One For You! -- A Giveaway

Box Bag

I've really enjoyed making these little box bags. Making them is somewhat addictive and it runs a close second to my love for knitting. Some have been added to my Etsy shop, but this one is for one of you. All you need to do is go over to my Etsy shop and tell me what is your favorite item there. This will be a great help to me because I keep making things that it seems only I like.

This bag measures 8" wide x 5 inches long, and is 3" deep. It not only useful for the knitter/crocheter, but it would also make a great make-up bag or toiletry bag. I also think that it would be good to use as a lingerie bag so that your "personals" may be tucked away separately in luggage.

The winner will be chosen next Monday, May 3 by 5:00 p.m. Let's get those comments started, and as always an additional entry will be given for followers of this blog. Should you win, I will need to contact you, so please make sure to leave your e-mail address.

Have a Marvelous Monday!

One For Me

I now know why box bags are all the rage! This little bag makes me smile. I love the print and the beautiful and vibrant colors. My knitting is normally carried around in a Ziplock bag. For one thing, I like seeing what I'm grabbing as I run out for travel knitting. Travel knitting is done while I wait in the car loop when picking a kid up from school, taking my husband to work (he drives), the commute to church (he also drives), not to mention any long distance travel. The more practical purpose was to ensure that no harm comes to my yarn or knitted garment. . . no spills, no grass, no dirt, etc... Of course, this little bag is able to function in this manner and look cute while doing it. Sorry, Ziplock, you're going to have to stick to leftovers.

Do you wonder why my two-at-a-time toe-up socks are now one-at-a-time? Or maybe, I should call them two-at-some of the time toe-up socks. My knitting fingers are very sensitive to weight. I notice that If I'm sitting on the yarn, or if it gets caught on something my gauge gets off terribly. Well, I think that the weight of the other sock was messing with me. I had these huge gaps after knitting the short-row heels (mentioned and pictured in the last post). Anyway, I picked up three additional stitches in the ditch and still had a big ugly hole. I frogged it twice, and alas, STILL there was a hole. Thus, the more serious surgery HAD to be done, I had no choice but to separate my siamese twins (that is how I often thought of them when they were on the same circ). Now, I have two separate and thankfully normal socks. They made it through the procedure without any difficulties and should now grow to maturity as all healthy socks would.

The knitting has begun on a new baby garment. If I stay on course, I will post pictures next week. Have a Terrific Thursday!

Winner!

The winner of the bag was selected by RANDOM.ORG which claims to be a true random number selector as opposed to others by which their selection may not truely be random. The minimum number was, one, of course with the maximum being 16 because those persons who follow this blog were given an additional entry. Without further ado, congratulations to:

SMUDPIE!

Please send me an e-mail with your address and I will get that out to you. I have my e-mail info in the side bar. I hope that you enjoy your new bag.

A big thank you to all of you who entered. There were a couple of stories that made me laugh out loud.

There will be another contest coming soon, so stay posted.

Have a great weekend.

Project Bag Give-Away!

As I stated yesterday, in celebration of new items to be added to my Etsy store, this bag is up for virtual grabs. It is 6 1/4 inches wide, has a depth of 7 inches (4 inches beyond the zipper), and has plenty of room for a small project and all of the accessories needed to make it. I added a coordinating giraffe print for the handle and bottom of the bag. The bag is reinforced with heavy interfacing and lined with black quilted fabric.

All that you need to do to enter is leave a short funny comment about your knitting/crocheting adventures and the winner will be selected by Random Number Generator. Also, those of you who follow this blog will be given an additional entry. The winner will be selected and notified next Friday, October 30, 2009.

*****The yarn and needles are not included :-)

*****Only applicable to residents of US and Canada

Let the comments begin!

Bag Lady

Whew! Have I been busy. I've been making more small project bags and I have finally got the pattern as I like it.

I will be adding project bags, hand-painted sock yarn, project journals, and stitch markers to my Etsy store within the next couple of weeks.

