Anyone Know How To Sew?

Okay, so I nixed the laptop case idea....for now. The pattern scared me and since I had to scale it down for the mini baby laptop we own, I wasn't quite sure how to go about it. So, instead I decided to work on a cabled purse that I've had my eye on. The pattern was designed by "Princess Philo" who has a set of 5 patterns from which to choose. My favorite is the "Kelly" bag, so I decided to get started on that one right away. The pattern is fairly easy once you find your rhythm. The bag is cute and small so, it only took about two days to finish the knitting part. Then I realized, uggh. I need to make a lining for this, don't I?

Okay, a lining, a lining. That can't be too hard. Just sew up the sides and attach it to the bag. Ah yes, minor detail. I don't know how to sew. So, off I went to the library and took out books on sewing. I'll also jump on all the youtube videos I can find. In theory, I know what needs to be done, but I don't want it to look like I stitched it up with my feet, you know what mean? I want it to look professional.

So, as soon as I find the time to learn yet another craft, my Kelly bag will be sitting in the closet. Until then enjoy some pictures of the bag in progress. Sorry about the changes in lighting. Took the pictures on completely different days in completely different rooms.

Two of a Kind - Not Exactly

I started and finished the second bootie on Sunday. I wasn't as excited as when I finished the first, mainly because it ended up being slightly larger.

With the first bootie, I think I weaved the ends together a couple of stitches in, while with the second, I weaved the ends right at the very edge of the seams. This could have very well changed the size of the bootie. At first I thought that maybe my knitting was looser with the second one, but I'm leaning more toward the first reason.

Oh well, still not a bad first try. They still came out pretty cute. My next attempt at booties will be camouflage with a black sole and maybe some army themed metallic buttons, maybe with an eagle or something similar. How neat would that be?

I'm going to take a break from the booties for now and try a laptop case. It looks crazy complicated, though. Not the case itself, but the design. There's lots of cabling involved. Not sure if I'm ready to explore that realm just yet. But I guess I just have to throw myself into it like I did with the booties and not worry so much about the outcome.

I'll see you next time on BITS, hopefully with a picture of a laptop case ;)

Bootie-Licious

Last night I finished my first baby bootie! I was too excited to wait until I finished the second one before telling you all about it. I have to say, Saartje's Bootie pattern had me stumped for a while when it came to the straps. Definitely not written for a newbie...but somehow I got through it. So exciting!!

Toward the end, I couldn't help but giggle every now and then as I knitted. It was just so freakin' cute! My husband started getting paranoid, thinking that I was secretly laughing at him. I didn't want to reveal the source of my amusement because I wanted my accomplishment to be a surprise. Since he knew I was struggling with the straps, I thought he would be extra proud if I just showed him the final product in one shot.

At the beginning, I had no idea how this little mass of knitted fabric was going to turn into a bootie. I stopped questioning it after a while and just figured I'd keep knitting away, trusting that the pattern would eventually lead me to a final product. And it did!

Speaking of bootie...my bruise from skiing has healed quite nicely. It's about 90% healed. Throwing myself down in a chair is no longer a major issue. But I think I need another week or so before I'm completely pain-free.

More pictures of The Bootie!

Mystery Panta and Other Updates

Hello All! It's been a while, but I'm back. And yes, I did in fact finish my scarf and have worn it out in public several times now. So, mission accomplished, go me.

I've watched a couple of other knitting videos and well, as my husband frequently says, "Nothing to fax home about." There was one, however, that does stand out from the rest, and I'd definitely put it up there along with Nici McNally's video, which I still have yet to review (but in a nutshell, A++ all the way). The video I'm referring to is called "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting! in Motion". Would recommend it 100%.

