A Good Day

My copy of Mochimochi Knitting arrived today. I've already been swatching for a pair of Feet Eaters. They are slippers. When you put them on, it is like you are putting your foot in a monster's mouth. I need pink yarn for the inside (tongue) but don't have any. I either go out and buy some tomorrow or buy some Kool-Aid and dye some. Guess which will win out? After the Foot Eaters, I want to make the Grumpy (or is it Angry?) Sofa and the TV Set. Then I'll see if I can make some Human Beans in the right size to sit on the sofa. Then I'll make some tiny dust bunnies. There obviously must be dust bunnies, since the Human Beans have been sitting on the sofa watching TV and not cleaning up. The dust bunnies aren't in the book, but I think they are in my files someplace. Probably collecting dust.

I was paying my credit card bill, and glanced at the part where they give you bonus points. I'd looked at this before, and mostly ignored it because I never had enough points for anything. I decided to see if that was still the case. Much to my surprise, I now have enough points for a $50 Amazon gift certificate. I am sure there are a bunch of knitting books on my wish list that I can get. Yay!

The icing on this particular cake was winning a skein of yarn from The Knitters Brewing Company. I mentioned before that they are doing a knitalong of an Awareness Ribbon sock. A donation for each kit is going to the Susan G. Komen organization. Those who buy the kit and finish the socks get their names tossed in a hat for a free skein of yarn. The Knitalong continues for two more months, so you've still got time to join if you'd like. Unlike last time I won some yarn, I know I'll get this.

Finished Object Friday

whiteribbon
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

The white ribbon socks are done.

The strawberry socks are almost half done. I think that I learned enough things to give the watermelon dyeing another try. I've got to find a store that carries a variety of Kool-Aid packets first.

My sampler quilt is pinned together into one piece and has been patiently waiting to be quilted.

I've decided that the journal bags aren't quite right for the know it all bag electronics. The bags are too heavy. My next task will be to find or create something else. This will probably jump to the top of the queue. Poor socks and poor quilt will just have to wait.

Watermelon Strawberry

strawberry
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

The yarn I'd intended to be watermelon striped is now strawberry. I think it was a little bit too ambitious a project for the first time using this technique. It's got a really long color repeat. It took over half the length of my little house to prep the yarn. One of my cats was convinced that it was a ride in a kitty amusement park. I wasn't amused in the least. I didn't have the right color of green. Mixing blue raspberry with lemon-lime didn't work well. The idea I had for putting little dark spots for watermelon seeds didn't work at all.

What I ended up with was not what I was going for, but I still like it. I haven't had a chance to check out the striping, but I expect that will work.

Grannies not forgotten

I signed up to do a granny square a day thing awhile back. I didn't plan to do exactly one granny per day. It isn't required and the crochet police won't be after anyone who is in the group and not producing a square a day. I did set the project to one side because of some other things that took priority.

I'll be getting back to it pretty soon. I ordered a copy of "200 Crochet Blocks for Blankets, Throws, and Afghans: Crochet Squares to Mix and Match" from Interweave's hurt and overstock book sale.

I really want to work on the Great American Aran Afghan, but have decided to wait. I have this dream that I'll someday get a great deal on the 4000 yards of worsted that's required. In the meantime, I'll be busy with my crochet hook and all those leftovers.

FO Friday

twflower1
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

Twisted Flower Socks by Cookie A, all done! The yarn's from Crystal Palace and is called Panda Silk (bamboo/merino/silk). It's a nice pattern. I also finished the pair of father's day socks.

Having finished a couple of things is a sure sign that I've been finding other mischief that I want to get into. This time it is watermelon socks. I happened upon the cutest self-striping yarn that looks like cut watermelon, complete with seeds. The only places I found that sell it are out of stock and more than a little on the pricey side. I've got it in my head to dye my own with Kool-Aid. I have several skeins of Knit Picks Bare, so the cost for the project is around a dollar for the Kool-Aid. I've done some research online, and this may be do-able. I'm not allowing myself to do it until my white awareness ribbon socks are done, though. That's motivation to keep working on them.

Self-Indulgence

kpanklets
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

KnitPicks has this kit in their catalog for a week's worth of anklets. I really liked the idea of getting 7 different colors of yarn and 7 different anklet patterns. I wasn't crazy about the yarn, though. It was the same stuff I used to make my Susie Hoodie which made me not to want to use cotton blend yarn ever again. I left the catalog open to the page with the kit on it. I told myself that if I still wanted it in a week, I'd squeeze the $20 for it out of the budget.

As you can clearly see, I gave in and ordered it. The good news was that the kit I ordered online has Stroll (75% superwash merino/25%nylon) instead of the cotton stuff. Yay! There's something so pleasing to me to have this package of yarn in all different colors.

