School!

Our first day of school was yesterday. My kids got a jump start on me and started before I was finished with my coffee. The picture below shows my new "office" and the kids hard at work. They like that little table. This used to be a dining room, but you can see that I've taken over. hahaha! I have my desk where I knit and write patterns. You can see my sewing corner with my swift hanging on the wall. Just last night, I added my weaving loom right next to my desk.


The ironing board is only out when I'm sewing. Right now, I'm sewing tote bags to include in our shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. I wanted to sew bags last year, but time got away from me and I ended up buying cheap ones. I wasn't too thrilled with the quality of those and was determined to sew my own this year. The picture shows what I've accomplished in about 1.5 days of sewing. I've made 10 tote bags!

These are just basic tote bags. I didn't interface them or add any pockets because I didn't want the extra bulk taking up shoe box space. I did line all of them. They seem pretty sturdy. I put four of my knitting stitch dictionaries into one bag and it held up just fine. I'll probably make a few more bags and pick out the best ones for the shoe boxes.

I'm still knitting on my Gnarled Oakwoods shawl for Camp Loopy. What didn't help is that I got my first shipment of Knitspot's fall in full color club! I won't post a picture on the blog yet. The pattern is a scarf or stole. I really want to cast-on, but I should probably finish this stole first.

I do have a pair of socks in progress. They're self striping socks for my son. I'm avoiding designing anything new until I get some of my backlogged patterns written and test knitted.

Secret shawl progress and FO pictures

On the left is what the Secret of Chrysopolis looks like after 5 clues. It's now around 51 inches long with 3 more clues to go. It looks like this stole will be symmetrical. I like how the center medallion turned out. Dwight thought it looked like a monkey's face after clue 4.

On the right is what the Secret of the Stole looks like after 4 clues. Clue 4 is where we got to make some decisions about length. I decided to just do mine as the pattern/chart is written and not make any changes. After this clue, it measures around 40 inches long.

I can't wait until Friday. Maybe I should knit each clue slower and make them last the whole week. No, I don't think I can do that. Whenever I start a new clue, I get really focused on it. I usually don't like having two lace projects on the needles at the same time, so that might be a reason for wanting to finish each clue as fast as possible.

I have finished a few things on the side. I've made two more pair of socks for E. These were made out of Vesper in Strange Little Mama and Yarn Pirate in Primrose. The primrose socks were knit in the Baby Fern pattern from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

I've also done a bit of sewing too. My poor sewing machine has been very neglected this summer. I did give it a good dusting and oiling before sewing. It still gave me fits while trying to sew through three layers of vinyl. This bag is from the Vogue 8098 pattern. I picked it because it looks roomy enough for my regular stuff, my camera, and my knitting. I picked vinyl because I wanted a sturdy bag. I've tried using upholstery fabric with heavy interfacing, but those were still too flimsy for my tastes. This bag turned out to be very close to what I want. It's final dimensions are 12 inches wide x 9 inches tall (on the side sections) x 6 inches wide.

I did make some changes to the pattern. I added the rectangular metal rings to the handles. This is so the handles will fold over to the sides when I want them out of the way for knitting. I added an interior zippered pocket to the main section of the bag. I also added magnetic snaps to the two large side sections.

If I decide to make this bag again, I would make even more changes. I would also add some plain patch type pockets to the main center section of the bag. That part is so cavernous that my keys and wallet get lost in there. I would also only use the lining fabric for the lining of the side sections. See how there is vinyl on the inside too? Well that was a pain and I don't think it's necessary. The pocket seems too thick and bulky.

Up next, I'm working on another pair of leg warmers for E. She's been constantly wearing the other ones and they need to be washed. ;-)