In other knitting news, my friend, Sinteeuh, a frequent poster to my blog, has given me a task. To make a long story short, she bought a panta (head/ear wrap) at a local fair and has been posting to all sorts of knitting sites asking for the pattern. To me it looked like simple 1x1 ribbing that increases and then decreases the stitches. I gave it a shot and although the shape is more or less the same, the stitching looks slightly different. Since there are different methods of increasing and decreasing, it's possible that I just have to find the right one. I didn't have the patience to make a full size panta, so I did a mini version just to see if I can even do it. Not exactly the right stitching, but who knows, maybe one of these days I'll figure it out. For now, I'm all panta'd out.

I decided to start on another project. A few months ago, I found a pattern for the cutest baby booties I've ever seen. They're pretty popular on Ravelry. I'm not sure if I've mastered pattern reading just yet, but I'm trying. I started last night at 1 am. Not such a smart idea. I'm dying to see if they're going to turn out right and since I had an early morning meeting the next day, I decided to hang up the needles at 1:30am. So of course I'm deliriously tired but instead of running home right after work to take a nap, I'm going to pick up just where I left off, row 8.

Oh! And I made i-cord. I was always afraid and never bothered to look into it. Turns out it's easier than I thought. I-cord is just a tiny knitted tube. You can use them to make handles for bags, strings for tying, edging for a garment and many other things. So there it is, my first i-cord.

Stay tuned for progress on the booties. If they come out terrible, I'll just pretend that I never brought it up, I'll deny everything, so don't ask.

Getting SideTracked

Okay. I know I said I would finish the scarf last night, but I ended up popping in one of the Knitting DVDs I checked out from the library. I was so excited about learning new techniques that I let the scarf just sit there unloved, unwanted. I know that tonight, I have to give it more attention and hopefully, if all goes well and I don't get distracted, finish the darn thing.

So, let's discuss the DVD. It's called "Learn to Knit with Tracie Wonderlich". I read a couple of reviews beforehand and they were, for the most part pretty positive. Two reviews gave it very low marks. One person mentioned Tracie's distracting nails. So, just for that I had to check out the DVD. It's true, the stories are all true. She donned an embarrassing set of long acrylic nails with tiger print on the tips. Can you believe that? How are you supposed to learn and concentrate on the yarn and the motions of the needles when you've got tiger print waving at you??! After a while you get used to them but still, any professional producer would not have allowed that. The camera angles were mostly good except there are times, not many, when her hands quickly go off camera or her hand covers what it is she's doing. Again, those times were not frequent, but if you want me to point out tiny flaws those are certainly two of them. This is my second DVD teaching tool. My first was "The Complete Beginner's Guide to Knitting with Nici McNally". Now that DVD I give A+ marks all the way. But I can discuss that in another entry. Nici deserves her own separate review.

So Tracie, entertained me with a 3-disc DVD set. Overall, it wasn't bad. What I liked about this DVD was that not only did Tracie teach you methods of knitting, she actually walked you through 3 projects from start to finish. A dish cloth, a mitten and a cabled scarf. Since I already knew the basics, I was able to just watch each disk from beginning to end. If Tracie comes out with another DVD, I'd consider watching it, but please, Tracie, please, shorten those nails and use neutral colors. Overall, I'd give it an A-.

I have two more DVDs that I still need to watch and will add my brief review. This time I'm pushing myself to finish the scarf before viewing another tutorial. If you've seen other knitting videos that you would like to recommend, please leave comments. I'm interested to know what else is out there that's worth viewing.

Slow Progress

There has been little progress on my end with knitting. Not to say that there hasn't been any progress. I'm a little over half way done with my third scarf, the one matching my ski hat. The little progress to which I'm referring is not having been able to learn anything new. I did, however take a trip to the library today and checked out some more knitting books and DVDs.

I'm trying to find a nice cable pattern for Timothy's scarf. If anyone has any suggestions or links they'd like to show me to serve as inspiration, I'd love to see them.

Also, there's another knitworking event at my job on Friday. I'm happy to see that it wasn't just a one-hit wonder.

Here are two shots of the third scarf in progress. It's possible I might finish it tonight. We'll see.