Completed in July 2007: Twisted-float shrug by Annie Modesitt (Vogue Knitting International Fall 2005).

Completed December 2007:

Schoeller-Stahl circular pullover (Winter 2003-2004)

Almost completed: Boatneck sweater by Stefanie Jappel from "Fitted Knits."

In progress: Nancy Marchant's "Brioche stitch sweater" (Interweave Knits Spring 2005)

In progress: Wendy Baker's "Herringbone jacket" from "Knitting for him: 27 projects to keep him warm."

K1C2 vest/repositioned flowers on Noni pink bag

Below is a picture of a Knit 1 Crochet 2 vest using their Paintbox yarn. This yarn is very similar to Noro Kureyon. Great color variegation, while the wool itself is very scratchy. This is a quick, easy project to make, and the whole thing is made in one peace, with no seams. I completed this project while I was in Vegas for a couple of days for a friend's reunion with her girlfriends. While they got drunk, I was able to finish a vest. Being slightly perfectionistic, I tried to match the color variegation on the panels; for the most part, I was successful.

I have also repositioned the flowers on the Noni pink bag. I decided to put one flower on each side, and I think it looks better than it was before. I am really happy with this bag and it's going into the gift bag for the holidays.

Large round Noni lattice bag in variegated yarn

I decided to experiment with using variegated yarn for the round Noni lattice bag. I used Cascade 220 for the mc and bought some cheap variegated yarn off eBay from jojoland.com for the cc. I am very pleased with the results. Both yarns felted beautifully and effortlessly in the washer. I lined with duppioni silk in a gold/saffron color, also purchased rather cheaply off eBay. The lining really enlivens the bag because it picks up on the yellows in the variegated yarn. I altered the pattern slightly by adding a row of small contrast-color section towards the top before doing the last two cable sections. The handles are Crystal Palace's that I bought at our local LYS. I think this bag came out beautifully with the combination of yarn, lining and handles. This is also a holiday gift for a friend and I think she will like it very much.

Finished a Noni square lattice and projects in progess

Below are pictures of the square lattice bag from Noni patterns. A wonderful pattern to knit and great results to boot. I lined mine with orange dupioni silk that I got from fabricfreak at eBay. Gorgeous bag! Nota bene: There is a small error in the square lattice; please check Nora's website (nonipatterns.com) for the correction. Currently, I am knitting a prism bag (large pattern with orange and black yarns) and a circular lattice with variegated yarn as the contrast. We'll see how this last one will work because I chose a very muted pastel color scheme.

The finished square lattice.

The interior lining. I cut out pieces of the fabric, machine-sewed them together and hand-sewed the joined pieces to the bag using invisible thread.
Below are pictures of several projects that I am trying to finish before our annual vacation to Las Vegas in a couple weeks.

First is Annie Modesitt's wonderful circular sweater from the Fall 2005 issue of Vogue Knitting. I chose a muted Lorna's Laces shepherd's worsted in "Baltic Sea" and used Lily Chin's "Park Avenue" yarn as the contrast yarn. Almost done, with only the sleeves left to finish. I am half-way finished with one sleeve.

Larger view. I wish I could take better pictures but I am not a good photographer at all.

A closer view with details of the twisted herringbone twine in black. June Hiatt in "Principles of Knitting" offered a few cautionary words about using the herringbone twine over a large area because of all the twisting and untwisting.

This decorative twining is normally used in Scandinavian knitting for the edgings of small hats or mittens and this is the first time that I have seen it used over such a large pattern. Ms. Hiatt offered a trick for dealing with the twining over a large area; however, I was too chicken to try it!

The twining, tangling and untwisting make the knitting very unwieldy and challenging and it requires quite a bit of patience to knit this project. However, the results are stunning and definitely worth it. Plus, I love the fact that Ms. Modesitt dared to use the herringbone twine on such a large pattern (I ended up with close to 600 stitches at the end!). She is truly a knitting heretic!
Another project in progress is the Lily Chin mosaic stitch tunic from her new book "Expressions". This tunic is made using her new "Broadway" and "Central Park" yarns. The "Brodway" yarn is a variegated mohair that lends a stained glass effect to the back and front center panels. This tunic has a few "designery" touches such as the angled edging on either side of the panels and an elegant shoulder shaping technique. Again, my photography skills do not do justice to the project.

Finished: Noni pink and black bag

Following are pictures of the completed pink and black Noni bag with flowers attached and lining sewn in place.

What I really like about the Noni patterns is that they are sophisticated without taking themseves too seriously. There is a certain tongue-in-cheekness about the designs that I like. I've never been tempted to felt anything (much less bags) because a lot of the patterns are either too folksy (an ugly, slouchy, square bag) or too fancy (intarsia flowers, beading, embroidery, french knots (I hate french knots!), etc.).

With the Noni bags, one gets bags that are quick to knit, beautifully designed in terms of shape and proportions, and most of all, something that you would be proud to show to your friends instead of hide in the closet. Next up: the whimsical green and turquoise Majolica bag.

Finally, a picture of the two Noni bags so far in a naturalistic setting. I really need to take a photography class. All my photos are coming up too bright!

