Project Bags

I've been spending time (and my fabric stash) sewing sock knitting project bags. They're approximately 8" deep and 5x5" across the bottom. Here are a few photos of the finished products.





And I've opened up an etsy store where you can view even more photos and purchase the bags! It's OliviaKnits of course! I am planning on making some zippered bags and larger totes as well but since the sock projects are near and dear to my heart I started with those ones first.

I've been a busy girl

I started 2 new knitting projects and spent today sewing little project bags! First the knitting - I'm participating in a knit-a-long hosted by Sheri over at the Loopy Ewe. It's for the Jared Flood pattern Girasole. I'm knitting the blanket size using Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Natural. I've finished Charts A & B and am halfway through Chart C.

Here's a photo!



The next new project - well... it's a SEKRIT. But I have a pretty placeholder photo from outside my house.



Now - onto the sewn bags! I have a stash of fabric that I was telling you about when I was making those pretty aprons a couple of weeks ago. I've seen some really cute project bags that friends have brought into the knitting groups I go to and I've seen some other cute ones on blogs I've read. So, I decided to take up my stash and make some cute bags and I will be selling a few too - cause I haven't found a job yet and I've got to work with what I have (make that stash WORK baby WORK!).

All of the bags I made today are roughly 8.5 inches tall and 5x5 across the bottom and are completely reversible. They have 2 handles - and the longer one tucks through the short handle. The bags will hold a cake of sock yarn with room to spare!



If any of you are interested in purchasing one of these bags - please let me know :)

Swan Song

So I was having a bit of the blahs earlier in the week and despite a successful trip to Goodwill to find so "fabric" for repurposed tote bags I didn't do to much knitting this week until tonight. But tonight I knit the gusset, the heel and 1 leg repeat on the 2nd Swan Song - yeah!



And here's the obligatory progress shot. To recap - it's a free pattern from WendyKnits - just click the link on the sidebar and once you're over on her blog check out the free patterns! It's knit using Pagewood Farms in Orange Spice. Most of the time I can get gauge on Wendy's sock patterns using size 1's, but this time I had to go with size 0's (but that's what she called for in the pattern).

I'm hoping to get up to Charlotte on Saturday for at least the dinner part of the Wendy visit there (she's teaching classes at Charlotte Yarn this weekend) but I probably won't know until sometime tomorrow - and it also depends on if the boss will let me work all day tomorrow or come in early to finish my hours on Saturday. We'll see!

At least there is progress on the knitting front!

Recently I've been feeling the 2 steps forward 12 steps backward.... but at least there is knitting progress. This is the Swan Song pattern by WendyKnits! You can click the link on the sidebar to her blog where it's located in her free patterns! I'm using Pagewood Farms Yukon in the color "Orange Spice". Now I'm not normally an orangey-type of girl, but mom bought this for me and the more I knit it, the more I love it. It's definitely not something *I* would have bought myself, but it's going to be fun wearing it! I know it will wear well because I've already used this yarn for a pair of Hedera's for the roomie! Also, yesterday I finished (finally) a baby surprise jacket for my mom to gift to one of her friends. Now I just need to get it mailed off to her.

Not Knitting

I know I just blogged the other day, but I wanted to tell you about my "other" crafting! In fact, this was my first craft experience, not the knitting.... Please to be not freaking out!


Here I am - all set up on the dining room table - plenty of light, room enough for everything and a partial view of the TV...

And the backstory.... A month or six weeks ago, I saw a cute Amy Butler (tm) pattern at Knitch for the "Domestic Goddess" Apron pattern. My mom cooks quite a bit and in the past has sent me an apron (or two)... and I thought I'd return the favor! While she was here for Stitches South we went into Knitch and I had her pick out the fabric for her apron. Now, if I had any less procrastination flowing through my body I would have sewn the apron up sometime between Saturday night and today.... Why? Because I had to search for a particular purse/tote for mom and finally found it on eBay. Today it arrived at the house and I took it off to the post office and when I got home I started and finished her apron.... so I'll have to send it off seperately. Oh well... she'll still love it! Also, the piano man's mother, who has us over quite often for dinner *always* wears an apron while getting together the dinner stuffs - so she's getting one too. We'll see her in a week, but hopefully her apron will be finished tomorrow!


Here's the finished apron for Mom! I'll show you the one for PM's mom when it's finished!

The pattern is very well written and only took me a couple hours to finish - I followed the directions and top-sewed and interfaced and didn't take any short-cuts on it... I hope the mom's love their aprons!

Getting out the machine and all has really gotten me thinking about sewing up some cute knitting project bags... and, well, while not quite as voluminous as my yarn stash - this one's older!



It's almost *all* fat quarters too - I do still have a mind to sew myself a red/white log cabin quilt and you can't see any of that fabric at all :)

Recipe for happiness

I've really wanted to keep this primarily a knitting blog and not go on about my personal life but I've been having trouble recently with my job search and subsequent $$ troubles - but I may have found a recipe for temporary happiness:



That's Pagewood Farms Alyeska (has the CASHMERE - hello!) and my favorite chocolate ever.... the plain Hershey's bar.


omnomnomnomnom.... happiness here I come!

ps - I also feel I should apologize to my mother for not handing this over to her a couple of weeks ago while she was here. Turquoise is her favorite color. Sorry Mom - this one's for me. XOXO

pps - I'm knitting Kai-Mei from Cookie A.'s new book Sock Innovation!

Progress shot!

Well - there has been a little hiatus on the knitting front. I spent a couple days last week helping Liz out at the theatre sewing costumes for the improvised soap opera Scandal: Under the Big Top. I had a blast and got the last costume on the improvisor about 10 seconds before the show started - it was awesome!



I finished up the first of the Van Dyke socks out of the new book by Wendy Johnson - "Socks from the Toe Up". This is one of the sport weight sock patterns and if I had more time it would go along pretty quickly. I did cast on the second one last night and am almost to the gusset increases already... I am using BMFA Socks That Rock (medium) in Pink Granite. This colorway came from the sock club and to be honest, I wasn't thrilled with the pattern and have cast on using this yarn for a couple of different projects that didn't work out. This yarn definitely matched up with this pattern and that makes me terribly happy! Not much other knitting is going on right now - but I did get out and mow the lawn today!