More on the bag saga

I was lucky enough to leave work early today, and since I had some time to kill before my dance class, I head to Lettuce Knit, just for fun.

And wouldn't you know, they had 2 Lady B's in stock for me to look at! While it's absolutely adorable on the outside, looking at the inside confirmed my hunch that it's just one huge bucket with a lot of side pockets - not quite what I was looking for. It also gave me a nice idea of what sorts of dimensions I'd like. The Jordana Paige bag is just as deep as the Lady B (6", I believe), and I know that there are days when I need more than that. This is just making the Namaste bag all the more attractive since it's expandable to 8.5". I'll have to call around to see if any stores around Toronto have a sample somewhere.

And since I was there, I couldn't pass up the chance to buy some fun yarn. Since there are more babies on the way, and I'm getting tired of knitting sweaters, I thought I'd change gears a little. I bought the pattern for the Baby Bobbi Bear, along with some light brown Blue Sky cotton. Then there were these kits for an adorable crochet baby blanket out of Debbie Bliss Cashmerio. I touched that stuff and fell in love. The kit had 7 balls of it with a pattern, and it was going for $60. I thought that was great considering each ball used to go for something like $10 or $12. So, I bought it and figured that even if I didn't want to crochet the blanket, I could knit a similar one. The crochet pattern doesn't look too bad though; I think I'll give it a shot.

Photos of my swag to come. I'm just lazy with the camera today.

The internet has lots of information

After thinking about how I wanted a new bag that I could use both for everyday life and to cart knitting around it, I thought I'd do a little internet research on what different people had to say about all the different bags. For the most part, reviews for both bags were quite positive, though some people mentioned that the Jordana Paige bags tend not to have very sturdy handles. Everyone who's used the Lady B seems to love it, calls it their all time fave, but the price tag really, really scares me.

And so, through more of my poking around, I found the Namaste Messenger bag. While the ~$70 price tag is pretty hefty, it's still half what the Lady B goes for. Plus it seems to be set up in a way closer to what I want as opposed to Lady B's large middle with a bunch of small pockets (or so I understand from what people write). The Namaste bag is actually partitioned into a regular section with a zipper for you to keep all your normal stuff, and then two non-zipper sections to store knitting. It's expandable, which is great of a pack-rat like me, and has pockets in the front, under the flap ( which incidentally also seems to have a pocket on it) for little things that every girl is bound to have in her purse.

The bag got a good review on Knitty, which is encouraging.

But do I really NEED another bag? Dilemma, dilemma...

Things I'm coveting

People who know me know that I'm a total SUCKER when it comes to bags. I just love them, with all their different styles, shapes, and colours. And let's not forget the oh so many possibilities when it comes to pockets, and other organizational goodies.

Here are a couple bags that I think are super cute, and would love to try to see how good they really are at carrying WIPs.

The first is the messenger bag from Jordana Paige. I think it's super awesome because it's specifically designed for knitting - slots for needles, circlets to prevent yarn from tangling, and lots of slots and pockets.

The second is the adorable Lady B from Lexie Barnes. I like the shape of it because it's not your standard tote.

Both are a lot more that I've ever paid for a bag, and considering I have an army of bags in my closet already, it's hard to justify the purchase of yet another one. Plus there are pros and cons to each of them, and I can't be sure what I'll think of it unless I try them out first. The nice thing about the Lady B is that apparently Lettuce Knit sells Lexie Barnes stuff, so I might try popping down there to check it out one day. I think I need to sort through my own bag collection first though; I might be able to use something that I've already got.

Ahh...I'll come out and admit it though...I'm a bag addict!

Christmas knitting in August

Several weeks ago, I made my very first trip out to Webs. Being without a car here in Boston can be really inconvenient sometimes, especially when it comes to missing out on visiting great yarn stores! I have ordered from the Webs website several times, mostly taking advantage of the great closeouts that they often have (who could resist Noro Silk Garden on sale? Or Rowan? Or Alchemy? Or....any of a million other wonderful yarns?), but had never seen the store in person.

Boy do I ever wish that it was my LYS. Not only do they have a wonderful and varied selection of yarns, but their WAREHOUSE in the back was just amazing. We spent about 2 hours there, but could easily have spent several more! One of the many things that I came away with (sorry, I was lazy about photographing the haul, but when I get around to knitting them up I will make a note) was this pattern for a Fair Isle sweater that will become my mom's Christmas present. She tried on a sample in the store and fell in love, and of course I have to knit it since she "can't follow a pattern". Never mind that she's designed and knit several of her own sweaters, as well as clothes for both my sister and I during our childhoods! But really I'm more than happy to do it for her, one of the ways I like to show my love is through knitting. Let's hope that this knit (my first Fair Isle) will be fairly painless! =)

Here is a photo of the pattern. It is a Valley Yarns pattern, and the yarn is Lenox, a lovely alpaca/merino blend.



I've knit part of a sleeve so far:



My gauge is a bit off at this point, it's a bit small even though I went up a needle size and am traditionally a loose knitter (I usually have to go DOWN needle sizes....). The original sweater seemed a bit loose, so we will stick with this gauge for now (although I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass =P). I don't want my mom to be swimming in this sweater!

Tulip finished!

Hooray! Another baby sweater done! This was a really fun knit. Easy pattern, great yarn. I ended up calling Lettuce Knit to ask them if they had any more of that blue that I ran out of, and sure enough I was in luck! They're so nice over there; all I had to do was drop by and they just gave me another little ball.

I took the picture a few days ago, so by now all the ends have been woven in, and it's all set to be given away.

Details:
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy (superwash merino)
Needles: Knit Picks Options - size 5 and 7; bamboo dpns size 5 and 7

Now, on to the next thing! I think I might take a break from baby stuff since my other friends who preggers aren't due for another 5-6 months.

My first shawl

Okay, so the title of this post is a half lie. It's not the first shawl I've ever made, but it is the first shawl that I made for myself. Yup, this one is going to stay in my wardrobe, and not get given to someone as a gift.


It's the Swallowtail Shawl from the Fall 2006 issue of Interweave. I made a bunch of changes to it though. First of all, instead of using a lace weight yarn, I used a sport weight cotton. In fact, it's Shine Sport from Knit Picks in Turquoise. Secondly, because I ran out of yarn just a touch too early, my shawl has a straight edge instead of a wavy one. I actually wasn't a big fan of the finger-like edging, so I'm not really heartbroken.

Here's a close up of the lace.

You can't really see the little bobbles all that well, but they're there. It's supposed to be like little lily-of-the-valley buds.

All in all, a pretty fun knit.

Sockity goodness!

Hey, I knit some socks! I can't even remember when I started these, maybe near the beginning of the year? Anyway, they are finally finished!

The yarn is Sunshine Yarns, in the Wildflowers colourway. I love love LOVE these colours. My gauge was a bit tighter with this yarn than with other sock yarns I've used, so they are a bit snug, but wool is stretchy, right?