Crochet bag - ready for embellishment

The straps will go into the slots.  I'm thinking about lots of tassles.

Crochet bag

Handbag, cotton and microfiber with metallic flecks, about 5 inches in diameter, single crochet, size F aluminum hook.

It's been awhile since I've made handbags, and I feel a bout coming on.  I want  to make them for spring and summer.

-- Sent from my Palm Pre

In the studio

Purse, polyester and metalic ribbon, size 9 plastic needles, "woven" stitch

I'm still plugging away on this project, but pulling the ribbon through small loops while it's compressing tires my hands quickly. I'm also producing a tension problem that I hope I'll be able to fudge during washing and blocking. But I know I'm going to love it when it's done.

I found the perfect button for it over the weekend while I was rummaging around in a box of fabric. It's a dome of rhinestones from an old fancy dress. The metal base is just enough silver so that it will highlight the silver metallic threads in the ribbon. It's a little bit on the heavy side, so I'll have to anchor it in the fabric with a sturdy patch on the inside, preventing it from pulling the knitting out of shape in the front.

I'm a little less than halfway through. The purse will have a lining, but I have not decided about any particular edging yet to provide the finishing touches for the outside. An "I" cord might have a wonderful effect.

I'm delving into the "in progress" stack and going on a finishing binge again. I want to have a huge lot to take to Elissa Halloran's shop [woops her web site looks a bit dishevelled] by the end of September.

In the studio

Purse, cotton, seed stitch, size 4 bamboo cable needle, 16in.

This is Blue Sky organic cotton and it's a rather dreamy texture. It's knit rather tightly so the fabric will be firm. I don't care for stretchy purses.

In the studio

bag, sock wool, size 0 cable needle, 16 in

I've started a number of things with this yarn, which fascinates me. But it also will never be socks, which is its whole purpose in life. Am I a bad person for not letting it fulfill its purpose?

In the studio - and blog rest

Note: I'll be resting and not doing much except having fun away from the net for the next couple weeks - see you the last half of June.

purse, wool tweed, stockinette stitch with garter stitch selvage, size 5 bamboo needles

I've tried button embellishment in this exploration of simple purses, and on this one I thin I shall try fulled applique. I'm doing these on small needles, so even though they are not very big they take a lot of knitting. I have a zillion of them going at once.

In the studio

Handbag, mixed fibers, mohair, wool, metallic, nylon, stockinette and reverse stockinette, size 5 plastic needles.

I'm really digging the horizontal and vertical emphases that show in the stitches.

In the studio

Handbag, mixed fibers, mohair, wool, metallic, nylon, stockinette and reverse stockinette, size 5 plastic needles.

I couldn't help myself when I saw this yarn. I also have tons of it in teals and greens, but when I saw this color mix my hand reached out and I had no will power to stop!

I'm still exploring the use of stockinette and reverse stockinette to create patterns and am thinking of eventually trying to use it to make a jaquard-like fabric. We'll see how far it goes. I figure one can chart this sort of thing on graph paper and do all sorts of things! But as for now I'm sticking to simple shapes and looking at the effects.

In the studio

Handbag, wool, size 2 wood cable needle, 24 in.

This is the third project I've tried with this yarn. I don't work well with this scale in knitting. Crochet with teensy hooks doesn't bother me, but the small needles make me all twitchy.

In the studio

Purse, 100% worsted wool, stockinette stitch, size 9 plastic needles, mother of pearl buttons, glass seed beads

This is the next stage of the March 20 entry and I'm enjoying sewing on the buttons and beads. Now I want to put buttons and beads on everything!

Just kidding.

In the studio

Purse, 100% worsted wool, stockinette stitch, size 9 plastic needles

This picture is the basic fabric for the purse with buttons for embellishment. I've got to get another picture soon so you can see the mother of pearl buttons! It blocked beautifully and let go of the curl. I'm a bit concerned that I didn't do a selvage row, and I'm wondering how the side seams will do.

In the studio

Purse, mixed fibers: silk, polyester, nylon, stockinette stitch, size 8 plastic needles

I started and ripped out several things with this yarn. It's a fascinating butterscotch color and the textures are yummy. But I'm having a hard time getting to a fabric that I like that has the right drape and surface density. The struggle continues...

In the studio

Purse, polyester and metalic yarn, size 9 plastic needles, "woven" stitch

Et Voila! This is the newest project incarnation for this yarn. And I think this is the one I will complete. The lacy stole in the previous entry just was not working out - the yarn didn't feel good at all. This newest fabric is very firm, with almost no give, and I think it will make a fascinating purse.