Also, on the baby knitting front....I have completed the Christmas hat/bootie set and will soon complete the knitting on a pair of Christmas pants and bodysuit set.

As far as the hat is concerned, I frogged the lil' elf hat. It was not sitting well with me. It's not really about Santa and elves. For me, it is Christmas.

Have a really great weekend.

What I've Been Up To

A couple of weeks ago, I had the idea that some of my yarn base would be dyed to match some of the knitting project bags. This sock yarn shown is red, green, soft yellow, and pink, which matches the bag below. I cannot say enough good things about this yarn. It has a very tight twist, is superwash, and is amazingly soft.

The project bag/yarn combo would make a wonderful gift for someone who is maybe just learning to knit and, of course, a long-time knitter would enjoy it as well. Once the socks are complete, the bag has versatile uses. It could be used as a make-up bag, for instance. Does this sound like an ad or something? I'm not trying to sell it. At least, not yet. :)

The yarn has been dyed in a one-row stripe and my daughter says that the colors remind her of Spring. It would be fun to wear some warm, wooly, Spring colored socks during the dead of winter. I think that I will put it in my Etsy store as a pilot idea. If it goes over well, I may open another Etsy store. Keep a look-out. However, if you are interested now, just leave a comment.

I am hyped about Socktoberfest which begins tomorrow. Are you all ready?

Ivy's Birthday Bag

Friday, I mentioned that I had to improvise because I haven't taken the time to do the measurements. That cost me. I ran out of the canvas fabric for the inside bottom and had to use the floral fabric reinforced with interfacing. I probably would never have thought to do it that way, but I really like it.

Making this bag was a joy. This time I reinforced it with fusible fleece and I put a heavy canvas inside. It feels thick and quilt-like, so I wouldn't think that needles would be able to poke through. It seems to be very durable. I have been working on the baby pants in 12 month size and I will try to post progress pics tomorrow. Happy Monday.

It's A Keeper

I did not cut the pieces to the knitting project bag last night as I had hoped, but I did it today. So, all is well that ends well. I like this one much better. My pattern (if I can call it that without offending) still needs some tweaking. I just don't want to do the math, so I improvise as I go. Eventually I am going to sit down with my ruler and work it all out. The bottom needs to be cut and sewn onto the bag and I will be done. I will post again with pictures of the final bag. Enjoy your weekend.

Finished Project Bag

This sock project bag turned out pretty well. I am going to make some adjustments in the size. I think it needs about another 1/4 inch added to every piece in height and width, so that I can sew with a 5/8" seam allowance. This one was sewn with a 1/4" seam allowance. Also, it is very flimsy. I will add reinforcement to the next one. It is able to hold a 100 gram skein of yarn with ease, along with a tape measure and other sock knitting necessities.

I have not quite figured out how to make the blog postings look good. My spacing is off. If someone can advise, I would be most grateful. Happy Monday!

Knitting Project Bags

Yesterday I decided to go ahead and cut the pieces for the knitting project bags. I cut pieces for three bags. One bag has already been promised to a young lady from my church. She was the first person that I taught to knit who stayed with it. I am currently teaching her how to make socks, and as somewhat of an incentive, I told her that I would make her a sock project bag for her birthday.

I won't be posting again until Monday. Have a Happy Fouth of July weekend.

So and Sew

I purchased this fabric forever ago and have just recently decided what to do with it. I thought of making purses from it, but now have decided to make a couple of knitting project bags. I learned to sew in the 6th grade. We were required to take Home Economics. It's not even called that any more. Anyway, I really enjoyed it and took two years of sewing classes in high school.

There are times that the sewing bug will hit me hard....that hasn't happened yet. So, I will hold on to the fabric until such a time.

This fabric was purchased from Fabrics Unlimited in Oklahoma City. They have a good selection of uphostery fabrics and the people are very friendly.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!