fall 'favorite fabrics' tote

I wanted my fall tote bag in neutral black and white with pops of color and have been wanting to use some of my favorite fabrics in these tones instead of just looking at them lovingly in the cabinet.

I really like how the patterns work together. My one rule was to look for fabrics that were black, white or cream for the most part and then allow some color to mix in if it was in the pattern. My other rule was to not include polka dots which I adore but didn't want included in this.

I love the linens mixed with cottons and you can see I put quite a few Japanese fabrics in there.

I am really happy with the mix of patchwork and it has me inspired to do more piecing work. My next patchwork project will be the quilt for Little M.

I lined the bag with a gray cotton and decided spontaneously to go for red handles in the end.

herringbone stitch

Herringbone stitch has become a new favorite of mine. It makes a lovely dense piece and has wonderful texture to it.
This example is a neck warmer I am almost finished with. I have also been trying to fashion a pair of wrist warmers with this stitch in my own pattern.

Here is how you would knit this stitch

Cast on an even number of stitches

1ST ROW
K1 *S1 K1 psso but before taking it off the needle knit through the back loop first; repeat from star to last stitch, K1
2ND ROW
P2 together and keep on left needle, p 1st stitch again and drop both stitches off needle.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 to desired length

pink mittens

A month or so ago I had in my mind to make toddler mittens and I made 3 pairs. This was the only pair that turned out to my liking without ladders on the side. I'm thinking it was my gauge but, I'm not sure. I also did a hat and had to rip it out because of ladders. I've been reading how to avoid this situation with double pointed needles. Anyone else have this problem and which method do you like to use to avoid them?

three skirts

I went and made myself some new fall skirts in a simple a-line shape with a side zipper. They sit between the waist and the hip and are very comfortable. I followed the same instructions I did when doing the bicycle skirt nixing the waistband. I seem to have lost/misplaced that green skirt which makes me very sad as I really loved and wore it a lot. It seemed to have gone missing right around moving time or maybe right after. Perhaps I will discover it one day. I do like a mystery like Nancy Drew. If only I had a clue to help me along.

weekend knitting

The weekend was full of knitting and I started and completed these two sample pieces which I am pretty happy with. Unfortunately, most of us also had colds and the baby got the worst of it. Can you tell here how tired I look? Oh well.
Poor Ms. S. She is such a trooper though.

I had been wanting to experiment with cowls and shrug-like garments and this is what I came up with.
I am planning on making the red one a little different next time with a bit more increasing and a I think a little design feature in the middle.

The weather was so nice ( I love the sun and sky in September and October) and the change of season has me even more excited about my yarn stash which is perfect because I've got to finish up my knits for the store. We had a short outing to a herb festival in a garden in town today and I was given some homemade sage shortbread cookies that Liz (the garden club president) made to take home. They are so good. And, the chrysanthemum tea was amazing too. Liz and Little M made some potpourri for us. It was very sweet.

brownies

So, I told my Mom I was going to bake brownies for our block party. We got assigned a dessert since we are newcomers. I now have block parties to attend. You can tell I'm not in a city anymore.

I discussed with Mick my method of making them from scratch and then we decided afterwards even though it's not hard to go the scratch method we'd opt for the easier route this time since it's for a bunch of folks we don't even know. Is that bad?

Anyway, he went to the store and got a Duncan Hines mix and I told my Mom and this is when she divulged her now not a secret anymore cheater recipe for her brownies.

Basically, she uses a Ghiradelli mix and adds a cup of chocolate chips pre-baking. And, her brownies are really good. Not fudgey, not cakey just really good. So that is the cheater route I took. It meant another trip to the store but, hey, I'd like to make a good impression

Now, I can't taste one until tomorrow but I did lick the spoon.

Yum!

Happy Weekend.

xx

cardigan

Here is the cardigan I've been working in progress. I can't seem to photograph this to show the true shade of the yarn so you can look at it here which I think is more accurate. This is my first adult sweater and I am making it for me.
The pattern is this one and I decided to try it out in Sheep Shop yarn.
I fell for this shade hard which is pretty odd for me as it is not something I normally gravitate too but, I really like it and I think this color will suit me well. I'm almost through with my third skein and I've got to get my hands on 2 more so I can finish the bottom and do the sleeves.
It is very straightforward and I've made a few changes so far. I did the increases differently and made the top stockinette section a little longer before I started ribbing. I saw on Ravelry that some people made the collar smaller and am wondering if I should have done that. Oh, I've still got to carve out some time to upload all my knitting projects to Ravelry. I do love it as a resource and use it all the time.


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