knit bag

knit bag 2
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

also felting this weekend ... a knitting bag! based on but departing from the button bag pattern, this one used up some latvian stash. will show the finished product when the handles are attached.

bucket basket

bucket basket 3
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

and this is how the bucket bag turned out ... it's a basket now. ok, it was way too big, so i seamed the handles shut, felted it again and blocked it with towels. it's a groovy basket now! well, more like a textile vase for flowers. whatever, it's cool!

bucket basket bag

bucket basket bag
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

so this is how my VK bucket bag started: 2 skeins of Fleece Artist Slub, 12mm needles, totally wrong gauge, no pattern revisions. prior to felting it was very, very big - half the size of me.

the path to work

the path to work Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

North West corner of Walmer Rd & Bernard Ave, while listening to "Love will tear us apart" covered by Projet Nouvelle Vague a block later i came a across a lawn sale and i am now the proud & inept owner of a percussion instrument. I've always wanted to be the superfluous girl in the band who plays the tambourine, like michelle phillips or josie & the pussy cats.

day's finds

lonely ball Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

i love found things. found things are always the best. my old friend Rachel once told me that she believed that when she found neat things on the ground it meant you were on the right path. I've always found her theory plausible and have been picking up odds & ends ever since. this morning i found something really great! i was sitting on the stoop, waiting for my bust to take me to work and a regular looking woman with a walman on was walking down the sidewalk, skipping from side to side. as she drew closer she stopped hopping from side to side and started making egypitan and wavy movements with her arms, dancing to the music as she walked. it was AMAZING, the only way to describe it was a personal, disjointed boogie up Bathurst street. a real find! she was like the real-life version of the i-pod commercial. i smiled to myself and rached into my bag and grabbed a 2 bite brownie (my breakfast, lunch & dinner until my queasy stomach settles down). another woman at the corner saw me and smiled, my breakfast brownie was her bathurst boogie, and the cycle continues . so i get to work and what should i find on the stoop but a forlorn pink ball of crochet thread, sitting there like a puppy waiting for it's owner to let it in. i call it Pinkie! (i wish animals came in pink like gold does, but i don't think i could take proper care of flamingoes.) later, when i took the sale sign outside, i found 2 penies waitng for me on the window sill. not bad. i'm open to all kinds of stuff, buttons, toys, cards (i have an ace of spades in my wallet), but the gift of cash is always a nice touch. part of my research for this entry was finding Rachel's blog i wonder what i'll find on my way to the doctor this afternoon?

all knit, all the time

chanel ensemble
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

check out this little ensemble from the Fall 2005 ready to wear show from Chanel: all knit, all the time! how did i ever live without style.com?

fendi bag

fendi bag Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

how cute is this?! see the pattern on page 8 of the craftster forum page this week my horoscope is my favorite kind, extra prescient with sprinkles on top: America's first President George Bush, a Gemini who reigned from 1988 to 1992, had almost as quirky and paradoxical a mind as his son, who is the current leader of the free world. "I have strong opinions of my own," Bush the First once said, "but I don't always agree with them." Let that quizzical gem be your watchword in the coming days, Gemini. Disavow three strong opinions you've been proud of in the past, but which you no longer agree with. Try to get it through your beautiful head that you're not the person you were when you first acquired those old beliefs, and it's time to leave them behind. ... but if you are not a Gemini and want to read your horoscope you can peer into your own fortunes at freewill astrology what else is going on ..... i just finished a free pattern to go up on the knit-o-matic website. i seem to be specializing in filler material; projects you do when you don't know what to do. must be a response to customer demand. i'm doing a little re-model of the freebies and giving myself a bit more credit for my work. they'll get their very own page now instead of being buried in the blog. i'm gonna get some PDF downloads going once i figure out how to do that (must get a dummies book on HTML or something). maybe i'll get lucky and some generous indie knit designer with brilliant karma will have written a "how to set up your own PDF download web page" for knitters. must google.

kool aid crib sheet

kool aid
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

i can never remeber how much of this & that is involved in dyeing yarn with kool aid.


6g kool aid (1) packet
28.35g yarn
227g water

or roughly 2 packets per 50g ball and a 1/4 litre of fluid

also check out Wilton food colouring: wilton.com. Available at Michael's.

pretty bag

maisie Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

I have the bestest friends, but my favorite are the ones i've met through knitting. Maisie, my crochet guru, popped into the store today and brought me this beautiful bag! It's made from a Bags by Mags pattern and is about the size of a skein of Fleece Artist KidSilk and I'm smitten! I didn't know felting could be addictive even when you aren't doing the knitting! Thank you Maisie, this is the most touching gift I've ever received. I have a new bad habit. Ms Snit has introduced me to the podcasts and I have a new universe of media to explore now! Of course, Knitcast was the first I hit and most relevant here. The march interview with Stephanie Japel (glampyre) was really good.

up & coming

vk fall 05
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

so what else is on my plate? i'm doing some stuff for the mag, a baby bunting for stickgirl and i need some new fall & winter sweaters.

i'm making this one from the fall VK in Diakeito something or other, it's all yummy.

the design for the bunting is coming along well. i've got the concept and design together in my mind and on paper, have almost all the yarn (might have to dye some). the only thing i still don't get is where to put the slits so the thing will work in a car set. i can't find any pics on the internet. i'll have to read the yarn girls pattern closely to see what they've done, otherwise poor little melon's just gonna slide out of her seat!

thinking out loud

city bag Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

and the next store project is another felting one - the city sack bucket bag from Vogue Knitting Felting. They call for 3 skeins Naturwolle (tres chere) but i have been thinking about Manos ... there is also some slubby stuff around the store from last winter which will do nicely too for a monotone and much less $$$. Although, the Manos would probably have to be held double, so it would end up the same price as the naturewolle. The twilleys freedom wool would probably also make a more affordable version as a solid, you'd just have to watch it carefully in wash because it's so fluffy it'll shrink into oblivion. A single strand of Lopi bulky could do the trick, but its so coarse. perhaps a double strand of the araucania naturewool chunky? it's already in a skein and i could dye one of the yucky colours something nice. of course, there is some fleece artist slubby still hanging around from last year that is also ripe for a felt ....

market

market
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

my maximized basket version of the frrench market bag has been finished for a wee bit. i had a bunch of measurements & stuff but i've lost interest since then in the minutae: basically it shrank about 1/2 in the height but much less in the width and in the handles. i felt like i had to stop because i'd already used 3 skeins in the main colour and more than one in the contrast. still, now i know why felting is addictive. :-) it wasn't felty enough for my liking so i ran it through the wash twice, which had a lot to do with the super shrinkage. i also trimmed the handles to make everything nice & pretty.

i think next time i'll do it without the handles, modify the pattern a bit and make it a real basket, and wash it with starch.

stole my heart

stole
Originally uploaded by knitomatic.

progress continues on my loop-d-loop stole. one more colour block and it's window dressing! it's actually making great knitting for subway, bus & walking to work (yes, i can knit & walk, as long as it's simple and i don't need to check the pattern). The barmitzvah scarf is also making good walk-stitching.