The Year of the Bag

You know how the Chinese have the Year of the: Dog, Cat, Parakeet, Pack Rat, Armadillo, Boa Constrictor, Agapanthas and Dragon? Well, this year has been the Year of the Bag for me. That's right, it has been the bulk of my knitting projects for this year. And today I can finally unveil the finished products.

Behold, the bags:

Four different patterns are represented here. The outer rows show the four bright and beaded bags called Take Along Bags. Each of these bags were knit using Red Heart yarn in variegated colors. I found this pattern in the Creative Knitting magazine July 2007 edition. I took some liberties with the pattern and added a linen stitch to the section that became the flap of the bag. It really turned out nice. The beaded fringe makes the bag more fun.

In the second row from the left, starting with the turquoise bag, is a row of Amanda Squatty Sidekick felted bags. This pattern is available free on the Net. All of these were made out of one skein of Cascade 220. Each one I knitted I learned more about how a pattern is written which is helping me write a pattern for the kittyghan to submit to the Knitting A Pattern A Day calendar for 2009.

The denim colored bag at the top of the third row is from Debbie Bliss Home book. It is called Felted Bag in the book. I call it a bucket bag by virtue of its round bottom construction. I used two skeins of Cascade 220 to construct this one. The pattern was not as clearly written as I needed for the first attempt, so when I went in to buy the yarn for the project I asked the gals at Needleworks by Holly Berry in Old Colorado for tips. They were very generous with their ideas, experience and suggestions. With their help this bag turned out just the way I wanted it to. I added the longer handles.

The lavendar bag is made from the Bucket Bag pattern by Two Old Bags. According to their website, they call this one a "feed bag" style. They are also the creator of the Lucy bag pattern that you may have heard of. I made the smaller version of this bucket bag from the pattern. It turned out beautifully and was a fun pattern to knit. I used two skeins of Cascade Eco + yarn to knit this one.

Update from December 8th: The snow-ice storm kept me home. So the kitty donations will have to wait or will go to a local cat shelter. Since I spent the day indoors I decided to clean and decorate for Christmas. I had help, of course.

Blog Hiatus or What you can do when your computer is broken.

Hi all: it has been a long time since I was able to sit down to a working computer and have the time to update my blog.

While I have been on hiatus, caused by the motherboard in my 10-year old computer finally beaming back to the mothership, I have done some fun stuff.

This little guy to your left posed so nicely for me while he was eating a seed at Crystal Reservoir on the drive up Pikes Peak. Fall is coming quickly here to the high country and everyone is getting ready. Our high country trip was planned around a visit from an East Coast sister. We took her to see the sights around Colorado before returning her to the Denver airport for her trip home.

Here is Dad and Mary enjoying the thin air on the top of Pikes Peak. We lucked into a beautiful day and the temp at the top was pleasant 48-degrees, quite a treat after continual days of 90+.

The scenic route to the Denver airport consisted of a visit to the historic mining town of Leadville; Camp Hale, the site of the 10th Mountain Division's winter training; a side trip through the popular ski area of Summit County and a fabulous dinner at Tommynocker's Brewery in Idaho Springs. And for the third weekend in August, we saw quite a few trees with the beginnings of fall colors. After that trek you know summer is on it's way to an end with the 30th Annual Balloon Festival in Colorado Springs on Labor Day weekend. This year there were 90+ balloons in attendance and the best weather anyone had seen. Lots of fun colors and shapes like: Marvin the Martian, one that looked like the dragon from Mulan, a farm scene, an inverted pyramid, the owl and the pussycat, and a patchwork quilt. And at some point, the sky was full of them.

















Besides summer fun and travel, I have been keeping up with the triumphs and tribulations of my favorite fellow bloggers. and I have a few observations.





Of Crazy Aunt Purl, all I can say is: You go, girl! She found a new dining room set on the affordable side, uncovered wood flooring that is gorgeous and has accomplished all of this in a scant month or so after her declaration to make her "house a home." I am so inspired by her fortitude and stick-to-it-itiveness.

Of the Yarn Harlot, her latest fleece washing endeavor is quite amusing. The squirrel repellent device looks like it worked. The squirrel looked perplexed as he viewed the coveted fleece, yet could not find a way to get to it.

Of Wendy Knits, she is the queen of the summer sock challenge. And I am certain it is because of Lucy's unfailing assistance.

Of What Housework? Milo is my new super hero. (don't breathe a word of that to my own Pirate Prince, Pedro). Milo gives barn cats something to aspire to. The flowerpot incident is too funny for words.

Of the Loopy Ewe, Sheri is amazing. All the energy she has goes into unpacking all the goodies for the store, keeping up with the kids, cooking yummy things and being up-to-date with the most important events, like the return of Pumpkin Spice Lattes to Starbucks.

And during the no computer at home down time I have been knitting -- a lot. I have several Christmas gifts ready for felting and at least two more to knit. No, I will not tell you what they are, it will spoil the recipients' surprise. I hope to have all the gift items finished by September 20th so I can work on a couple items for myself. I like to have the holiday things finished early so I can enjoy the approach of the fun days.

I am hoping that my home computer is back, up and running a couple weeks so I can be more active with my blog.

Enjoy what is left of the fabulous weather.