Brea Bag

I couldn’t resist it.

I came across it all the time.

Others were doing it.

So i succumbed and knit my very own Brea Bag as well. For the few people out there who may not know where to find it you can get the pattern for the bag from Berroco’s Free Pattern library.

Now the only thing standing between me and a bag i knit is the seaming(which seems like its going to take forever so i’ve been bad and put it off), finding a nice button and some small rings to anchor between the bag and the strap (the shorter piece on the top) which i modified and knit in the same silk the rest of the bag is knit.

Knitting this silk was a dream. The silk was so wonderfully soft to the touch but not great if you have allergies since it fluffs and separates quite a bit and you are left covered in silk tufts. Another thing i would note for the next bag is that the pattern of the bag is in itself so lovely that i might stick to a single colour next time but just couldn’t resist using this silk this time.

I can knit intermediate designs!!!! Who knew ;-p

Great Ambitions

I started this blog thinking it would be filled up with my knitting history in no time. Then came the first obstacle – we shall call it Vanity. Vanity kicked up a fuss at my thoughts to post the first few things I managed to complete (handphone holders, little drawstring pouches I knit for all my female family members etc). Vanity wanted me to appear a knitting maestro (which I am not) since the few blogs I silently peruse have such beautiful finished objects on display.

After the hesitation upon reflecting about vanity’s concerns I hit the next stumbling block – Disappointment. I had set out to knit a diamond patterned top (with all my own modifications such as making it shorter than it was in the pattern and sizing it to be a snug fit) from Drops Designs. I knit the body in some wool I had left over from years and a whole different continent ago but ran out when it came to the sleeves. All wool is wool right…WRONG. I purchased acrylic for the sleeves and while there is no discernable difference the inner perfectionist in me is rebelling. The pattern of the whole top looks great but the wool body makes it a little warm for my current geographical location along the Equator..sigh!

Another modification I had done was to leave the neckline wide as I wanted the top to slouch off one shoulder. But I had begun the top just as I started my new exercise and fitness regime so the end result didn’t fit as well as it should have. After all the hard work I put in though I really did want to be able to wear it to the office so I added a few rows in garter stitch along the neckline with a smaller circular needle (I knit the body and sleeves with a 6mm and tightened the neckline with a 4.5mm) decreasing a stitch every 10 stitches for 2 rows. That experiment worked but I altered the design so it doesn’t slouch off my shoulder now. The body remains a little too large and since its knit in wool it appears a little bulky which doesn’t help with my rather curvy frame. The bottom of the top curls up since I was in too much of a hurry and too lazy to add some ribbing to the bottom. After all that hard work I am now faced with the prospect of having to frog the top and re-knit it smaller. I’ve put it aside for now since I can’t even begin to prepare myself for that.

The final obstacle came in the form of Boredom. To keep my mind off my disappointment I thought I would tackle smaller, and not to mention easier, projects. My aunt is taking my 2 younger cousins to Seoul this December so I offered to knit them scarves and hats. My aunt is as cheap as I am and she too picked up the acrylic in some rather beautiful colours. Having had experience with it when I knit the sleeves for my top I decided to knit it with much smaller needles to get a much tighter tension between stitches to keep out the cold so I went with a 3.25mm circular. I got a great tip for knitting with circular needles from one of my favourite blogs: Opportunity Knits. The Author has 2 children and has mentioned that she knits with circular needles so they won’t poke the kids who are always around her.

The circular needles allowed me to knit on the bus each morning on my way to work but a scarf knit with 3.25mm takes a loooooooooong time to even reach completion. I reached about mid-point when I succumbed to all my obstacles and took a knitting break. I’ve been off my needles for the past 2 weeks but will resume today. December is looming. I will take some pictures of the disappointment before i frog it and re-post it with the new notes on my modifications. I’m hoping the scarves will be done soon and I will have something to show. I’ve experimented with a checker box design for my boy cousin and am still undecided on what to do for my girl cousin who is 6 and extremely girly.

Until my next update….