See one, do one...

I taught a friend to knit tonight. While she fumbled a bit at the beginning, by the time we left the coffeeshop, she was passably, if not proficiently, casting on, knitting, and purling. Mind you, I ordered something that looked delicious, but apparently contained espresso beans, and will probably not sleep tonight.

Oops.

Firefly Swap

Well, my partner should have her package by now, even if she can't post pictures, so gosh-darnit, I will. Consider this the "Making of ..." behind-the-scenes video, if you so choose.

The swap consists of a large item, a medium item, and two small items. My first small item, a row counter braceset, was so quick and easy make that I didn't think to take a picture. Fortunately, she did.

The second small item is a notebook, decorated to look like the Serenity logo. I almost wrote "Logbook" on it, and then I remembered that I can't write freehand well enough to do that.

In fact, I sent her a teaser...and I tried writing the notecard out five times before I gave up and printed it. Since she took pictures, here they are:

I'd love to say I'm brilliant, and had an epiphany about what to send, but really, I just work in a lab. There's even another Browncoat in there, and we have joked, "Two by two, hands of blue" multiple times while wearing nitriles. It's even better when we both do it at the same time. So I printed the above card up, and tossed it in an envelope with a pair of gloves. I think I got a lot more entertainment out of it than she did.

So, the logbook looked like this before I got the colors exactly right:

After some mixing and lettering, it looked like:

My medium item was a needle wallet, which only took me a few hours to make, and was so standard I didn't bother photographing it. I was actually so unimpressed by it that I beaded her first initial (J) onto it to make it less disappointing. Actual results varied.

Finally, my large item was (what else?), a tote bag. However; my partner, being a crocheter only, could not benefit as much from my love of pockets as a knitter. But it matters not. For once, I put more work into tho outside than the inside.

My partner's preferred colors are "blues, greens, and purples". I obviously agree with at least the first two, but it makes Firefly-themed projects difficult...and then I remembered the ultimate blue, Blue Sun. I used the logo from the shirt Jayne wears in "Bushwacked", as it is very visible.

First, sketching it onto the fabric I used took nearly two weeks. I wish I were kidding.

By contrast, it only took one evening to cut

and pin.

The applique took me one more night.

I only took one pocket-picture this time.

If you look closely, you can see the hooks I sewed in to hold the bottom pocket closed.

My First Stitch Markers (That I made)

I made a set!

Sorry, but my webcam and I don't know how to take focused pictures up close.

Not quite a year later...

I don't write a lot on here. You may have noticed. But as this project isn't something I can post on Ravelry, but it is knitting related: here it is!


The assignment: a bag for a Gryffindor, for my cousin's latest Harry Potter Swap.
The stakes: a bowl of my cousin's delicious guacamole.

I sew the same way I knit. I prefer to find fabric I like, and shape the project around the limitations and features of the fabric, rather than planning a project out and then finding fabric to suit it. I could write a whole bunch of crap about the process, but I think I'll just post pictures instead.

The finished bag - There is a little pocket on the front, more for aesthetics than actually use. It's a lightweight pocket you could toss your keys into when you went to a knitting meet-up. The straps are just regular canvas strapping. I folded yellow satin quilt edging over them so the would be yellow (duh) and also have a nice feel. Since sewing satin is one of my least favorite tasks of all time, I hot-glued them instead.

I love pockets. They are what makes a bag really cool. Here is how it looked with all of the pockets and some of the extras before I seamed the sides. To make the bag more durable, I sewed each seam along a crease without doubling over. Then I hemmed each side of the seem back to the main bag.

This is probably my favorite of the pockets. It took me the longest, and it's a little odd-looking, but I successfully made a 3-pocket flap with snaps to hold little things, like the stitch markers my cousin makes.

Before I made this bag, I made my cousin one. She really liked the above pocket (or the version of in that was in her bag), so I included it in this one. Next to it is the scissor pocket. I don't a picture of it separate, because, well, it's a scissor pocket.

These are the yarn pockets, so that if you have a couple different types you want to keep separate, or you have yarn that likes to come unraveled, it's still all in one place. The circles and squares at the top are where I sewed the velcro in. I put the abrasive side on the short lip so it could be folded over to keep from snagging the yarn when loading and unloading.

This is the two-tiered needle holder for the side. One for 10"s and another for 14".

The third tier here was supposed to be for these adorable 5" bamboo needles my cousin got her partner (did I mention the partner is a sock knitter?) but I forgot how much I seam by, so they are pretty short. They are still good for little things, though. Like extra Xact-o knife blades. (I use those for pompom making.)

Sorry this picture isn't very good quality. It's a picture of one of the circular needle holders. I put one on each of the two main sides, on the inside between where the straps are sewn on. They aren't visible in the picture with all the pockets, because they were the absolute last touch on the bag, so they weren't there earlier.

My signature: I stitch a star on the inside where I attach the handles. It also serves to make the straps sturdier.

Tada!

This was not my idea. I blame my cousin. I am currently not knitting, out of resentment, and really, too much work (no smartass comments about writing in blogs instead of working, please). Since I began a blog, I feel obliged to post something, so eye candy it is!

Originally, I taught my cousin how to knit, and she quickly became far better at it than I. This is my first cable, created under her tutelage. If you want to see far more interesting works of knit (and generally inspired by Harry Potter), her knitting blog is http://lucy-knitprojects.blogspot.com.

QotD

It's only noon, but already:

Quote of the day!!

"It looks kind of like knitting, if the knitting were inspired by a vulva."
--name not given to protect the very, very, guilty

I finished my bag!