Reversible Box Tote

The sewing machine came out this week! I saw the most gorgeous knitting bag on instagram. It was made by Truly Myrtle (I don’t usually like podcasts but she’s very interesting to listen to). Here’s the link to her bag.

It’s a shape I haven’t tried before. The pattern for the tote is a free one from Very Shannon. - the Reversible Box Tote.

I bought some gorgeous fabric from The Little Fabric Store. It’s a sweet, little shop and worth a visit, if you’re near. Helen is very lovely and helpful. I got some new Cloud9 fabric and linen to line the bag.

I bought another Clover tape measure too. They are really nice quality. I’ve found with the cheaper retractable tape measures that the tape will stretch and warp with use. I’ve had one for over a year (with daily use) and it is still as straight as the day I bought it. So I bought another because well…you can never have enough tape measures!

You can see the tape measure in the picture below.

The fabric that I chose happened to be what I'd used as inspiration for a stitch pattern that I'd created.

I used some cheap fusible fleece that I had in my stash – so it’s not got as much form as I’d like. Next time, I’ll use better quality.

I love my new bag anyway and have been carrying it around with me!

I haven’t finished any knitting projects this week. The two I’ve been working on are an Artemisia jumper from the latest Rowan Magazine 57. I’m using the yarn from the pattern which is Rowan Softknit Cotton and amazingly I have spot-on gauge with the same size needles for the pattern, which makes a nice change. Though I have altered the pattern and the shaping to make it a few inches longer.

I bought Designer Knitting Magazine 2014/15 and there was an interesting article by Meg Swansen about different increases – including a few that I hadn’t done before. I’ve tried out one that she names kibosirb (knit into the back of stitch in row below) for this jumper and it’s quite a neat increase. Can you see it on the left hand side?

I started a selfish knitting project which is an Epistropheid by Kate Davies but this didn’t go particularly well the first time. I went up 2 needle sizes and hoped for the best, as I didn’t do a swatch (swatches are nearly as big as the hat so it’s sometimes easier to gamble). I did a couple of inches and it wasn’t looking hopeful – so I steamed blocked what I had and instead of 24 sts in 4 inches, I had 27. It was going to be way too small.

So I frogged it. The gauge was as loose as I wanted to go with this yarn, so instead of trying to meet gauge. I’ve added a repeat of the pattern instead. It’s looking ok so far. (I’m electing to forget about the fiasco of forgetting to change to the larger needle for the body of the hat). I fear that this is going to be one of the ill-fated projects, where nothing goes right!

FO: Rose and Petals Lap Duvet

During the Easter break, we went to Scarborough for the day and I always have to make a stop at the Scarborough Sewing Centre. It’s a hidden treasure trove.  The shop is packed to the ceiling with bolts and they are very reasonably priced.

I’d seen these Lap Duvets by Purl Bee and thought that it would be a fun and easy project to do.

I’m often attracted to large print patterns for fabric but I don’t like the effect of them within patchwork; so this would be an ideal project to try out something different. I picked two large print fabrics that caught my eye; I did spend quite some time looking at everything and thankfully Mr. has a lot of patience.

I wanted to try a different wadding too; something a little more luxurious. I bought the Dream Orient Wadding from Cotton Patch. It’s a mix of bamboo, silk, tencel and cotton. It has a lovely drape to it.

It didn’t take long at all to make and now I have a pretty lap duvet to snuggle up in (and the walls have just been painted this weekend too, which I've discovered make a lovely backdrop - I just have to make the curtains now!)

It’s nice to get the full benefit from the large print fabric in this blanket.

Handmade Japanese Needle Roll

I’ve been a dedicated user of circular knitting needles since I first started knitting. I work everything on circulars, including plain straight knitting. Recently, I’ve found myself working on little samples in different size needles and I was being slowed down by changing the tops. So I bought myself some Karbonz Straight Needles to add to the ever growing collection.

As I’ve exclusively worked with circular needles, I found that I didn’t have a home to put these new straights. After some stash diving later, I came up with a combination of fabrics that I liked and worked out how to make a needle roll from them. The outer fabric is a beautiful Japanese style fabric and I’ve lined it with fusible fleece to give it extra body. The lining is a combination of fabrics and I have used iron on interfacing for the lining too. This double layer of interfacing will hopefully give my needles all the protection they need.

The binding and the ribbon is from my the collection of fabric that I recently bought and blogged about here.

I made an extra pocket for DPNs and any other bits I can fit in.

I shaped the flap at the top on the edges so when it rolls up the edges don’t peek out.

I am really quite thrilled with the finished needle roll and hopefully it will match nicely with my new needle bag