse. I still need to line the bag, attach handles, and I’m thinking I’ll add a bow– but it’ll be knitted silk blend.

I’m deviating from the pattern slightly in that I’m not using chunky yarn. I’m also not using the suggested size 15 or 19 knitting needles. Instead, I’m using worsted weight yarn, and size eight circular knitting needles. Additionally, I won’t be using wooden handles; I chose to make handles by making a knitted i-cord.

How to make an i-cord

I-Cord is durable, and I’ll increase its durability by using two strands of the worsted yarn. Since this bag was made with cotton there aren’t any special care instructions for it. I consider this a test bag. I wanted to check out the pattern, before I moved onto more delicate yarn such as silk, cashmere, or a wool blend.

The lining will be hand sewn into the knitted purse, and even though I have zippers at home, I’ll be purchasing a metal zipper. I’m thinking I might add a pocket on the inside also.

I already have ideas about the next purse, beads will be included, and perhaps I’ll add a knitted design too. I’m thinking of using a metallic yarn for that, I’m undecided on what colors though. Also, I’m thinking of making the inside look as pretty as the outside. Which in the next purses case, means some type of embroidery. Pretty on the inside and outside, is a motto I use when I design clothes, so why wouldn’t I do this with my crochet and knitted items too? I’m going to deviate from the pattern a lot, so it won’t look like the original idea at all, but the inspiration came from knitting the Christine bag. 😉

If you’re unsure about seaming, check out the designer’s instructions for seaming and attaching handles for the knitted Christine bag, while it’s not new to me, since I’ve made numerous bags before, I do believe her instructions will be extremely helpful to someone new to this process. The instructions are straightforward, and she provides pictures too.

In other news…

My four-year old cousin was pleased when I crocheted a beanie hat, for her Dora doll, last evening. It took about thirty minutes to make. She was playing with my nine-year old daughter, but took regular breaks to check out the hat progress. You should have seen the big smile on her face, once it was complete. That happens to be her favorite doll. She even sleeps with her. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to snap a few photos of Dora rocking her crocheted beanie hat, sometime today.

Wool, and some other animal fibers make me itch

Aynaria 13 Comments

Sheep

You know what’s strange?

I can crochet or knit with wool, cashmere, and mohair (as long as I keep it in my hands) but I’d itch if it were applied to other areas of my body. But trying to wear an item made out of those fibers will still make me itch. I’ve always had sensitive skin.  A few of my friends aren’t even able to use animal fibers period, and so I consider myself fortunate that I can work with them as long as they’re only in my hands. Honestly, I didn’t know that I could crochet or knit with it, until I was in my 30s.

Imagine my shock, when I stumbled upon a site, where a knitting designer was encouraging other knitters to make items for people who “claimed they were allergic to wool, and other animal fibers.”  Her reasoning was that they most likely weren’t allergic to the fibers. It’s all in their head. So you can make them something with the fiber, and simply not tell them. While there are some say they do,  might not have a reaction, there are many of us who do.

As a child I had a few experiences where people knew I had a bad reaction with animal fibers, and would still give items to me, since in their opinion, the itching was all in my head, because if I didn’t know the item had wool, cashmere, or mohair, I wouldn’t be itching. Yeah right. And while I thought the fibers were fine (because I believed them) my body knew, and as soon as I put on the item, the itching would begin since the animal fibers were in contact with my skin. Those who gifted me with these items,  were apologetic, but I was annoyed that they doubted what I’d already said. In my twenties, I became good at spotting clothing that contained wool, cashmere, and mohair, and never had to worry about anyone trying to trick me.

Instead of trying to trick a person, be understanding. People can be sensitive to a variety of things, if you know they have a reaction to something, be considerate and give them something that won’t cause a reaction.

In other news…

We’re having a great time in South Carolina, I’m working on a cable knitted purse. Recently I wrote about knitting using the cable stitch. Cable and ridge stitch are some of my favorite knitting stitches. I’m still unsure of who the recipient will be, but I most likely will be gifting it to someone for the upcoming Christmas holidays.

I’m almost finished, and most likely will post a picture of the knitted purse sometime tomorrow. I’ll be sure to post some lovely photos of South Carolina too.

Independence day celebration

Aynaria 3 Comments

We’re in South Carolina for the Independence holiday, we arrived around 12:30 pm yesterday.

We’ll be celebrating this Independence day with family. It’s something we do twice yearly; Independence day and Thanksgiving. Because of the distance, it’s the only time we get to see many of the family members, and so these are holidays that I look forward to, although I could do without the driving.

At my Lutheran church, this past Sunday, we had a celebration called God and Country. Numerous choirs were combined, and presented an amazing musical portion of the service. All branches of military were represented, and many of the veterans wore their uniforms, completely decorated, some had received medals. Each branch was represented during the musical portion of the service, since the choir sang each of the military songs.

Pastor Chuck preached a wonderful message, and perhaps sometime soon, when I have more time, I’ll get a chance to write about it more. I did send him an email thanking him for the message.

Freedom isn’t free, many paid the price so we could have the numerous rights (including religious) that many of us take for granted.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Independence day…

Heavy downpour, plants rejoice

Aynaria 2 Comments

This past Friday night, we received some much needed rain in Maryland. Thankfully, after the rains had stopped it was a bit cooler. While it didn’t reach 100 F on Saturday, it still was in the high 80s.

Over 500,000 people were without power in our state. While our power remained on, a few neighbors within our community lost theirs. I believe their power was restored yesterday evening.

To get back to our community, you have to travel a small winding road, surrounded by woods on either side. After about a mile you open up into our community; 16 or 17 houses are back here. The community is quiet, the neighbors are friendly, and not too many strangers come back here. Just the way we like it… Most of our neighbors have at least one acre of land (we have four acres) with the largest having over 20 acres.

No Internet service

Our phone service went out Saturday afternoon, and was restored some time last night/this morning. Since we use DSL, we weren’t accessing the internet with those, and that was perfectly fine. Outside of work, and a bit of research I haven’t been spending too much time online. There’s plenty of garden work to keep me busy, and let’s not forget my obsession with everything crochet and knit related.

One of my works in progress, is complete. It’s a knit beanie hat, with a simple rib trim around the edge. No pattern used, just a design from my head, the hat has been marinating on one of my size 8 circular needles for a few weeks. but I’m happy to say that I completed it on Saturday.

Away for Independence Day

We’ll be away for the holidays, outside of checking on clients projects, I won’t be on the internet too much. It’s nice to take a break, you know? However this time, I’ve already packed the battery charger for my Nikon D80, and perhaps I’ll write a few posts while we’re away…