Since we got back from Australia (four weeks ago) I have been a bit of a knitting zombie, blindly plugging away at the familiar and boring. I just haven't been able to make a decision on what to knit next. Well, what to knit next that is interesting anyway. I think part of the problem is that I can't choose something and then just pop down to the shops and buy some yarn for it. Instead I need to choose yarn online and sometimes the results of this can be interesting to say the least. Then I have to wait for it to arrive. The whole process has been sapping my motivation!
Strangely enough, the result of all this has meant that I have been somewhat productive, even if the items are a bit boring.
I've had my eye on the
Brea Bag by Norah Gaughan for a while now. I think it's really cute. I had a bit of a space out when I bought the yarn for this and then didn't realise my mistake until after I had finished knitting it. The pattern specifies to hold the yarn double to give a denser fabric which is good for a bag. Instead I just bought yarn which matched the guage and knitted it single (der!). No matter, I just need to find a dark sturdy fabric to line it with that will give the bag some structure and won't show through the knitting.
The yarn is
Knit Picks Andean Silk in Chocolate and I have to say, that for a alpaca and silk blend, this yarn is not as luxurious as you would expect, but I guess at $4.29 a ball I shouldn't complain. I have bought a handle for this, but it just arrived this week, so I have not yet sewn it on. I think I will wait until I have sewn in the lining anyway.
So while this project wasn't exactly boring, I've now cast on for another one in my desperation to not stop knitting! Here's the first side completed, knitted in one session!
After I completed knitting the first Brea Bag I was at a complete loss as to what to knit. I searched through my stash and this is what I came up with. The twin baby shrugs!
The pattern is by Debbie Bliss and is from "Simply Baby". It's very similar in construction to the
Ribbed Baby Jacket (also by Debbie Bliss) which I recently completed for baby Thomas, so by the time I was on the second one I was knitting with my eyes closed, well almost. The second one took me less than a week of night time knitting to complete. Yay! The yarn is Knit Picks (surprise surprise!)
Shine Worsted, in Snapdragon and Wave. It really is a great pattern and I think I would make it again, just not for a while. These are for the girl baby twins in my life,
Carlie and Sophie. The flower was knitted from memory from the
"Head Huggers" pattern that I made years ago. I have just tied these on so that they can be removed for washing and/or if Mum and Dad decided that such frippery is not suitable for babies!
So as I said, I am now plugging away blindly on the second Brea Bag with plans for a third, but there is light at the end of the tunnel of zombie-ness. Yesterday I finally sat down and bought some project specific yarn. I spent a lot of money and it's not from Knit Picks! Now I just have to wait for it to arrive......
Speaking of stash enhancement, here are some pics of the fixings for the Brea bags which arrived this week from
M&J Trimmings. How I love the Internet!
Yes, I know I went a bit overboard with the buttons, but you just don't know for sure if they will look any good in real life. So it's better to get a few different ones, don't you think? Needless to say, my button stash is getting quite large. Heh heh heh!
