Market Tote (again...)

Okay, so I made yet another tote bag attempt. This time, I followed the advice of "naturallyknitty" on Ravelry to knit in the round. She suggested Judy's Magic Cast-On, which I tried for the first time and totally fell in love with!!! I will use it on all my toe-up socks from now on. It's so much easier and tidier than what I have been doing.

Since one of the things I didn't like about my two prior attempts was the sloppy sides, knitting in the round with no seams on the sides or the bottom should take care of this problem. One of the things I read, though, about knitting this bag in the round, is to make sure the top opening is large enough.


By the way, I also changed needle size and am now knitting the tote with size US 7. I am using my beloved Knit Picks Harmony needles. Since I only had one skein of the lime green yarn, I had to switch to blue when I ran out of green. I tried to make a nice transition.


As you can see in the picture, the lime green is about 7 inches long, then I did a set of pattern (i.e., 4 rows) of blue, then another set of green, and back to blue for good. I had a little bit of green left. By the way, the Cotlin blue is called "Nightfall." At around 11 inches, I divided the stitches in half and worked the two sides separately, so the opening of the tote would be a little wider. I made the two sides about an inch or a bit more. Then cast them off.

And my next challenge started. What is an I-cord???? Or an applied I-cord? I had no idea. I read the instructions, played around a little, went online for more instructions, and more instructions, found this nifty little tutorial, and finally found this online tutorial for I-cord (scroll down). I later found another tutorial on YouTube, I think I would have liked better. I will try that next time.

I started the I-cord over several times and am still not quite happy with the end result. But I wanted to finish, so I let the sloppiness slide this time around. So, I used the applied I-cord along the two cast-offs and then the regular I-cord for the actual handles. Since I had a little bit of the lime green yarn left over, I used that for the applied I-cord, which probably added to the sloppy appearance, since the lime green stands out a little more. Oh well, you live and learn. I definitely want to make this bag again, and I will do better next time. So, here is the finished product:



I was also a bit messy in joining the ends of the handles with the beginning of the applied I-cords. I wanted to make sure I have a sturdy connection and in the process probably overdid it a little.

Overall, though, I like how the tote came out. Here is my husband sporting it:




He said the handles could have been a bit longer. I was afraid to make them too long, because I didn't know how much everything was going to stretch out once the tote is in use. I will have to see about that. If it doesn't "grow" too much, I might make the next tote a little bigger.

Another "FO" (finished object)! Yeah for me!!

Too Many Unfinished WIPs (works in progress)?

And diagram for: Super Easy Poncho (scroll down)

Well, I opened the tote up yet again. I am just not happy with how it comes up. Maybe I should use slightly smaller needles to make it not look quite so sloppy? In any case, when I start them again, I will knit them in the round, I think. I have done a little research, and it appears, that is the most common modification people make when using this pattern. I will give it another try, but not today. So, technically, that's not an unfinished project any more. The yarn went back to my stash...

Because I was so frustrated with the tote, I started another pair of socks.

At least I know how to do socks by now. My old stand-by. But then my daughter counted all my WIPs for me, and I felt compelled to keep working on some of them. So, here is my progress...

I worked some more on the cabled shrug and finished it today. I wish I had used different yarn, as the Wool-Ease is a bit scratchy, but my dd says she likes the shrug anyway :). And here it is:


And another picture:


So, I finished one of my WIPs. Good for me.

And here is another project I have been working on for a long time. It's just a plain triangular wrap/shawl. I am very unmotivated about it, because I am tired of the yarn. I have made so many ponchos with Bernat Bling-Bling (see pictures below), that I just need a break from it. I bought a whole bunch of the that yarn in all kinds of different colors and made these ponchos. With the last color, I thought I would try something different and I am making this shawl. I will finish it eventually...



You can use any pattern you would like for the poncho. You can knit the two rectangles or crochet them. And you can decide on the size as well. My two pieces were roughly 70 x 40cm or 30x15", but of course that all depends on who you make the poncho for and how big you want it. You can add fringes or not. Since mine were knit kind of loose, I added a black ribbon to one of them around the neck, so the person wearing it can tie it a little tighter around the neck, rather than wearing it more off the shoulders. Your imagination is the limit...

