Red Surprise is finished

I have to admit it, I am not going to finish my swing jacket before I go away.I could if I rushed it, but I think I'd regret it and I'd always wish I'd done it properly. And you never feel like redoing once it's all done. I did take a long time to find a binding I liked, but I think I have one now.

In the meantime, I have finished red surprise. It's a birthday present for a friend I'm away with, and she loves red. Hope she likes it. Here are front, back and inside views...



The fabric is Amy Butler and goes so well with the bright red of the bag.
Anyway, I am off for a week and during that time I am hoping to master the art of ripple crochet. Have a great week! x

Latest News

Yes I know 2 posts in a day may seem a little excessive, I have been meaning to post latest progress but my camera had other ideas. It's finally seen sense and so I thought I'd just post some news on WIPs.
Firstly, no news on the swing jacket. See, I told you sewing up was my worst bit. I can't find a binding that I 100% love and so I'm going to have to compromise and go with a dark green. I wasn't going to use any, but it really needs it around the collar. I did buy some lovely buttons for it though, as I decided the others were too big and made it look a bit clowny. They're mother of pearl effect, not silver (bad photography!)

Red surprise is coming along. It's gone from this..

to this..

Cascade 220 is a fantastic yarn and such pretty colours too. And not massively expensive.
My daughter's bag is still ongoing. We are both doing it now to try and finish it before the weekend. Hmmmmmm!

And finally, I bought some yarn at the weekend to take on holiday with me. I get up really early and I thought I could sit about and crochet before the rest of my crowd wake up. I can't bear to do nothing, so it's a good compromise! I am going to try the ripple afghan, but failing that, granny squares will look nice in these colours I think!

I have been tagged!

I have been tagged by Gilraen! This is my first tagging EVER!!

Rules:
1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment to tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Ok, it's hard to think of 8 random facts!

1. I had cancer when I was 24. I had 9 months of chemo and am now 42! Stared death in the face and laughed....well, rather smiled nervously and ran for my life. It worked though!!!

2. My daughter was born 12 weeks early as I had pre eclampsia.She weighed 2lbs and 3oz! (A medical theme is emerging!) She is now 15 with no ill effects. Obviously she has inherited my talent as far as staring death in the face is concerned!!

3. I LOVE chocolate, but I am fussy. Only Cadbury's will do. (I will make a concession if I am desperate though)

4. I was born in England, but grew up in South Africa, in a place called Amanzimtoti.

5. I am a bit of a perfectionist/control freak. I can't bear it when people do things not in the way I'd do it. I'd rather do it myself than ask someone. You ask my husband. It's the bain of his life!

6. I am a vegetarian. I have been since I was a small girl. I have tried meat as a child, well, chicken and fishcakes, so I don't miss it as an adult. I do like the smell of some meat such as sausages and roast chicken, but I'm never tempted to eat it. My husband isn't one, but we brought our daughter up as one. She has tried meat, but is now a vegetarian.

7. It really annoys me that people who eat any kind of animal eg. fish, still call themselves a vegetarian. Why would you need to? Fish still have faces!

8. I have been on television! Twice. Once on a local news programme when my daughter was admitted to hospital for an operation when she was 10 months old, and also when the Lymphoma Association were relaunching and I went on as a spokes person. I met Maureen Lipman and Ann Diamond (great!!!)

OK, now I need to tag some of you lot. I am choosing..
Jess, Jan, Erin and Kae.

Good luck!

Blocking the Swing Jacket at last!

OK, the knitting of this is now officially finished. I have it blocked and drying and aiming to sew it all together this weekend. Luckily, I still love the colour and the style, having stared at it every night for a couple of months. I will warn you, though, things always look better off me than on me. I just don't have the body for some clothes. A big floral dress is what I am aiming to wear when I become an acceptable age to do so. Imagine that..being able to eat anything without your clothes getting any tighter. Oh, except maybe your knickers. Anyway, the pictures of IT drying...

Dream come true

Your Celebrity Boob Twin:

Pamela Anderson

Who's Your Celebrity Boob Twin?

I found this quiz on jupiterjessica's blog . I like this result...yes I know I might be shallow, but I quite like Pammy. She's about the same age as me, and I also have long blond hair, although it never looks quite like that. Our bodies are quite similar too....(LOL) Nice to know we have the same boobs....maybe I should look up Tommy...

The bag is finished!!!

I have finally finished the bag. I sewed the bobbles back on (again) in a much more random way and let them kind of fall down the side of the bag. Sounds artistic, hey? In reality it was sew as many as your mental well being will allow, as it was a frustrating and slow job. I put feet on the bottom and then sewed in the handles, not very neatly in retrospect, but oh well. Then I put in the lining and put in magnetic closing thingies. I've never used them before and I am more pleased with the inside than the outside I think! I do like the bag and it is on its first outing today. Nowhere exciting, my daughter has the orthodonist! I have, however, coordinated my clothes today to complement my bag. Call me sad if you like.....
I like the bobbles on the side in the second picture best.





