P is for Purse

This is the first purse I ever felted. My mom gave me the yarns for a Christmas gift along with the book Pursenalities. The pattern for this purse came from the book. By the way, I love that book. It has a good variety of purse patterns and really great instructions on how to felt.

Anyway, I love this purse, and I use it all the time. It's nice and big, so I can carry my book and my knitting in my purse. And that is a dream come true for me. However, the large size also makes it difficult to find important things like my wallet, cell-phone, keys and lip balm, so I decided to make a lining. Now, my sewing skills are lacking, and I have not used a sewing machine in years, but I still decided to try. I actually bought myself a sewing machine with some of my Christmas money, and this was my first time using it. For the lining, I used an old dress, red and glittery. I even made a pocket for my important items to live in. It is not perfect by any means, but I am very happy with how it turned out.

Also, I finished my CAL square for February last night. Here it is, the two-tone square. It's crocheted in the same colors as the last two squares. I don't really like the second square this month, so I will have to find something myself. This square turned out a little bigger than the other two squares, but that can be fixed later.

So Much for Goals....

Back in November, I wrote a post about my new goal of finishing all of my UFOs before starting anything new. Well, I finished my baby gift for Sarah, and I started to finish my granny square purse and stuffed frog, but still working on both projects. Just the fact that I said "started to finish" makes me realize what a lofty goal it is for me to complete all of my UFOs. Anyway, so much for goals. Yesterday, I cast on for a new felted purse. I am creating my own pattern for this one; it has been living in my head for a long time, and I am finally letting it out. I also picked out a sweater pattern, and today I bought some yarn to knit the sweater. Yes, I am officially starting two new projects while at least 4 others sit on the sidelines in various stages of completion :P I will post pictures of all new projects as soon as there is something worth posting :)

Hope everyone is enjoying their holidays. I know I am; I got a Wii for Christmas, and I can barely stop playing long enough to get any knitting done :D Its so much fun!

2 Bags and a Snake

Here is some of my latest work. I have been busy :) First, my market bag. I crochetd this bag using used plastic grocery bags. I cut the bags into strips and then crocheted them together. I based the bag shape on a paper grocery bag shape. It really does not photograph well, unfortunately.
Here is another shot, filled with groceries. Still did not photograph well :) I do like the colors that came through from the different grocery bags. I will definitely do this again, but will try a different bag shape.
Here is my progress on my granny square purse. I call it autumn sunflowers. This is most of one side of the bag, all sewn together. I am about halfway through the other side and am excited to see how it all turns out when finished.
I am also working on a stuffed rainbow snake. It started out as a skinny scarf with a ruffle on the end. I started knitting with an unidentified yarn that I inherited from a friend of a friend's grandma's stash. Whooh, that's a mouthful :) The yarn didn't look great as a scarf, and my fiancee suggested that I try making it into a snake. So I extended the ruffle to become the head, and I decreased the other end to become the tail. I started stuffing it with polyfil, but it doesn't have the feel that I want, so I think I will add some beans?
Anyway, what do you think of my creations??

Crochet Success

Ta da!!! My amigurumi chicken is finished. Here is a picture of him sitting with his little chicky friends. The pattern called for pipe cleaner legs, but I crocheted his little feet. I used felt for his eyes and bill.

The crochet is a little loose. He is by no means perfect. I think I may have used too big of a hook? But I still think he is very cute :) He is my first completed crochet project. Yippee!!



Then, I decided to try some granny squares. I call them Autumn Sunflowers. I got the pattern from a Better Homes and Gardens book. I think they will end up as a very cool project when they are assembled into something. Right now I am thinking of a granny square bag. Hmmm....