Bermuda Bag!

So, cleaning out my attic has yielded a treasure! From a box labelled, "Leigh--H.S. Junk."

I used to carry this bag around like a hotshot all through 6th grade (technically not H.S. but you know....). All I had to carry around was the ubiquitious comb, Bonne Bell lip stuff and hmmm, a pen and maybe a highly coveted mini Hello Kitty address book (you know the kind with the mini pencil that came with it?).

Wouldn't it be cool to make a new cover with some Amy Butler fabrics and replace the plastic buttons with some cool pewter ones?

Or maybe knit a cover and then use the bag to carry around a small sock project?

Standing In While Noel's at School, or "When is Mommy going to knit a Starmore for M-E?"

Lavoisier is finally done. What a relief. It's a great pattern, but toward the end, my interest was laggin and I wished to start something else. But, then again, what else is new in that respect?

I made the 2nd size and used Hebridean 3-ply in Sundew. The color choice was Noel's and at the time, he did like it. Now, he's not so sure, but he is happy to wear the sweater anyway. When he wore it to school one day last week, he proudly announced that "my Mommy made my sweater" during circle time.

Some of the finishing details I tried were new to me. This is the first sweater with which I used crochet to attach the sleeves. And I liked it! There were a few times when I slipped the crochet needle in unevenly and had to go back and redo so that the public side of the seam looked straight, but that didn't really slow me down. The big plus for me was the neat and tidy little crochet chain it leaves inside. Another thing I tried was separating the plies of the yarn from 3-ply to 2-ply so that the seam wouldn't be as bulky.

So, I took a fieldtrip to the local craft store today. I have to sum up the whole trip by saying, it's sort of fun to be able to buy yarn at the same time as a bag of Spongebob Krabby Patties (Krappy Patties, more like....)

You could say everything I bought at A.C. Moore was somewhat plastic based*. But cute nonetheless.

Christmas is coming--get your scarf yarn now!
Lion Brand Landscapes and Plassard Rhapsodie

The Lion Brand Landscapes is a new yarn and comes in some bright colorways. It sort of reminds me of Colinette Point 5 without the thick and thin, which is a texture I find frustrating and definitely don't miss.

I think the best pattern to show off the colors in this yarn is moss stitch.

The Plassard will have a similar fate.

*Seriously. Have you tasted those Krabby Patties?

Imagine 4 pm, and the sun is setting and coming in the front windows. The neighbor's 6-year-old kid is practicing "Song of Joy" on a upright tuned piano. Kids are walking home from after-school practice.

It is at this time, that I get a feeling, that even though I checked between the front door and the screen door earlier, maybe I should check again.

So, I open the door and what do I see but a neatly-wrapped brown package with a little blue airmail stamp. Neat handwriting. Return address: SCOTLAND.

Goody! What's inside?

Why 4 skeins of the most beautifully heathered Hebridean yarn.
(L-R) Sundew, Clover, Machair, Witchflower

My favorite is Machair.

Now I have enough of the Sundew yarn to finish the collar of Lavoisier. Apparently I had ordered the smallest size. But the new skein looks like a good match, dyelot wise and the fact that it will be a new section of the sweater will make it blend in well. The little seam will hide the transition well.

What to do with those other amazing colors? How about some gloves? I could devote my knitting life to gloves and be happy.

I'm trying to decide if I want to go to a 2-column format or stay at a 3-column one.

At any rate, I'm taking a break.

Muahahaha!

Here's a look at my test knitting using some Lorna's Laces sock yarn (argyle colorway).

This machine knitting is pretty addictive. Turn the handle once and knit 60 stitches in about 2 seconds!

Of course, the little freaking machine made me work hard for the pleasure of having it work for me. I spent a week tinkering with it, cleaning it, getting the needles, figuring out how to thread it and set up the initial row, and then dealing with the tension and timing. Phooey.

My Pop-Pop with his pink denture-making plastic would have loved figuring out how to fix this machine somehow with pink dental plastic. You see, he was a dentist and used to make dentures for his patients himself and if you visited his house, you would see blobs of pink dental plastic used to fix doorknobs and bikes and whatnots.

I can imagine my sock machine's handle would have a big pink blob on it right now, were he still alive to fix it.