Home Stretch

Thanks to all who left such nice comments about my Peacock Bag! I've been enjoying it all the more with the lining in it. It's nice to be able to throw a knitting project in it and not have the knitting needles poking out of it!

FYI jennyslash, the fabric isn't a Liberty print (although thanks for the compliment - you must think my fabric stash is of a higher caliber than it is!) It is a Westminster/Rowan Fabric designed by Carla Miller, called (not suprisingly) Peacock Feathers. I found it at Thimble Pleasures in Carrboro.

Just a quick update on the Apricot sweater. After putting it on hold for a several weeks for Christmas knitting, it was a little hard to get back into it. I was in the middle of the first sleeve and it seemed to take me forever to finish it. Between the stupid mistakes I was making and trying to figure out just how long I wanted it to be, I was really having trouble staying motivated. When I was almost through with it I just got a bunch of safety pins and pinned the edges together so I could try it on. I really helped to see how much of the length was going to be drawn up when it was stretched around my arm. It also just looked good! Just seeing that little piece of the sweater on me really made me want to finish it. It just took a couple of days for me to get the second sleeve about half way done. Here's what it looks like.
I'm hoping I can start blocking at least some of the pieces this weekend. Can't wait for this baby to be done!

Proud as a ....

I've been getting quite a bit of use out of my green/blue/teal entrelac tote bag. It's been my go-to bag for carrying my knitting projects around. I've been meaning to line it for the longest time though, and I finally got around to shopping for some fabric for it last week. What do you think? The colors are perfect and I really liked the whimsy of the peacock feathers. As I was working on it I realized I finally had a new name for this bag, something a little catchier that "Entrelac Bag #2." It's now the Peacock Entrelac Bag. It's hard to photograph the lining well, but I'm very happy with the results.
My cat Murphy is pretty happy with it too. This isn't the first time she's noticed how much it smells like her kitty pi bed.

I decided not to put a plastic canvas circle in the bottom of this bag as I did in my Sorbet Entrelac Bag. I found that I kind of liked the slouchy, unstructured nature of this bag when I was using it unlined, so maybe it's just as well that I waited to "finish" it.

New Year Update

Thanks for all the birthday wishes folks! I had a very nice, low key kind of day. I spent the last couple of days of 2007 reflecting on the past year, remembering the happy times we had with the two pets we lost, and appreciating all the more the four that we still have. I am so fortunate to have my husband, my family and friends and that we all are in good health. Thanks for the well wishes for my Dad too, by the way. Turns out he had an intestinal blockage that required surgery. He spent ten days in the hospital, but he's home now and on the mend.

I've also been thinking a lot about all the people I've come across on my travels over the Internet. You all inspire me, amaze me, and just crack me up! I think of many of you as my friends now, so get used to having me around.

On to knitting news! I finally finished my husband's Christmas present (the Noro Striped Scarf) a few days ago, just in time for a bout of warm weather. It's been in the 70's the last couple of days but of course there's plenty of cold weather left in the season.

This one was made with two skeins each of Silk Garden #86 and #206. I'm even happier with the colors in this one than the first one I did. The colors in this one are a little brighter and more varied. I think what I was happiest about though is the fact that there was only one knot between the four skeins I used so I had many fewer ends to weave in.

My Apricot Sweater project was officially shelved for the little bit of Christmas knitting I did, but I'm back to working on it now. I can't help thinking I should be working on something more suitable for really cold weather though. I did a little birthday yarn shopping and found some Berroco Ultra Alpaca on sale and bought enough in a periwinkle blue for a sweater and a few various single skeins which would easily be enough for a scarf or mittens. I don't have any specific patterns in mind, so for now Apricot it is.