Second Noni bag: almost finished

Below are pictures of another Noni bag that I am making. This is the dusty pink and black bag from the "In the sculpture garden" leaflet. This is a fun bag to knit and the flowers are really pretty. I decided to make large flowers: 1 with 20 and 16 stitch petals and 2 with 16 and 14 stitch petals. I used leftover pink yarn from the body of the bag to make the bobbles.

I made the ruffles completely in black. The pattern calls for 3 skeins of pink and there should be enough to make the ruffles; somehow, maybe because of the way I knit, I almost ran out of pink yarn by the time I got to the top of the bag. Thus, I decided to make the ruffles in black, which do not affect the overall look of the bag in a negative way.

This bag is lined with the same fabric as my first bag (I'm not being cheap, just frugal!), which I fused to a layer of fast2fuse stiff interfacing. To make the liner even stiffer, I also stitched on a third layer of another stiff interfacing called Peltex by Pellon. Thus, the bag is nice and rigid and can stand upright all by itself.

I attached the Rowan bamboo handles to the lining using strips of the lining fabric that I folded to show only the pink. All the bag needs now is for the lining to be sewn in place, the flowers stitched on, and some sort of closure attached (maybe magnetic). I may just leave it without the magnetic closure because the bamboo handles do keep the bag pretty secure on top.

I am really happy with the way this project turned out. I showed the bag to the ladies at work and everybody wanted one. Thank you Nora!


Interior lining: pretty good job because I hate sewing. I cut out rectangular interfacings and fabric for the body and triangular interfacings and fabric pieces for the sides. After ironing on the fabric to the fusible interfacing, I glued (yes glued!) the three pieces together using sewing glue.
Pre-felted flowers

Felted flowers. Gorgeous!

Don's cardigan

Finished Don's Jo Sharp "Naples" cardigan. He loves it, which is the most important thing. He loves wearing it around town and showing off the cardigan. I had a great time knitting it, although the finishing was tricky because of all the stripes that need to be matched. I will be knitting him the men's sweater from Elsebeht Lavold's "Book Four" next.

Finishing the Noni

The finished Noni baguette. How cute and adorable!

Below are pictures of the Noni baguette being finished. I followed the author's advice on her website and used plastic needlework canvas to give the bag its stiff shape. Next time, I will use Timtex or Fast2fuse, both very stiff interfacings and are designed for lining bags, making stiff fabric bowls, hat brims, etc . Below, I taped two needlework canvases together because I could not find one large enough.

I taped the one-sided fusible to the canvas and ironed on my lining on the fusible side. No sewing! I can't sew very well; just enough to get me by. I did the same thing to the round ends. I sewed the round ends to the rectangle and eased the whole thing into the bag.

Next came the zipper, which is tricky because one had to carefully match the stripes. I attached the flowers prior to lining and sewing the zipper. I also tacked the flower petals to the bag to spread them out a little.

Last a picture of the lined interior. Pretty good job, considering my sewing skills.

I love this project and the Noni bags and I'm working on another Noni right now. Thanks Nora for the wonderful designs!

NONI BAG PINK, GREEN AND CREAM

I've decided to join the fray and start felting. I decided on the Noni cute and "sassy" baguette bag with chrysanthemum flowers made with Cascade 220 wool yarns using pale pink, bright pink, cream and green. I thought it was a garish combination, but my other half convinced me otherwise. He said it would be cute for one of our girlfriends to wear in the spring. This bag, along with an in-progress Lily Chin mosaic tunic, will be her birthday gifts in January.

Below are preliminary pictures of the project in progress. Looks like a ginormous striped watermelon. The pattern has a weird way of picking up stitches to do the round ends. I tried and could not figure out the instructions which call for picking up stitches from the wrong side, and then knitting clockwise. I tried to do this, but it was an impossibility; I ended up with reverse stockinette on the right side. Alas, I decided to pick up stitches from the right side like I normally do and managed to finish the round ends with no problem.

Also, there is a mistake in the pattern for the flexible bind-off method. It should say insert needle purlwise through two stitches from right to left; instead, the pattern said to insert knitwise. This is wrong. For reference on this technique, look up Elizabeth Zimmermann's "Knitting without tears" which has detailed instructions and diagrams of the method on page 23.



Below is a picture of the felted project. Bev Galeskas, in her book "Felted Knits" warned against letting a felted project go through the spin cycle. Thus, even though the pattern said to do this, I decided to skip this part. I am lucky to have a front loading Maytag Neptune washer with automatic water level sensor and the ability to be stopped so that I could check the felting process.

I got the dimensions called for in the pattern after repeating the agitating process three times. I used a linen wash by Yves Delorme (a minuscule amount) and simply rinsed the project under cold runnning water after felting was completed.

Surprise! Surprise! I have no conception of size whatsoever. The pattern said the project would measure 16" in length by 19" diameter. I got these measurements, but was quite shocked at how big this actually turned out to be. Oh well! I'm sure this will not be a problem; at least, I hope so.

I used t-pins to shut the project together for drying and placed two Polish china plates to maintain the round ends. I still need to sew on a zipper, attach bamboo handles, knit and felt the flowers and line the bag. I won't get these done until next week when I'll be making another trip to our LYS to get the supplies.