First, an apology for going on vacation without letting anyone know when I’d be back. I’d meant to make a post but ran out of time.
 
Second, How do you like my new skirt?
 
This is the brown linen blend that I’ve had for so long. I used the basic skirt pattern from Sew U and made it an inch wider (for more flare) and an inch shorter (to fit on my chunk of fabric). The skirt is fully lined with cotton lawn and finished at the hem with a length of vintage eyelet lace that was very kindly given to me (along with many other pieces which I’ll post about sometime soon) by Samera’s mother.
 
While I was cutting I noticed that the linen frayed rather badly so all the seam allowances are completely enclosed and I did the same for the lining - you will not find any raw edges on this skirt. The lining, lace hem and enclosed seams (meaning several lines of stitching) give the skirt a more defined shape than I’d originally anticipated. It stands out a bit instead of falling straight down. I wasn’t sure about this at first but after wearing my skirt a bit I like the way it keeps it looking a little tidier. The linen creases terribly - and irons correspondingly beautifully - and I think the lining helps minimize the wrinkling.

 
Since the hem detail doesn’t really show up in the picture above I thought I’d put in a close-up shot showing off the pretty lace. I love the little flowers.

 

 

Pattern: “Booga Bag” from Black Sheep Bags

Yarn: Noro Kureyon in colour #178

Yardage: 3 skeins

Needles: 7.00 mm bamboo 24” circular

My Booga Bag is finished! This was a really fun project. The knitting was simple and colourful and the end product is great. The long colour transitions in the Noro yarn are fun to watch as they emerge and I like the gradual striping they create.

I forgot to take any pre-felting pictures (I’d completely meant to but didn’t get the camera out until after it was in the sink) so you’ll just have to picture some basic stocking stitch with a slightly loose gauge in the same colours as my finished bag. Pre-felt measurement were 25 cm x 12 cm for the bottom of the bag and 31 cm for the height. I felted the i-cord handle with the bag.

I decided to felt my bag in the sink instead of in the washer since I live in an apartment building and don’t have a lot of control over my washing machine. There is something a little surreal about putting a piece of wool knitting into a sink of hot soapy water and then smashing it around with a wooden spoon.

 

 

It spent about an hour from start to finish. Most of the agitation was with the spoon but I did some rubbing by hands when the water was cool enough. I rinsed the felt with alternating hot and cold water which tightened it up a bit and then left it to dry over a shoe box. Measurements were 23 cm x 12 cm for the bottom and 25 cm for the height.

 

 

After it was dry I checked out the felt. It looked nice - not too fuzzy and the colour transitions looked good - but it was still a bit stretchy and I could see through the stitches a bit.

I decided to have a second go at felting and dropped the bag into a sink of really hot soapy water and let the fibres soften up until it was cool enough to put my hands in. This time around I felted by rubbing the fabric between my hands and working methodically around the bad to make sure no spots were missed. It might have been better to rub a little less vigourously - I had to trim a good number of pills off the outside of my bag when I was done - but I managed to produce a nice sturdy felt that was dense but still flexible.

 

 

Once again my bag had to dry over the box. Measurements this time were 22 cm x 11 cm for the bottom and 24 cm for the height. This evening I pulled it off the box and, following the pattern directions, made holes in the sides for the handles. I cut my i-cord in half and threaded it through then spent a while standing in front of the mirror trying to determine the perfect handle length.

 

 

No this isn’t a foreign landscape, though it does make me think of fields and hedges, these are my scrumbles from a workshop I took through the Guild last week. It was about freeform knitting. I really had no idea what it was going to be when I signed up but I’m very glad I did.
 
Freeform knitting and crochet is a way of creating totally unique fabric out of all the bits and pieces of yarn left over from other projects. Not that you can’t buy new yarns or anything - you’re bound to need something that’s not in your basket! You start by knitting or crocheting a small piece, like a two inch square, and then add to it with other yarns and stitch patterns in whatever direction you want. You mix crochet and knit stitches to get different textures to fill in spaces. The result is very organic looking and very forgiving of a learning curve. Over time you can make many scrumbles and then join them together to make garments, purses and blankets.
 
The workshop was based on the techniques taught by Prudence Mapstone. Her web-site has lots of information on freeform knitting and some beautiful examples of her work. She also has a few books available which I plan to add to my library. Even if you never worked a stitch, the pictures and text are wonderful and inspiring.
 
Here’s a top view of my scrumbles to give you a better idea of how they actually look.