News on other fronts...the Phildar swing jacket is almost knitted, I have half a pocket lining to knit and then I just need to block and sew up. I need to get started on the red surprise project which I am hoping won't take long (I need to get it done before I go to France) and then I plan to get on with my granny squares (which I hope I haven't forgotten to do) and the Mason Dixon log cabin blanket. I might take that with me to France actually, now I think of it. Knitting by the pool...sounds like heaven to me!

A Request

I see from my blog travels that it is World Wide Knit in Public Day 2007 on Saturday, June 9th! In the UK, there is a meet in London and one in Hull. I wonder if any of you knitters out there who don't mind doing it in public would be interested in one in East Anglia? Maybe there is one already arranged that I don't know about. Please email me if you would be interested or have any information. Also, while I'm on the subject, I wish there was a stitch and bitch group around here. There are 2 of us who would be interested in attending if there is one in this neck of the woods. Again. please email me if you think there is one near here. Thank you!!

Non Bobble Bag

ok, I looked at the bag this morning and I hate the bobbles like that. I am taking them all off and starting again. Sorry to bore you (3 people who visit this space), but my mum used to say, don't spoil your ship for a ha'pence worth of tar.. I think it means you'll be glad you did it right in the end. Stay tuned.......

Bobble Bag Progress

Hmmm, you'd think the hard part would be the knitting and felting, but no, this is the painstaking bit for me. I'm not the most patient sewer upper (made up word I think), but sewing on these bloomin bobbles is driving me crazeeeeeeee. I lined the bag with heavy buckram to give it some structure..

Then I sewed the bobbles on..on the sides where there's no buckram it's a piece of cake, but through the buckram it's so hard. I have bent a few needles, bought some leather ones and bent them as well, and look at the back of it...

I have made the lining, inserted a pocket (look away now if you are a seamstress) and I love the contrast of the bottom of the bag fabric and the shiny sides fabric.

Here's a picture of the side of the bag, most of the bobbles are now sewn on but some are still pinned on. I have one more side of bobbles to sew on and then I can put the lining in, fasteners, handles and so on. But I'm not sure if I've put too many bobbles on now, even though I've put on less that the pattern says. Some of my bobbles are huge, though, as I stuffed them too much before felting.

Oh well, you live and learn, and maybe it's that I've been staring at it all day I don't feel too in love wit it any more. I'll shut the door on it for tonight and see what I think in the morning. Hoping to finish the other front of the swing jacket tonight and then just the collar to do and the pocket linings and then I can sew that up.

Arranging (Procrastination)

No news on the bobbles bag. I have bought the buckram and all that I need to do it, but my work room is such a tip, that I cannot possibly sit in there and create something as beautiful as I know the bag will become. So...I decided to have a clear up. As you will know if you have visited here before, I have clear ups that are CLEAR UPS and there are no half measures. (Well, there are sometimes if I'm clearing up the rest of my house..but my work room gets the special treatment!) I decided to try and organise my yarn stash...

Close up because I think they look so cool...

Ooops, and a couple of baskets of stuff I can't decide what to do with yet. And, I just remembered all my crochet stuff, now where did I leave that???
Incidentally, the basket on the left is full of a project which has to be finished (and started) before I go to France in three weeks time...

Also, I have arranged my fabric stash. I love them when they're all folded so neatly. The gorgeous blue spotty and chrysanthemum fabric in the last basket is destined to become an Amy Butler Madison bag. Don't hold your breath though!!!!



Right, better get a move on!

Noni Bobbles Everywhere Bag

I am on a roll! I finished knitting the main part of the bag ages ago. I was in such a quandry about how to felt it, as the bag is dark brown and the bobbles are pinks. I was worried that the brown would bleed colour into the pink and wreck all my hard work. Anyway, I decided to felt the bag first and it was huge.....

Then it wasn't!.......

Cascade 220 is a beautiful thing!!!!!
I packed the inside of the bag out while it was drying with a plastic lining filled with books and dvds! I knew Jeremy Clarkson's book would come in useful for something!

I left it in the airing cupboard for a couple of days and it has shaped well, but I do thnk I shall put buckram under the bag lining to keep it rigid. I have ordered some small feet for the bottom and a magnetic closure, but haven't decided on the lining yet.
Last night I finished the bobbles, 85 OF THEM!!!!!!!!!! I felted them today and they have come out beautifully. I wondered if any of them would go through the holes in my machine drum, but I counted them all out, all 85! They are drying on my kitchen windowsill

and I shall start sewing them onto the bag tomorrow. Can't wait. I'll post a photo as soon as they're on!