Baggedy Bag

Hi Knitters,
I am becoming bag obsessed right now. I said that I picked up a bunch of sewing books last week. Here is one of them, Sew Easy Bags by Linda Lee. This is great collection of all sorts of bags. It opens like a book but inside are two pockets stuffed with pattern cards and a small instruction booklet. It is a clever layout and the patterns are wonderful, practical and do-able.

The rosette wrist bag is the first bag I am going to try. I am using a recycled sweater that I felted for the fabric. I plan on doing some needle-felted dots to embellish the fabric before I sew. I am taking the inspiration from some dotted Kaffe Fassett fabric which I will use for the lining. I'll bring you along on that journey when I start. I love the small loop through big loop handles, the zipper top and the flower. I think I will be doing a felted flower of some sort to put at the top.

So far I have measured and cut out the fabric for the bag. It all seems easy and clear.

This blank canvas should provide some good felty weekend fun.

best, susie

Watermelon Fix

Hi Knitters,
The first watermelon sock is finished. The yarn is a dk weight. I casted on 48 stitches and knit on US size four dpns. I am not used to the heavier weight yarn and after I finished the toe I realized the foot was too short. I had to take the toe back out, add an extra half-inch to the foot length and re-do the toe. Now it is perfect. I had originally finished the length to the fingering weight measurement I always use. It didn't work due to the smaller number of stitches I was working with. Oh well, all is good now. The new sock blocker was purchased here.

The yarn was purchased here and it is called Sereknity in the watermelon color way. I used a seed stitch rib which you can work as follows:

Round 1: (knit 3, purl 1) repeat to end

Round 2: (purl 1, knit 3) repeat to end

This pattern adds a little interest but is so simple you could do it in your sleep!

What a beautiful day, crisp and breezy and sunny. I'm off for my morning run. I am listening to the Knitpicks podcast with Kelly. It is fantastic for several reasons but the main reason is that the content is strictly knitting and only knitting. That's what I want to hear! It is all knitting business. She interviews people in her company, talks about yarn, current knitting trends, book reviews, projects, future knitting projects and trends, etc. I am enjoying it very much. I just downloaded the first 6 episodes. I am listening backwards as I already listened to episodes 7-11. Load it up!

best, susie

p.s. Renee, you are in my thoughts. I am so sorry, sweet friend.

Just Looking Around

Hi Knitters,
It's one of those mornings where I am looking around my house and I'm seeing all of the work that needs to be done. I need to spend a lot of time cleaning and touching up paint. Ugh! We are hard on things around here. There is much wear and tear. One thing I didn't think about before having four kids is how much work I would be doing just to maintain daily life. Of course that wouldn't have changed my mind a bit but it can be daunting at times. I did find some fun things to share, too. It's not all bad over here.

The blue background is knit in Rowan Polar, which I think has been sadly discontinued. Luckily I have ten skeins of chocolate Polar in my stash just waiting to become a sweater of some sort. The flowers are knit in mohair and I think it is La Gran, maybe?

Here is the full shot. This is an old organ bench that was snagged from St. Vincent DePaul's. It was filled with old music that I saved for a future decoupage project. I painted it with left over paint from my kitchen, it is the Summer Pear color I mentioned earlier. This sweet little bench used to sit in my old yarn shop haunt, Alphabet Soup. It is so simple to take retired furniture and completely turn it into something new and fresh. We had such fun creating "new" furniture for that shop and I loved adding the knitted element to the pieces we picked. You should try it sometime!

As I was working in my studio early this morning I grabbed my camera. This is some of the chaos I look at daily. The pattern for those chenille carrots are in itty bitty nursery. I think I used a darker shade of orange for the carrots in the book. The ballerina has been following me around forever. I would feel lost without her. Someday soon I am going to properly photograph that mosaic mirror with the knitting needles for you. That is one of my favorite creations ever and it is a great combo of knitting and mosaic. That used to hang in Alphabet Soup, too.

Note my deluxe filing system to the right. Impressive, no? Do you have a favorite coffee mug? I do and there it sits. I am always trying to make sure it is clean and ready for my morning coffee.

This is a new book project I am working on. It doesn't look too exciting right now but I have big things in store for this knitted fabric. I'll cross my fingers that it will work. See those wooden things sticking out? I did order some sock blockers from here. They make your socks look so good.

Darn you, Stacey! Now I have already placed and received an order from Cider Moon because of you. Oh my goodness, I'll be back there soon. Those are the samples they sent along with my order. That Blue Sky Alpaca white cotton is waiting to be knit into a new toy I am working on. Can't wait to get that going, it is next in line.

