Pattern for sale: Bryant

I finished a pair of fingerless mittens this summer, and just finished getting the pattern ready for sale on ravelry. The mittens feature 2 cable patterns that integrate nicely with the ribbing on top and bottom. The cable patterns are mirrored for right and left hands.











Yarn: Malibrigo Merino Worsted

Needles: US5 and US7

Pattern price: $3

Ravelry pattern page

Pocketbook

I'm not sure how I feel about this pattern. It is ridiculously large and holds a ridiculously small amount of stuff. I like the idea of pocketbooks, but the shape for this one seems so awkward. I tried to make it accommodate more stuff by adding darts in the lower corners, but the darts ended up being so small (due to me not taking seam allowance into consideration when drafting the pattern) that they barely expand the bag at all.



Pattern: From In Stitches, by Amy Butler

3 day hat

I finished a Koolhaas hat this weekend - cast on Thursday, done on Saturday :)



Yarn: Cascade 220

Needles US6 and US8 circs, US8 DPNs

Modifications: Added 2 rounds of ribbing for a slightly longer hat.

Paperback book cover

With the weather cooling down I'm doing less bike commuting and more bus commuting. Bus commuting = reading time. I wanted to take better care of the paperback books I read on the bus, especially the ones I am borrowing, so I devised a book cover:





I love it. It's thick enough that it protects the book from getting bent up and bruised in my purse, but it only adds a few millimeters to the bulk of the book. And the inter-office mailing envelope type closure means it will fit books of almost any thickness.  As long as the books are of the same format. I learned there are, unfortunately, three different formats for paperback  books:

A Format paperbacks are 110 mm x 178mm (4.33" x 7.01")in size,
B Format paperbacks are 130 mm x 198mm (5.12" x 7.8"),
C Format (trade paperbacks) are 135 mm x 216mm (5.32" x 8.51")

Doh! Guess I'll be making 3 different sized paperback book covers.

The Marlo Bloom purse

Alternate title: Covering up your mistakes with bias tape

A couple weeks ago I made the Heather Bailey Marlo Bloom purse. I spent an hour at Joann fabrics looking for 2 coordinating fabrics for the project. My requirements were 1) not cutesy 2) in a dark color and 3) had a pattern repeat less than 24 inches. This was all I could find. I'm not a fan of the color red so I spent a long time looking for something anything else... but I eventually settled on this.  I'm actually really happy with the fabric now, it's grown on me.

My purse handles are edged with bias tape. This was not part of the pattern instructions. The pattern instructions did say to line two timtex handles up back-to-back and perfect the shape so that each pair of handles was exactly matching. I was not as meticulous about this step as I should have been. After I ironed fabric to the handles with fusible interfacing I realized that my handles are not at all the same shape. Even being just a millimeter off makes a big difference. When the pattern says perfect, it means perfect.

Also, fusible interfacing and me just do not get along. Even if my handles had been the perfect shape, I did a really bad job of folding the fabric around the handles and fusing it to the backside (or inside) of the handles. The edges of my handles were a mess, already starting to fray, and had globs of fusible interfacing melted all over.

I had two options:  I could start over and try to make new, better handles.  Or I could try to cover up my mistakes with bias tape. This was a tough call, since after 8+ years of sewing a lot I have never been able to use fusible interfacing or bias tape properly.  I opted for the bias tape since it seemed more likely to yield a durable end-product and you can rip out and re-sew bias tape if you make a mistakes. There is really no undoing and redoing mistakes with fusible interfacing. I made a lot of mistakes with the bias tape. Like 2 hours worth of mistakes. But I eventually got it right.





 

Finally!

I finally have a yarn swift! I couldn't bring myself to pay $60+ for a fancy schmancy umbrella yarn swift so I made do without one. Then I found a great Instructables tutorial for making a yarn swift. My husband made this one for about $18. It rocks. I wound every hank of yarn I own into a center pull ball last weekend.



Action shot. Whee!