Here are the parts and how you assemble them:

Nests and Nets and Knots

I have been working on "Elisa's Nest Tote." And while the pattern is/was relatively easy, I am struggling a little bit with how "loose" everything is, especially on the sides. I have already opened up the whole thing once and am now working on my second attempt. I found that on Ravelry a lot of people have made the bag, and none looks like the other. Everybody has put a personal spin on the bag, and I have a feeling, I will, too.

Here is the original pattern from "the purl bee:"


MATERIALS

· One skein or approximately 175-200 yards cotton yarn. We used Rowan 4-ply Cotton in Tutti Frutti.

· One pair straight needles a few sizes larger than recommended for your yarn. We used US size 9 needles.

· Double pointed needles in the size recommended for your yarn. We used US size 3 needles.

· Crochet hook in the size recommended for your yarn. We used a 3.5mm hook.

· Tapestry needle

NOTES

· k2tog decrease; knit two stitches together

· psso pass slipped stitch over

· ssk decrease; slip, slip, knit

· yo increase; yarn over

Step 1: Knitting the Bag

Cast on 41 stitches.

Rows 1 and 3: Purl.
Row 2: K1, *yo, k2tog, repeat from * to end of row.
Row 4: *Ssk, yo, repeat from * to last stitch, k1.

Repeat Rows 1 - 4 until fabric measures approximately 24 inches, or twice desired length of the finished bag.

Bind off loosely.

Step 2: Join Together the Sides

1. Fold the bag in half, right sides together so that the cast on and bind off edges form the top of the bag. You will join together the parallel long edges of the bag using a crochet hook.

2. Using a 1 yard length of the same yarn that you used to knit the bag, make a slip knot on the hook. Leave a 6 inch tail of yarn.

3. Insert your crochet hook under the loops of the first edge stitch on the front side, at the corner with the top edge of the bag. Then insert the hook through the first edge stitch on the back side.

4. Wrap the yarn around the hook, then draw the hook back through the two edge stitches. You now have two stitches on the hook.

5. Wrap the yarn around the hook and draw it through both stitches on the hook. You have just one stitch on the hook now.

Continue joining the front and back edges of the bag, repeat steps 3 - 5 along the length of the bag. When you reach the bottom of the bag, where the knitted fabric is folded in half, draw the remaining yarn all the way through the final stitch to secure it.

Weave in your ends using a tapestry needle or your crochet hook.

Repeat for the second side of the bag.

I will post any changes I made to this pattern, once I am finished and can show pictures of my own.

Endless Knots

I finally finished the Endless Knot Socks! Yeah! They are cute, sort of. They are a little tight where the pattern is. The second one is a little looser, because I had the first one to practice on. What matters, though, is that my daughter loves them. She thought they were a little scratchy. Since the Felici yarn seems to get softer with every washing, she told me to wash them, so these would get softer, too. Haha, little does she know that these are wool! And, if you have ever had the joy of receiving a pair of socks my sister made (she is the sock queen, old style), you know the feel of wool socks!

So, after I finished the socks last night, I found myself without a project I wanted to work on.

Since I could not continue with my daughter's shrug until she came back home, and I could measure her back, and since I didn't feel like working on the "ugh" project (more on that some other time), I started my first tote bag. I have this Knit Picks "Cotlin" yarn I got a while ago, and I was looking what to do with it, and I thought a tote bag would be perfect. And since they kind of look as if they are made from lots of knots, I thought this would be a good next step for me :).

I found Elisa's Nest Tote published in "the purl bee" and really liked it. Mine is going to be lime green. I was surprised at how easily I grasped the pattern. I have never made a tote before, and I am curious to see how sturdy they are hand-knit. If I like how this one comes out, I have two more skeins of "Cotlin" in two other colors. I can mass-produce them and stash them away as gifts, maybe.

I took my tote project on the bus today (I take the bus to work every day). But the pattern requires me to pay quite a bit of attention, which I don't like to do on the bus. I get car-sick when I read on the bus or have to pay too much attention to what I am doing. That's why I usually just listen to music. It's just lately that I have had the urge to bring something to knit. But it has to be an easy pattern, where I can knit mostly without looking down. Maybe as I get more and more comfortable with the pattern, I don't have to look as much.

Well, that's it for today. Back to my tote...