Zipper Pouch

I made a little pouch with a zipper. I thought it might be a great place to store knitting notions such as darning needles, stitch markers, etc. I know I have gobs of stitch markers and darning needles but they seem to have gravitated to other project bags. So a special case to keep things in one spot would be a really good idea for me. 

This pouch matches a draw string bag I made not too long ago. 

The pattern I followed is on www.craftsy.com and is called "The Night Before School Starts Pencil Case". I struggled a bit with the zipper. I think this may have been the first zipper I've sewn in since 1986. Seriously. 

This pouch is pretty small. It would easily made larger for more storage. 

Knitting Project Bags

Snoopy lined with red batik fabric. 

Barnyard fabric with a peachy yellow lining. 

Knitting Sheep lined with a great red print. Looks as if there is white yarn all over the red fabric. 

I've been sewing up a storm. I am enjoying making these drawstring bags. They are great for storing small knitting projects such as socks and hats. I am experimenting with various lining materials to give the bags a little structure. So far I've used quilt batting, featherweight iron on interfacing, and medium weight iron on interfacing. Personally the bag I like best is a bag I made with no extra lining material. 

Here it is.   

This one is lined with a pretty blue batik fabric. 

I especially like how the bottom of this bag turned out. 

Rainbow Fish Socks

This is what I am focusing on this week. 

Previously I was calling this project my "Funfetti Socks". I thought the yarn looked like Funfetti Cake. 

Now I am calling these socks my "Rainbow Fish" socks. The colors remind me of the illustrations in a children's book. 

I found a tutorial on line the other day. I used this technique and it really helped prevent holes in the gusset, which seems to frequently be a problem. Here is the video link:

http://youtu.be/EOI_oXPm1iA

Socks in a Flash

Hot off the needles!  I finished this pair of socks in just under a week. I am loving knitting socks two at a time on one long needle (Magic Loop) and the Fleegle Heel is the best. 

I keep thinking the Fleegle Heel should work in cuff down socks. I need to read up on that a bit more. 

Another Pair of Toe Up Socks

I am madly knitting another pair of two at a time, toe up socks. This time I am using Diversity yarn by Plymouth Yarns. 

The color way is bizarre. I was knitting these during some NFL playoff games so I kept calling these socks my "Denver Broncos vs Detroit Lions" socks since the colors in the yarn remind me of those teams. 

I wound this yarn into two balls a LONG time ago. I think I was going for stripes going in opposite directions. Last week, when I cast on these socks, I just cast on. I did not care about the socks matching. I just wanted to make a better fitting pair of toe up socks. The last pair was a bit long since I stared the heel a bit too late. 

The pattern I have for toe up socks was not well written so I found myself reading Fleegle's blog to better understand the Fleegle Heel. 

The heel is amazing. I am attaching some helpful links so I can keep them all in one spot. If you want to try out toe up socks with a Fleegle heel, maybe you'll find these links helpful as well. 

Judy's Magic Cast On:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gkyd3nq3Yn8

Fleegle's Heel:

http://fleeglesblog.blogspot.com/2006/11/leegles-toe-up-no-flap-no-hassle-sock.html?m=1

Fleegle provided additional information to ensure there are no holes in the heel: 

http://fleeglesblog.blogspot.com/2007/09/no-sock-holes-for-you.html?m=1

Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FDY3zR34IsI

Needle Felting

Needle Felting Class (from left to right): Trudy, me, Belinda, Pam, Karen, and Nancy)

I took a needle felting class before Christmas.  I probably would not have signed up for the class, but Belinda wanted to take the class and I do enjoy taking classes for the socializing. I just did not want to invest in a new hobby.  The class was such that we paid one price and all the supplies were included; that being the case, I decided to take the class.  I am glad I took the class.  It was a really good time and the ladies in the class are some of my very favorite people I've met through the knit shop. The class instructor, Sherry, is a gal I've know for over 23 years so that was a perk, too.  Sherry must have taken the photo since she's absent from the class photo!

We had a fun time making needle felted angels.  My needle felting skills could use some serious improvement but it was fun to try out this process.  You can't see the details very well but the angel has a halo and a metallic thread belt.  We used different type of sheep fibers for the body, hair, wings, and cape. 

I loved the curly fibers we used for the wings. We sprayed wings with lots of hairspray to help them to keep their shape.

Here's my angel hanging in my messy craft room.

Leftover Sock Yarn Cowl

My friend, Belinda, and I decided to make this project together and I am glad we did. Belinda and I went to the Interweave Yarn Fest in Loveland, Colorado, last year.  In one booth (Canon Hand Dyes) we found this great looking infinity cowl knit up.  The cowl used lots of mini-skeins of different sock yarns and black sock yarn called "Canon Hand Dyes Charles Sock".  In the booth, you could purchase the minis-skeins and the black yarn to make the project.  I remember doing some figuring and the project would have cost us at least $75.00 if we bought all of the supplies in this one booth.  I pulled Belinda aside and we figured we could get the black yarn in the booth, but then share our scrap yarn left over from our sock knitting, and together we'd have enough to make the cowls. 

We cast on our cowls when we went to our knitting retreat in Cucharra, Colorado, back in October, and we've both been working on them.  Belinda showed me her shorter version of the cowl last weekend; she decided to stop when her cowl reached about 34 inches.  I was not that far along in the project, so I steamed ahead to catch up with her.  I grafted both ends together so the loop is complete and I love my colorful cowl.  The cowl was knit in the round, so the cowl is both a tube and a loop. 

I love looking at the various colorful stripes. The cowl is like a walk down memory lane.... socks from my past.   

Here is the pattern for this cowl.  It's fun to look at the various cowls people have knit using this pattern:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/striped-cowl-2

Belinda and I think we have enough yarn to make another one of these cowls.  We definitely have enough left over bits of sock yarn.