Bag Lady

First: An Emendation. Cate asked in the comments to this weekend’s post about the patterns I used for my Secret Pal package. Sorry about not including that info. The doily-looking one was made with a pattern on the label of the Sugar N Cream ball of yarn. I think it is this one. Note that I had to end the pattern two rows early because 136 stitches do not fit on my 8-inch double-pointed needles very well. I had to use clothespins to block off the points so the stitches wouldn’t keep slipping off.

The two-color round one is made from this pattern. Easy peasy.

I made the soap sack with this pattern, although I used size 7 needles and the Sugar N Cream cotton. Oh, and instead of a ribbon, I made a crochet cord to tie it up.

Now: On To the Topic At Hand. In my ongoing quest to use my stash of Guatemalan fabric, I spent a good portion of the past few days making bags. Here’s Trixie modeling them, pretending that she’s at the bus stop after a long day of shopping:

One of them, you’ll notice, is not made of the Guatemalan fabric, and you may see a close up of it at a later date, as part of a package for someone. But I had the sewing machine out, with the right bag-making needle on it, so I decided it would be a good idea to get it done now rather than later!

I also finished up the project on size 15 knitting needles: A string market bag (notice how Impera is in such a rush to fill her bag with farmer’s market goodies, she’s got her back to us [actually, she came back from a sleepover birthday party, and was looking a bit peaked):

I used the MagKnits pattern, but I made the alterations as described at Disdressed. This was a fun and fast knit (and I guess I can’t say that I’m a one-project-at-a-time knitter anymore!). If I were to do it again, I’d probably knit it in the round to eliminate the side seams (seaming up size-15 holes creates a bit of a conundrum, you see). But—do they even make circulars in size 15?

I said in the comments that I was burned out sewing-wise, and that’s true. I also made another skirt (not in Guatemalan fabric), but because I underestimated the ease needed (I overestimated last time and had to take it in quite a bit), it doesn’t really fit. It will fit one day, so I suppose it has become my “Goal Skirt.” But it was a bit of a blow. So although I have plans for this stuff:

(I know you won’t guess what I’ll be making with them. It’s not what you think.) I may not feel motivated to actually start that multi-item project for a few days. Which is probably a good thing, seeing as I have put aside my editing projects too long. Time to go back to being an income-producing member of society!