Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Finally A New Addition


I finally got to add a new addition to my Etsy shop last night. This is the brown heather wool bag that has taken me a while to finish but Im so glad its done. I hope the photos do it justice. Its not the model in the picture that would bring it down. Thats the lovely Megan, more than happy to be a model for me.



Here is a close up of the cables. This was knit with small needles so the cables sit pretty close together which makes it hard to photograph. It is three lines of a basic cable stitch.


This is the inside of the bag with its tan linen lining and magnetic clasp. I hadnt used a magnetic clasp on my bags before but have always wanted to. They are really easy to put in as well. I will definitely use them again.


I had to scrap the purple hobo bag I was working on. When I got to a certain part I was finding it impossible and not looking the way I wanted it too. Im not sure if it was they yarn or the needles but I will definitely have to figure out some other way to do that bag. So instead I felt the need to pick up the fabulous wool yarn that I got a few weeks ago on my trip to the Falconer Yarn Loft. Now that I started working with it I am wondering what took me so long to pick it up. It is wool that is taken from the closer to the sheeps skin that doesnt get exposed to all the elements so its softer. The colour that I am using is called wedgewood blue. Actually I got so into it I have now knitted and felted the bag and its drying as we speak. It amazing how the colour of the yarn kind of changes when you felt it. The wedgewood blue is now a paler wedgewood and so much prettier than before. Once its all dry I am going to figure out the way I am doing the handles. I am going to play around with it to figure it out. All I know is the handles will be light orange colour. If the yarn which is called Canteloupe gets paler in the felting process its going to look excellent with the blue. Aaaahhh only time will tell. Then comes the dubious task of finding a lining material. I know that that can make or break a bag sometimes.

Today I finished a ribbed slouchy hat in royal blue. It was a quick knit. I am going to wash the hat to soften the yarn up hopefully making it floppier. It needs to sit floppier I think. When Megan comes home tomorrow I will get her to be my model again. I also have some more leaves to embroider to finish the wool wristwarmers to list them. I feel like I have some catching up to do in the listing items department.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

A Quick Update

I havent blogged in a couple of weeks. Its always been in the back of my mind and I just never sat down and started. So you may be wondering what Ive been up to all that time. Not really a whole lot hehe.

I managed to get the stuff ready for the coffee shop and gave it to my friend to put on their shelves. I changed my mind a hundred times on what should be sent there. Some of decisions were based on time and some were based on what would be good for that location. I really wanted to take some photos before they got sent out but my rechargeable batteries died and fingers crossed I get some more this weekend. Actually I really need some batteries because I need to add some new stuff to the shop and I cant do that without pictures. What finally got sent off the coffee shop was a pair of wool wristwarmers like the ones in my Etsy shop, a purple slouchy hat, a lamb who is naked because I ran out of time to make a cardigan, a seafoam felted bag that had leaves and a tree knitted into it and a bird ceramic button and three coffee cup sleeves. Two coffee sleeves were knit in black superwash wool, one was a ribbed design and the other was a cable design. The third coffee sleeve was knit in a cream organic, unbleached cotton in a rib design. Those were great because they were quick to make and very relevent to the location. Fingers crossed some items sell. That would be great. I also gave her a pile of business cards.

I finally finished with my 100% peruvian wool brown heather cable bag. It turned out better than I imagined. The inside handles had to be reknit a few times to allow for how much yarn I had left but it worked in the end. I lined the bag with a tan linen material with a magnet clasp. I really like how the bags look when they are lined but oh my gosh are they are a pain for someone who is struggling with her sewing skills hehe. When it works it makes all the difference to the finished product even if I have to redo it a couple of times to get it right. This bag will be listed on Etsy once I have my batteries.

I felted a woolen jumper with an argyle design a couple of weeks ago. A bag has been cut and is in the sewing process. Again I am not liking how it looks right now and will have to undo some parts and redo do them to my liking. Its coming along. From the sleeves I cut the lower section and turned them into wristwarmers. This is the first time I have tried this. I am currently embroidering leaves on them, they will be shaved for fuzziness and ready to list on Etsy.

I hadnt knit anything in about a week because I had been involved in sewing and embroidery. I was itching to start a project. I am now halfway through knitting a purple hobo bag. I havent tried this pattern before but hopefully it will look how I want it to. The yarn I am using is a bit different from what the pattern calls for. We shall see. One of my favourite things about knitting is you can always undo something you don't like and rework it.

The girls got their report cards last week. This was Victoria's first real report card. Apparently we have another super genius on our hands and Victoria acts alot differently at school hehe. They both did really well. It is exciting to see from both of them. It kind of makes me feel like I must be doing something right in all this.

Well we are off to do some shopping today. Its also Valentine's Day today so Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. I hope your day is full of hugs and kisses, oh and chocolate too hehe.