Not-in-the-Stash Bag

Or Not in the Stash-Bag

Writing about the sweater at the weekend gave me a nudge to finish a bag that had been languishing in my sewing room for a few months.

Keeping with my new tradition of not adding to the stash, when I finished the sweater I immediately found something to make with the two balls of wool I had left. I cast on this bag.

I made some changes to the way it was made to limit the seams and to allow for the limited amount of yarn I had. I cast on with Judy's Magic Cast-on so that I was working in a circle, both sides at the same time. I worked until I ran out of yarn which was a few rows short on the rib and I had a length left to work the button strap.

I even went out and bought material for the lining and webbing for the strap and a button and when I got home I made the lining. All good so far, this was all in the space of about a week, but my incentive died quickly when I was missing one part for the strap. I wanted to have the strap adjustable but I could not find the appropriate piece in the right width. (The supply of buttons etc. in Calgary is sorely limited.) So last weekend I decided to just finish the bag and here it is.





Not really summery but as we have rain forecast all week (it is June after all) it should fit in with the overall greyness of things.

Will It Get Cold Again Sweater

This is a sweater I knit for the spousal unit this winter and it is so named because when I finished it right at the beginning of Feb we hit a warm spell. I haven't posted about it as I haven't any pictures of it fully finished. Anyway here is the most complete photo I have.



So why I am posting about a sweater when I still don't have any decent photos. Well, this is this morning.



And to answer my own question, yes it will get cold again and not necessarily when you think.

Some information about the sweater. It is knit with Museum by Artful Yarns a bulky wool. To get the right size I used the measurements from an existing sweater. The yoke was knit from cuff to cuff and then stitches picked up for the body. And this is where I got clever. Spousal Unit tried it on after the yoke and before the body and it fit just fine but I noticed it was riding up in the back so after picking up the stitches for the body, I knit some short rows just on the back and it fits perfectly. Except you'll have to take my word for it as I haven't any photos in use.

A Quilt

A long time ago, on a dark and stormy night, I mentioned the purchase of this book and what it had led to. The book is done. I have worked all of the projects.

Here is the final effort.



I don't keep a record of when I start quilts which may be a good thing on this one. I went great guns when I started but the lesson I learned is never sew when you are mad at your child for being late home. After that I didn't work on it for a while, and then I didn't have enough fabric for the backing. My MIL sent some from her stash so backing and binding was finally done, just needed to sew down the binding which was where another great delay occurred. I need good light to sew so it is not something I usually do when watching television. I did a little bit each evening and then for some unknown reason I stopped with just a few inches to go.

Finally on Saturday I took it outside and finished it. Which took less than half-hour including cutting all the treads from the quilting.

For this quilt I decided to use a different batting. So that it was thinner and more likely to lie flat, I used a sheet as the batting. I bought a sheet set on sale, nothing very expensive. What I didn't take into account was the weight of the thing. Yes, the sheet might be thin and the quilt lie flat but it was heavy when quilting.

The quilt is all stash fabrics either my own or what MIL sent.