OMG - it's done!

I am stuck at home today. No car. It's in the shop for its regular tune-up. But they called me mid-morning to inform me that I need new rear brakes and that funky smell in the car is due to oil leaking into the engine. Add it all up and I might actually need to get a real job to pay for the repairs! The good news - the bit of window trim sticking out from the windshield on the passenger side is harmless. Phew!

Since I couldn't go to my weekly quilting meet-up, I bit the bullet and finished my crochet entrelac bag. I present my first ever designed-by-me crochet FO:


Pattern: Entrelac Tote Bag designed by me
Blocked size: 9.5" wide x 11.5" tall x 3.5" deep
Yarn: Noro Yuzen; 3 skeins of colourway #3; had very little leftover
Hook: 5mm/US H


Notes: I have pages and pages of notes... Yuzen is a PITA to crochet. Some bits are super thin and others are so chunky that I can't even get the hook around the yarn. It made the whole thing lumpy bumpy. Thank goodness it all blocked out. I managed to pick the stitch/hook/gauge combo so that the coloured squares started stacking. See the first 2-3 rows at the bottom of the bag. You can see that the green is on top of the green, the purple sits on top of the purple, etc. I actually had to break the yarn almost every row and rejoin somewhere else so that the colours appeared random. I had so many ends to weave in!

The handles are a little tricky to sew on. I did the front ones by hand and the back ones with the machine using my darning foot (I couldn't make the stitch length long enough so I had to hand crank).


Notions: Lacis Leatherette 16" purse handle in black (scroll all the way down, it's the second picture from the bottom); large green acrylic flower button (from the dollar store); 26" x 13" fabric for the lining (I used Kaffe Fassett's Striped Vase in Red - from my stash)


Overall, I'm very happy with the end result. With any luck, I'll be teaching this class in the fall.

My tulips in the backyard are in full bloom. It's so cheery to see the yellow and red flowers.

IK Spring 2007 preview

The preview's up and there are some lovely things. I like the Indigo Ripples Skirt by Kat Coyle, Clementine Shawlette by Michele Rose Orne, and Roza's socks by Grumperina (there's a better picture on her blog). There might be some other things that I like but it's hard to tell from the small pictures. Hubby gave me an IK subscription for Christmas so I'll be getting this issue in the mail. I can't wait.

G - you might want to borrow the magazine. There's a pattern for Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang. I know how much you like entrelac.

Thanks for the Excel/knitting chart link. I never thought of using Excel that way. I don't have enough knitting mojo to design my own stuff. I'll stick to designing my own quilts.

No time for knitting today. I had to work and our chimney is leaking water again (we spent over $3000 last year to stop the leaks). And I just caught Ricky walking out of the fireplace and his paws are all covered in wet black yuck. I just wiped him down - something that he doesn't like. Serves him right for going somewhere he shouldn't go.

blankets galore

A totally link heavy post coming up

I was reading a back issue of Yarnival, and found the randomized log cabin blanket. And then from there, followed a link to tikkupeitto's blog, and her amazing 107 blankets.


Sorry for the dark photo ... these are my last two entrelac baby blankets. I originally took the photo to send to my brother, so that he could choose the colours he wanted for his baby. He went for the dark blue and white, and baby's now 7 months old.