I took a bunch of knitted pieces to a shop in town that sells my work yesterday. I'm hoping also to get into a new market that is opening downtown, way down by the river.

I've also been working on cactus loads of new stuff - more photos to come!

In the Studio

Purse, cotton "Crysalis" yarn, rib stitch, size 9 wood needle

I got this off the needles recently. It's ready for lining, seams, a strap and a beautiful button. Finding the right button sometimes becomes quite a project. I tend not to settle for just any old button. This one looks like it might do with an old horn button from a big leather coat. I have two more skeins of the Chrysalis yarn by Colinette. The colors are very attractive to me and I like the rib stitch. But I think I may try another stitch.

This past weekend I was working with one of the "railroad" or "ladder" yarns, this one dyed by Blue Heron Yarns. It's called Old Gold and is dyed to be a darker blend of golds, greens and browns with little touches of other harmonious colors. The yarn is nylon and rayon, and the nylon cords that could be called the "rails" are very springy. After 17 rows a huge bunch of stitches sprang off the needles and I had to start over, casting on 106 stitches. Oy! I took what I have finished to the Saratoga Needle Arts yarn shop on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, and the great staff there helped me find a beautiful match that I'll use to make a border. You'll see in the upcoming photo that the colors are tricky. It's just a tricky yarn altogether!

In the studio

Purse, cotton "Crysalis" yarn, rib stitch, size 9 wood needle.

Me likes this yarn! It's very heavy and the drape when used in this rib stitch is yummy and wonderful. The yarn is cotton fiber wrapped in a cotton thread and beautifully complex. It's made by Colinette and their dying is almost always extraordinary. I tried seed stitch and didn't like it as much. I'll be lining it in cotton fabric using the same muted colors (an excuse to go fabric shopping!!). It'll be a basic envelope bag.

In the studio

Handbag, cotton tape, seed stitch, size 9 wood needles, braided strap

I didn't get this finished in time to have it at the little craft fair held by my food coop on Saturday. Well, this along with about 10 other projects. But I had a table full of things! You've seen them all here in the blog. I displayed them on a table draped in black velvet (thank you again, Dr. Brat) and the colors popped out like jewels.

A friend recently let several other friends comb through her hand-made bead rejects and we all thanked heaven that she has very high, exacting standards. We were all crazy over the "rejects". So I'll be using one wonderful bead from that stash to make the fastener for this bag. If I can stand to let it go.

I also mailed off six hats to another friend over the weekend. In the misty past I gave her a hat on impulse and since she has many indications that it is much coveted, we made sure she'll be able to keep hers by spreading around similar hats through her group of friends.

After the little fair and shipping off all the hats I felt oddly free of obligations on Sunday. I mused over getting back to paper arts again and not doing another show and sale until our annual Art on Lark fest in June. I need a break from the pressure of trying to make things by certain deadlines.

In the studio

Handbag, mixed fibers, size 5 needles, woven stitch

The fall colors are some of my favorites, so I'm sticking with this palette for a month or so. I've been fooling with purse designs so Real Soon Now I'll get out of the envelope design and move on to something else. But until then I'm having fun with it!

In the studio

Purse, red linen, woven stitch, size 5 needles

The little stitch marker is helping determine how many more inches. Once I've reached three inches past the marker I'll start decreasing to create the flap. I've picked out a beautiful button as a fastener. Now I'm tring to dream up what to use for the strap.

In the studio

Purse, red linen, woven stitch, size 5 needles

This has been one of the most difficult pieces I've worked on lately. The lack of stretch in the linen yarn makes it hard for me to work in the middle of each row in this particular stitch pattern. I also have a huge problem concentrating on the pattern and often make mistakes. It's one of those that requires I work in silence, and really stay conscioous of what's going on in my hands. I recently ripped out about three inches of knitting because there were so many mistakes that I was wondering whether to keep going. I'm happy that I re-knitted all those rows, and am finally beginning to be able to read the stitch pattern and figure out where I am and what to do next, and how to find where things have gone wrong. *whew* With size 5 needles I'm also glad this is a small project. I'm trying to decide whether to keep it plain or make it very gaudy.

In the studio

Small purse, size 5 needles, seed stitch, Noro "Kujaku", wool yarn wrapped with a polyester floss - just about worsted weight

The needles bear mentioning because they are Pony Pearl needles from India and they have metal rods molded inside the plastic, which weights them so that they are very balanced and comfortable. This is a tightly knit, firm fabric so that the purse will hold together and not be stretchy. The fabric is working up very quickly.