Fabulous Saturday!

The weather was absolutely PERFECT on Saturday.....warm but not hot with a nice breeze and believe it or not, NO HUMIDITY! In August around here, that's almost unheard of!

Several of us met at Panera on Saturday for lunch and knitting and had a fabulous time. Since the weather was so wonderful, we decided to stay outdoors for the entire afternoon. Lisa, Gretchen, Catherine, Elizabeth, Charlotte (Gretchen's mom) and I were there - chatting and knitting up a storm. Most of us stayed until 6 PM and then reluctantly had to head home.
Elizabeth has been really busy creating 3 darling bags. I took pictures of two of them. The third one is a nice purse from the "Pattern a Day" calendar. It's a basic oblong purse shape with a fanned flap - it's quite cute. The "My Constant Companion" felted bag she made is fabulous (photo on the left)! She used a Lion Brand yarn that had acrylic in it, so when the wool shrunk, it made the acrylic really pop! I DEFINITELY need to make one ASAP to put all my knitting gear in....it's the perfect knitting bag! (I've added it to my official "Projects in Waiting" list...but I'm not sure when I'll get around to making it!

The second bag was amazing. She made the felted bag from the Spring or Summer Knitter's magazine, but with a twist. She was not happy with the size once she completed the bag (minus the handles). So, being the creative artist that she is, she improved on the original design. She made a second bag, then picked up stitches around one side of each bag and did a 2-needle bind-off, thus joining the two bags together. This created "compartments" within the bag - a fabulous idea. Finally, she added the top part to create the handles. Needless to say, we were all intrigued by the design and definitely plan to make one ourselves.



The rest of us were working on various projects - Catherine is almost done with her walking stole. Lisa is still in the beginning phase of her Margie Mills sweater. Gretchen completed the shawl she was working on the last time I saw her - the Lavender Garden Shawl and is starting a square shawl using denim colored hemp. The hemp seems as "pleasant" to knit as linen yarn but should soften up with handling. Charlotte was taking a knitting "time out" and instead soaked up some inspiration from what everyone else was making. Elizabeth was finishing the 2nd of a pair of baby hats with cute little looped top knots instead of pom-pons. They're really cute.

I spent the entire afternoon working on the body of the Cascading Fuchsias Noni Bag...and finished it last night while watching a movie. Today, I finished the handle and had to do my most hated stitch - the Kitchener stitch. I never know if it's going to be a "good day" or "bad day" with that stitch! Sometimes, it turns out so well....and other times, well.....I'd rather not talk about it! Today (lucky for me), was a "good day". And yes....those are circs that you see....Addi Turbos to be exact. I have to use circs when I'm working on a felted bag. The bag is now ready to felt - hurrah! Then, it's onto the flowers...they should be lots of fun!



Pre-felted measurements:

Height: 17"
Width: 16"
Depth: 6"
Strap: 22"

I had heard that Paton's yarn shrinks more than other yarns (vertically) so I added an additional 10 rows to the body and an additional 6 rows to the handle. Hopefully that should counteract the added shrinkage. I'll do the measurements again, post-felting, for comparison.