When I was in Holland, Michigan last fall for the itty bitty book tour a lovely woman, who owns a yarn shop called Lizzie Ann's Wool Company, brought me these beautiful tulip needles as a gift. She was so sweet and that street in Holland is even sweeter. I was at Tree House Books and I had the best time at that tour stop. What a fun and lively group. Apparently Holland has a tulip festival every year, and thus the tulip needles were given. I love them and it is a great memento of that fun time.

You know how some people are so organized and their studios look like they should be in a magazine, well that's just not me. I need a little chaos mixed in and that's exactly what I have. I remember looking at a Kaffe Fassett book and seeing his chaos of color and texture in his home and I couldn't take my eyes off of that page for a long time. I fell in love with that smorgasbord. Just to soak that all in is too much to take. I like that at my house, it makes me feel good like there is creative work going on. Some may say messy, I say oh yeah!

Now for some fun links I was looking at this morning. These are the sweetest little booties and you could make these with left over sock yarn. I found them here. Really, if you aren't looking at this blog you are missing out. Jared is amazing. I am going to make these booties right away, for what baby I don't know but I'll find one. I have another project for left over sock yarn I will share as soon as I get it knitted up.

For a beautiful look at some fabric from Purl, crocheted flower squares, fun movie recommendations and some toes, yes toes, look here. Finally, for some fun sock viewing look here.

Are you on ravelry yet? Being the slow mover that I am sometimes I didn't sign up until very recently. I am still waiting for my invite. It looks really slick and I can't wait to explore. I'll let you know when I get in. I hear there are thousands and thousands on the list for an invite so it could be awhile.

One final note, I had some comments that I published recently and they didn't show up on the blog. I am sorry about that if it was you. Please write again and don't think I didn't try to get your comments posted. I have been having some weird glitches lately with my blog. Again, sorry about that.

This post was all over the place but that's how it is some days!

best, susie

Confection

Hi Knitters,
Well, here it is one last time. I finished the seams and lining yesterday. Vogue On the Go series, Bags Two is a great little book, but this bag is by far my favorite. The designer is Sima Brason Ferraro and she does an excellent job.

The lining took me most of the day working off and on. I have a sewing machine but it is not at my house right now. It is a long story. Needless to say I sewed everything by hand which I like to do anyway but it is time consuming.

You cover a heavy piece of cardboard for a bottom insert. I like this feature because it helps give the bag structure.

I chose the dotted fabric because I thought it carried the bobble theme right on to the inside of the bag. The instructions for the lining are crystal clear, very precise.

It really reminds me of candy, light, fluffy, whipped sugar. Yum!

Lovin' the magnetic snap, too. I ordered this from here awhile ago, not with this bag in mind though. It is fun when you just have things on hand when you need them.

The handle is the best part. I can't stand a knitted handle that stretches out as you use the bag. Sima has the perfect solution. You cover a piece of plastic needlepoint mesh with fabric. Then whipstitch it onto the underside of the handle.

Then you have the knitted handle but it has strength and will keep its intended shape.

This will be the perfect little knitting bag for socks or hats or mittens or toys. It is so fun to have a new knitted bag, right? I may just have to throw out a "wa-la" on this one. It is just that good.

I can't wait to put this sweet little bag to use. You should try this pattern out. You won't be disappointed, guaranteed!

I hope everyone is having a nice summer so far. It is going fast. My sister lives in a beautiful, huge old house on Lake Monona in Madison. It is a summer retreat and we spend every 4th of July over there for a cookout with my family. The kids have an absolute blast together. Then my brother-in-law takes us out on the lake in the boat for fireworks viewing. We can see 3 different shows at the same time from the lake.

Their trampoline is always more fun with water balloons thrown in the mix.

I passed off the candle lighting duties this time. Here is my 4th of July baby, well 5th of July actually. She turned 11 yesterday.

She glows like a ripe peach. She's a good squeeze, too, and we love her so.

best, susie

Bag of Bobbles

Hi Knitters,
This is the shot I lost on yesterday's post. I am telling you if you want a quick, fun and cute bag to knit this is the one! It is from Vogue Knitting On the Go series, Bags two. You know I have 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca Bulky in orange that may just become another one of these.
Have a super 4th of July if it applies to you!
best, susie
p.s. I just bought a bunch of sewing books yesterday and I can't wait to start.

