On Vacation

We just got back from a week - yes, a week - away on vacation. We signed up earlier this year with bluegreen vacations and took full advantage of it! This was our second trip where we combined 2 free days in Charleston with using our 'points' in Myrtle Beach for 5 days. It was our first time in Charleston with the kids, and fun but don't think we will take the kids back. It is not as kid friendly as Tennesse or Myrtle Beach is. But it still was nice, very nice place that Lodge Valley Inn was.

In Myrtle Beach - Colin and kids was able to go to the beach. I'm not really a beach person, so I shopped for Colin's Birthday during the time.

I also completed a shawl - I like this pattern it is knitted from side to side instead of from top to bottom so there are few stiches to cast on or cast off. Very neat! I used eco wool, and it is so soft. Doesn't feel itchy at all - I really like this wool. Shaina is the model!

A bubble bag for me!

I decided to take a break from making Christmas bags and make a bag for me. I love the bubble bag, thought it would make a great project bag. So that is what I made! I mixed Eco wool in black and Noro brown/gray/cream mix. I love the results. Here is bag before and after felting.

Felted Peppermint Bag

I call this little beauty peppermint, because she looked like a peppermint before I felted her. But she blended nicely once felted. I'm happy and hope my friend likes her!

More Presents

I have been busy making Christmas presents!

One super cute project is felted gift bags. I found the pattern on http://knittingpatterncentral, here is the link: http://www.y2knit.net/felted%20pouch.pdf.

Here are some of them felted and before felting. The blue and white thread is to keep the eylets open.

I love this pattern - very very easy, but very pretty. And practical. You can use as a gift bag, but someone can then use later on for a sachet, or to carry jewelry or any small item. So it is a bag and gift in one!

And I love the colors in the Noro yarn, it was my first project using Kuryeon.

My other project is another bag for one of my friends - she likes red - so I made this one especially for her. This is it pre-felted:

I'm felting it and the gift bags now - I'll update once completed!

I'm still here!!!

We have been on vacation and travelling and getting buried at work - so I have been neglecting my blog. But never fear, not neglecting knitting, crochet and stash building!!

I took my yarn with me on vacation. I had one whole bag dedicated to my projects. Poor hubby had to lug my yarn bag each place we went to on vacation!!! He kept asking me - tell me again what you have in here?!? I just couldn't bear to part with my WIPs!

I did finish another bag that will be a Christmas gift. A felted green bag. I really love that pattern, and really am attracted to green this year. I considered keeping it - but decided to keep it as a gift!

Not much else to show - I have a ton of WIP that I just need to buckle down and finish. I did have one WIP I wanted to post. My first sweater! I decided to use the Brownsheep book that just gives a generic pattern that you can use with any yarn depending on gauge. I am using Muench Tessin yarn. Love the yarn and the way it is knitting. As you can see I'm down to just one sleeve!


The kids loved their vacation. As a family we really, really needed to get away. It was a breath of fresh air to us all. We visited Dollywood, which I wasn't sure if we would like, but the kids loved it. It is truly a kids park, not lots of big rides (which is fine with me!) but a lot of kids activities. We ran into two big thunderstorms, but since it cooled the air down that wasn't bad either. We will definately go back to the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area again.

Here is the lining in the knitted bag. 

And I got this new knitted bags book. It is soo cool, I am going to have lots of fun with this book. This clutch was in teh book, it was super quick. the patter called for kid mohair, but I used Wildfoote (1 strands). The gauge worked out fine. I also lined it.... 

I absolutely copied this idea from http://jackie.cenla.net/ - the Crochet Buffet. My daughter was making paper burgers, and I remembered her site so I decided to make her a play burger. Of course Jason wanted one too! 

Guilty!

Guilty!! This is how I found my son after walking into the family room from being in the bedroom for a while. I thought he was playing peacefully. He was playing alright. Look at the evidence on his legs and face. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury ------ Guilty!!!!

Crafty Girl

Here is my creative daughter. She was dragging out constuction paper, markers and glue today, and I didn't know why. I was a bit peeved I must admit because it was everywhere. I told her to take it to the kitchen so she didn't mess up the carpet. When I went into the kitchen, I saw her barbie beach scene. What a crafty girl!! :) Daughter after my own heart.

Little Green Bag

And here is the bag where you can see the lining. I decided to line it - I need to line my felted bags as well. I figured it will be easier for the giftees to use them if they are lined. Making bags is fun!!

This little purse is my own creation. I went to the yarn shop and saw a purse with the Green cotton yarn, and then found the white & colorful yarn in the bargain drawer. I love a bargain!! I thought it would go well togheter, and it did. I have enough for another purse.

Felted Bags

Here are my 2 latest felted bags, together. I like both of them. Christmas gifts!! :)

Another pic of the Lopi Bobble bag. 

Here is my newest bag - it is made with Lopi and the same Bobble bag from Pursonalities I made earlier. This one is shaped better, although you can't really see it here. I have it stuffed with towels so it stays in shape while it dries! 

This is the bag after felting. It is a nice size. I'm drying it stuffed with towels so it wil hang properly. I noticed my last bag when dried flat didn't hang as I expected it to. Let's see how this one works out. I'll show pics once dry. 

Handbag before it was felted! I made this from the S&B book. I changed the colors and used Patons Classic Merino.  

Here are both socks completed! I used them on my plane trip to Seattle. They were toasty warm and snuggly! 

And this is it after fulling. You can see all the stiches merged together. It was supposed to be with the knit side on the outside, not the purl side, but I did the 3 needle bind off on the wrong side. Also - I don't know why it is rounder on one side than the other. But that's ok. It's not perfect, but it is cool for my first bag! 

Here is my first knitted bag!!! This is how it looked before I fulled it. It was longer than I expected. And I didn't double the yarn because I didn't have enough yarn, and I just wanted to see how it would go. This is my largest knitted project ever! 

And here she is with the heel sort rows and the gusset in full view. I did it!! And now I understand how they work I bet I could do one with sock yarn. BTW - i used Plymouth Encore. It's nice and soft, and machine washable. 

My first knitted sock!! I went to my LYS this weekend, and was wearing one of my ponchos. After a long conversation, they recommended a sock patter made with worsted yarn. I was always afraid of socks because they seemed too hard, I didn't understand the gusset, and couldn't figure out how to use dpns. But, she assured me the pattern was easy and you just have to do one to know how it works. She was right! Plus, using worsted means I didn't have so many stiches. This is actually a little big since I didn't have 6 dpns, just 7s. But it worked. I made them a little shorter Love them!! 

And her is Colin's mom's shawl. She is made with TLC Cara Mia. She is very light, and soft. I like the color - it looks like a mix of pink and purple. I hope they all like their shawls. I need to get them in mail tomorrow. 

Here is Maida's shawl. I made it with Wendy Aran. I used the yarn until the ball was gone! So she is a little larger than my other ones. She is also a bit heavier, as the yarn is a 75% acrylic 25% wool mix, a bit fuzzy too.  

Here is the Seraphina I made for Karen, my sister in law. I made it in Cotton Plus. I like it just as much as the Capri. Great drape and shape. And the red is lovely. Hmmmmmm - may just have to make another one for my collection .