First up, the bag my sister-in-law sewed for me:
She remembered me saying (YEARS ago - I can't remember what someone said to me this morning) that I love brocade fabrics, but since I almost never get Very Dressed Up, I almost never get to wear them. So she found one and made me a bag with it. Isn't it nice? It's the perfect size for take-along knitting and doesn't say "mother of a toddler covered in graham cracker crumbs". It had chocolate in it, too, which didn't hurt.
Secondly, a travel photo. I snapped this from the truck as we drove through; it's the farmland I grew up in. Not specifically the farms I grew up near, but it gives you the idea of rolling hills and fields and you can understand now why living in a flat swamp is not my cup of tea:
Hopefully someone finds this interesting; I always wish people would take more photos of what they consider everyday things, because it's likely not everyday to anyone not living in your town. (I learned this well in Hawaii. I would talk about growing up in cornfields and cow pastures and people would just stare like it was the most exotic thing they'd ever heard.)
And last of all, it's Friday, traditionally the day of Me Knitting. Only now every damn day is Knitting! For! Me! So instead I'm going to try working on projects that have been lurking for months (or longer). Today's goal, make a big dent in the blue-and-black sleeve and maybe do some finishing on the body of the sweater.
Now if you'll excuse me I have to go wind yarn and maybe dye something or other.
9 comments:
I have a steeking question. I am thinking about knitting a cardigan for myself in the round. I plan to do simple raglan sleeve shaping in the round useing the EPS. I have done this before making an Icelandic sweater with a zipper.
My question is will the cut steek edge look nice if I pick up along the front and put in some button holes? Or will pulling at the steeked edge pull out my machine sewn stitches?
Honestly, I've never machine-stitched a cardigan steek, but I imagine it depends on how loosely the knitted fabric is. If the fabric tends to sag, the machine stitched edge will be tight and make it look puckery. On the other hand, if it's a really firmly knitted fabric, you probably won't notice at all. (The reason I've never machine-stitched a cardi steek is, I knit loosely and gave up on machine-stitched steeks very early on, because they never looked right on my oozy fabric.)
I use crocheted steeks, and they've never given me a bit of trouble (I've always steeked wool, though). You can find directions on how to do that in the sidebar, "See Eunny Knit Steeks", under "Knitting Links".
Oh, and my oldest known crocheted cardigan steek is four or five years old. It's on a sweater that's been worn to DEATH (I expect to find holes in it any day now), and the steek and front edge are still going strong. The elbows of the sleeves will wear out much sooner. :)
Love the dyed yarn in the last post, and the bag you got for a gift is lovely!! Lucky you!
i just loooove that bag! give the compliments to your sister-in-law.
Thanks for the tip! I havn't used crochet steeks since I was in grade 8 and made a fair isle purse but I seem to remeber it working really well. maybe I should try that! Especially since I don't have a sewing machine, And I have found the same thing that you have, my machine sewn edges feel sort of hard and not nice.
Thanks!
Beautiful Yarn you've dyed - inspiring. Im setup to procion dye my first fleece on Monday. Its a Navajo Churro, I got at the Southeastern Animal and Fiber Fair here in the NC mountains).
Hand made Brocade bag, yum, must be nice to have such a good relationship with the inlaws....
I can sympathize with missing 'home', My hubby and I live up in Asheville, NC which everyone thinks is the cats pajamas but I long for the clear skies and open prairie of the west where I spent most of my life.
you are taking to dying yarn so beautifully! I'm watching the results with anticipation!
And I took similar photos on my recent travels and will blog later tonight if I'm still awake. It's cool seeing where you grew up Julie!
I found your farmland picture wonderful. I grew up in eastern Ohio and then moved out to the flat land of Illinois and I miss hills.
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