Cupcakes and Grout

Hi Knitters,
Last night's birthday party was a success. Another one down and my other daughter's birthday is on Thursday and more parties will ensue. This party was held at our neighborhood pool. I made these cupcakes yesterday using a fancy white cake mix and vanilla frosting in a can. A couple of weeks ago we were at a sweet little candy shop on State Street called Twee and Luliloo's and I picked up the ever popular fruit slices.

Next we sliced them in half and popped them on top. The kids loved them, they are summery cupcakes for sure. The trays the cupcakes are on is a great little invention. It is a double stacker bottom that has a lid that covers both layers. It is perfect for sending cupcakes or muffins to school or for a party like this. I bought at the grocery store.

Aren't they cute? As the mom, aren't your arms and hands always in the birthday pictures? It's that candle lighting duty, I need to pass that job on.

On to finishing that fruit. The glue is dry and I am ready to roll. I poured some grout in a disposable bowl. I'd say it is about 3/4 cup but I am not exactly sure.

I prefer the sanded grout and I buy a bag of white grout at Home Depot just to keep on hand.

With the white grout you can add acrylic paint to color it any shade you'd like. I have lots of acrylic paint around and I just add a glob while I am stirring up the grout with water.

Add water slowly like when you are adding liquid to powdered sugar for frosting. It is weird because it soaks it up so quickly and then suddenly you reach a point where you've added too much. Be cautious and add the water little by little. I like a dry grout, I don't want it to be too runny. It is easier to work with this way. This is a preference thing I am sure. You kind of want it just blended.

See this even got a little too runny for me but it doesn't matter because it will just take a little longer to dry. Now I've added a glob of the red paint to the mixed grout.

Stir, stir, stir until all blended. You can use a spatula like this which is intended for mosaic work or you can use a plastic spoon. I have a regular rubber cooking spatula designated for mosaic work that I like to use too.

Let that grout sit for 10-15 minutes before you start grouting. This lets it set up a bit. Now some people like to wipe down the surface with a damp sponge before they grout. I always forget to do this and it doesn't make any difference so why bother?

Next I start smearing the grout all over the piece. This picture is slightly deceiving because I really use my hands and fingers a lot to smush the grout into all of the nooks and crannies. Make sure ever space is filled.

Be generous now, no holding back.

When every crack is filled wipe all of the excess grout off.

Now let the apple sit for another 15-20 minutes. Sometimes I think you are supposed to wipe down the piece with a damp sponge again maybe after 10 minutes. Once again, I never remember to do this and it doesn't matter. So you choose!

While the apple is setting I am starting my pear. I added yellow acrylic paint for this one. Off I go exactly the same way. This grout turned out a little drier so I was happier with it.

Here it is sitting out for 20 minutes. While the pear rests I am back out on my front stoop to scrub and polish the apple. This part can get a little messy. In the winter I do it inside but outside makes for easier clean up.

Grab an old terry cloth towel or designate a towel to use for cleaning grout. I have an abundance of these old towels around and I always want to throw them out but then I remember the grouting. Now I just turn the apple around in my hand while gently buffing out the tiles. Make sure you expose the tiles and the edges of the tiles with the buffing.

Now you can see all of the tiles and it is starting to shine a bit.

I just love this project. It is a wonderful gift for a teacher, I have given many. It is sweet and simple and really pretty.

Same goes for the pear. Rub, rub, rub until you see a shine and all of the tiles are exposed.

Pure sweetness in my palm. You should really give this a go if you are at all interested. What a great little project.

What is it about pears? I love them more than apples and I hate to say it but I might just have a small-ish pear collection going on. I have lots of them around my house and my kitchen wall is painted a color called Summer Pear. That is my first admission of my pear love. It is getting stranger all of the time.

Okay, how cute are they? You gotta try it!

If you give a whirl let me know how it goes or send a picture on over. I'd love to see it. I know a couple of people are making some little pots inspired by mine and I'd love to see those too.

This is another project I started. If you are wondering this is an under-layer of wall paper that I am removing from my dining room. The original wall paper looked, well, sort of like a funeral parlor. I have been looking at it for almost ten years and it is over. I can't take it any longer. Unfortunately, every inch needs to be scraped, scored and steamed for removal. It is the pits. I can't wait to paint a fresh, breezy color on those dreary walls. I'll keep you updated.

I had a picture of my bobble bag uploaded and I must have deleted it somehow. I don't feel right not having any knitting in this post. All of the pieces of the bag are finished and blocked. I'll be hunting for fabric and the other materials this afternoon hopefully.

Take care, knitters.

best, susie