I began knitting this buttonhole bag last night. I knitted until 2am and then sat back down this morning and finished it. I popped it into the washer with a couple of pairs of jeans and forgot about it!!! The cold water rinse spin cycle shocked me out of my stupor! I ran into the laundry room and threw open the washer like a mad woman. LOL

Disaster averted! It felted very nicely, if I must say so myself. LOL And I didn't sit there being anal about it like I did last night when I felted my B4 bag. (which took FOREVER to felt!) It turned out very hairy but I like it. It adds character to it and my color combo looks ever better felted. (seafoam green/white/ and coffee brown) As I expected, there is still a lot of stitch definition left in thewhite stripe which is why I only did 4 rows with it. But again, I think it just adds texture.

Yarn is Lamb's Pride Bulky - double strand throughout and pattern can be found here http://www.stitchcharlotte.com/WhatsNew/ButtonHoleBagMasonDixon21.pdf

B4 Bag (Bobbles, Beads, Bumps and Buttons)

This purse was so fun and interesting to make. It was my first experience making Bobbles, knitting with beads, making bumps and with felting.

The yarn I used is Classic Elite Beatrice in Begonia (3219) . I used one strand so the bag is not very stiff/sturdy but it will be fine the way it is. Using a double strand would have been too costly, since this took 6 balls with a single strand throughout.

I could not find Crow beads anywhere, except online, and I did not want to have to wait for them so I found these spacer beads at Michael's that had a hole big enough to pass a double strand of yarn through. They are metal with pearlized enamel paint on them. They worked out great!

I am not a "button" type of gal, so I chose some rectangular glass beads that coordinated with my colors to substitute for the buttons. I like the finished product very much. They are in the bottom picture. If you can't see them, they have pink roses within the glass.

WARNING!! This yarn take FOREVER to felt. I didn't do a swatch so I was panicking when after the first full cycle in the washer it didn't look like it had felted at all. I didn't have any tennis balls, or jeans laying around, so I tried towels. Although the lint did not travel to my bag, they were not sturdy enough to cause much friction which is probably why it took so long to felt. (you know darn well if this was something I didn't want to felt, it would have been ruined in 4 seconds flat).

The pattern can be bought here http://b4bag.blogspot.com/

This past Thursday was my birthday. I turned 29 (again). Since my husband's grandmother is in the hospital, I told my kids not to expect to go out for our traditional birthday dinner. My daughter Molly said, "That's OK mom, we can have a sushi-pa-looza!"

I almost died laughing! Where do kids come up with this stuff?

This is her eating Sushi that night. I love it and she's adventurous and wanted to try it one time when I was eating it. Now she's addicted too. She's 8 and she even eats it with wasabi!!! My other daughter is VERY picky so needless to say, she ate pizza for dinner that night.

Her comment made my day. We did end up going out to eat Chinese for my birthday, but we'll have sushi again soon!

I've completed my first crochet item ever and coincidentally, my first bag. I fell in love with this bag when flipping through a book at Wal-mart and had to buy the book so I could make it.


Yarn used is Classic Elite Beatrice and Classic Elite Renaissance. The pattern is from the book "Total Crochet Fashions" by Gayle Bunn. OH boy, do I love it!!

Knitting needle case rolled up.

Needle Case

I have been looking for a knitting needle case that is a good price and big enough, with enough pockets, to hold my crochet hooks and other various knitting/crochet paraphernalia. I couldn't find any that I liked that were worth the price for the materials or design. So I decided to make my own.

This took me about an hour last night. It's complete with quilting, and two rows of pockets. I didn't spend a cent on it. I had the material left over from the days when I was crazy about making clothes for my kids, the batting was from my days as a quilter, and the ribbon is from my scrapbooking stash. yep - I'm a multi-dimensional crafter. LOL

No pattern was used. :)

I can't figure out how to show it rolled up in this same post so my next post will show it rolled up.

This is my very first mitten. It was knitted in the round with superwash wool. I want them to last for a long time and never shrink on me. I actually play in the snow with my kids so if they get dirty, I'd like to be abke to wash them thoroughly with no worries. I've used the same pattern a few more times. Once I used Patons new wool/soy mix. It stripes up nicely. I donated them to a charity auction and forgot to take a picture of them. That yarn changes the gauge quite a bit because it is not a stretchy fiber, so if you plan on using it, check your gauge before starting.

I am working on a new pair of mittens now that are knitted on straight needles. I am not crazy about seaming but they are very cool. When i am done, I will post a pic and the name of the pattern.

My first Knitting projects

My first project, naturally, was a scarf. But since I am not a boring person (if I say so myself), I couldn't allow myself to make a plain ole garter knit scarf. So, I chose a pattern that would serve the purpose of forcing me to learn both knit and purl right away. I made a basketweave pattern out of Wool-ease thick and quick with a garter stitch border. It's nice and soft! This was knit in Fall 2006. You might not be able to see the stitches clearly in the picture.

Who knew

I have Pneumonia. Who knew you could get that during the warmest Winter on record for new England! I have spent a lot of time on the couch, knitting and crocheting. I am in the middle of many projects. Hopefully I will finish one or two soon so I can post them.