Saturday, Sweet Saturday

    Today, I took the day off from my weekends-only part time job. You see, I had convinced my daughter to have a 31 purse party, so I could check out one of their purses that I really liked.


   Her Pampered Chef friend also sells the 31 products, so she knows all of us, and has been to Sara's house more than once. That party was today. I went, and had a good time. I must say I was pleasantly surprised that the bag I liked was actually much bigger than I thought it would be. So, of course, I ordered one!


    It also just so happened to be Sara's birthday today. My oldest child, my heart. It makes me so happy to see her settled and married to a great man. But don't tell him I said that... I wouldn't want him to get a bigger head.


    I hung around after the others had left; I wanted to see his hands, for Gamer glove thumb hole placement. Once that had been decided, I beat feet, and let the kids decide where he would be taking her out to dinner to celebrate.


   But tomorrow, it's back to work. I am still hoping some local friends will stop by the Hudson Valley Market Place to see me. There are a lot of vendors there, selling all kinds of things, from mattresses to purses, and clothes to jewelry. I hope to see some of you there! Remember, it's that gift giving season again!

Bucket Bag Progress Report

    I have officially finished the third bucket bag. It's bigger than the last two. I made the bottom 15 inches across, and the sides 15 inches tall. Here's a photo of the finished bag, pre felting. If I can, I'll take another, post felting.

    For reference, I present the photo of the first bag, with same remote used for scale:

    I have to admit, I'm aquiver with anticipation, to see what it looks like after being felted! I can't wait to see what happens to the stripes. I should mention also, that I made the handle on this one 16 stitches across, instead of 12, like the first two.


    I went with Hubs to the Fishkill house today, he wanted the company. So I sat and knitted while he worked outside on the house. I was able to finish the handle, but since I didn't think to bring another needle, I had to wait until we got home to join them together. 


    When he was done, we went to Dickie's BBQ, which is excellent and I recommend it highly, then we came home. We brought the BBQ home, and ate it once we got here. Now I will go and put the bag in the washing machine. Hopefully I will be bale to report tomorrow!

The Bucket Bag is Done!

    Hooray! As I type, the bucket bag is hanging off my spinning wheel, over the baseboard heating unit, to finish drying! I finished it this morning, felted it, then put it in the dryer, for two dry cycles. It's still pretty damp, hence the hanging over the heat. I'm hoping it will be dry by morning.


    I measured it this time, before felting. I will post measure it tomorrow and let you know how much it shrunk. Believe it or not, I think it was bigger, pre-felting, than the black one, and it's smaller, post felting! The black one was done with Paton's wool, and this one with Malabrigo. Quite a difference!


    I will also take photos tomorrow, so you can all see how it came out. I have no project for Stitch n Bitch tomorrow morning, so I will take the new bag, and shave it with a lint shaver, while the others knit and crochet. I like the finish it gives to my felting.


    I am finished with the pattern, too. I sent it to my friend to critique, and she says it's fine. Now I just have to decide what to do with it. For some reason I can't make it as a document on my laptop, so it's currently a draft for this blog. Fortunately, I am friends with a certain college professor who is head of her department in computer stuff. I will ask her advice in the morning. It may be for sale on etsy or Ravelry soon...

Surprise, I'm Knitting Today!

     I'm working on my bucket bag today. My head hurts from doing the math, for the dividing to start the handle. It helps me to visualize it if I draw a circle and divide it into six wedges.  So the handle is split now, half the stitches are on a stitch holder.


    I even took some photos and measurements today. I guess I got ambitious! The crocheted circle is 14 inches across. The body of the bag is 14 inches tall. It looked right to me, so I stopped. I measured after I had split and bound off the top edge. Purely a coincidence that it's as wide as it is tall.


    Now for the photos!

And finally, one with the cable remote, for scale, like I did for the black bag...

    I am also watching the weather today, as we are supposed to be getting our first snowfall of the season this afternoon into tomorrow. I am not happy about it, but I guess it's to be expected living in upstate New York.

The results are in

    I took measurements of the blanket before I washed it, for reference. I really wasn't sure if it would shrink, and if so, by how much. It has now been laundered, and post wash measurements taken.

   
   Before wash, it was 42 inches long, and 30 inches wide. Afterwards, it was 40 inches long and 29.75 inches wide. So it lost two whole inches in length, and only 1/4 inch of width. Which is still a good size!

    Now I get to take a break, for as long as I can stand not to be doing something with my hands. Which might be a couple of days, or even less. I was working on another blanket, of the same pattern, when I decided to start the last one. I guess now I will have to start on that one again.


    Here is a photo of the bottom edge, so you can see it close up.