Finished Object Friday

chocbox
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

I poked at the picture with Photoshop Elements, but couldn't fix the color. It's a whole lot darker and more chocolate than this shows. One half is from Spindies (10 different chocolate-themed fibers) and the other is some alpaca that a friend gave me. I worked to have two similar groups of wool so I can eventually make socks out of this. The spinning's improved, but it might not be skinny enough for fingering. It's going into the stash and may reappear some day in sock form.

This is counts as done because it is. It has a brother that is in progress and the pair is going into the mail in the middle of next week.

Nothing new to show

Finished Object Friday. I finished a journal and two journal bags (previous post).

I was working away on a quilt, when the tension spring on the bobbin case broke. In plain English, it means the machine can't sew. Yay for the Internet! I found a place in San Diego that had the part in stock and I got it in two days. The machine works better than it has in years, so this was a Good Thing in the end. Maybe the quilt will appear here next week.

June is a month for my quarterly do-it-yourself sock club. I'm doing Cookie A's Twisted Flower socks. They are really pretty and fun.

Knitter's Brewing Company is doing another Knitalong. This one has one awareness ribbons on it. A portion of the kit price will be donated to breast cancer research, so I decided it'd be a good thing to do. Mine are going to be white to represent lung cancer and emphysema.

Journal Bag

I had several goals in mind for this project. First, I wanted to use up a bunch of recycled sari silk. Second, I wanted to have a bag that I could put the electronics for Knitty's Know It All Bag on. I wanted a bigger bag than that. Also, I don't think that the sari silk felts. Finally, I wanted a bag that would be the right size for one of my composition book journals. I crocheted it because I thought it would be more stable than knitting, it would be thicker than knitting (even felted), and I'd read that crocheted sari silk handled the fuzzy bits of thread better than knitting. Based on my experience, I agree with that last part.

I'm posting this here in case someone else might be thinking of a similar project. I have no doubt you could do a flashier job, but maybe this will help give you a launching point.

Journal Bag

Materials
Recycled sari silk in multicolor, about 1 1/2 skeins/250 yards total
Solid color, 50-75 yards total
Size H crochet hook

Front and Back
With multicolor, chain 25.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc in each chain across. 24 stitches
Row 2: Ch 2, dc in 2nd stitch, dc in each stitch across.
Row 3: Ch 1, sc in 2nd stitch, sc in each stitch across.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 until the piece is about 9 1/2 " long. Finish with row 3.
For the front, end off.

For the back, make the same as the front to this point. Cut the multicolored yarn and switch to the solid color. Work row 3 only (only single crochet) until the solid color is about 5-6" long.
Border row: *sc, hdc, dc, hdc, sc, sl, *repeat until end.
Sc up the side to the point where the solid color turns to multicolor. Set aside.

Sides and Strap
With multicolor, chain 5.
Row 1: Sc in 2nd chain from hook, sc in remaining chains. 4 stitches.
Row 2: Ch 1, sc in 2nd stitch, sc in each stitch across.
Repeat row 2 until piece is around 60" long. Sew the ends together. It should be a loop without any twists in it.

Finishing
Back and sides: Hold the side/strap piece seam to the back piece at the point where you stopped. Slipping the hook through the edge of the strap and the edge of the back, sc around the side, bottom, second side of the back, and down the second side of the flap. Fasten off and weave the end in.

Front and sides: Work as for the back and sides. Sc across the top edge, too, if you'd like.

Lining
Note that the bags in the picture were unlined when I took the picture.
Cutting: A fat quarter (22" x 18") may be enough material to cut these pieces.
Add 1/2" to each measurement before cutting for seam allowances.
Front: measure height and width.
Back: same as front.
Sides: Height should be the same as the front. Measure the width.
Bottom: Width is the same as the front width. Length is the same as the side width.

Sewing: Using a 1/4" seam, sew front to sides and back to sides. Sew bottom to the bottom. Turn inside out. Turn top edge under 1/4". Slip lining into bag and slip stitch into place around the top inside of the bag.

I Like Spindies

spindiescoral
Originally uploaded by Paula knits

This came in the mail today from Spindies. It made me very happy. There are ten different batts/braids/rovings, all with a coral theme. This is my second sampler box from Spindies and like this one even better than the first one. They offer a different color each month. I'm going to see if I can squeeze the budget for $25 to get this again next month. The fibers are great.

I have some fiber that's close to the same color as the off-white fluff at the upper left. I think I'll use that and blend it with these. That will be my main project for Tour de Fleece next month. TdF is a thing that goes on concurrently with the Tour de France bicycle race. Spinning will occur daily.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have some fiber to sniff and pet.