Knitting and the like.....

Finally! I have something new to post! Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get some things finished up for our local fair. Last year I didn't even have to make anything, I just collected together some things that I had made throughout the year and took those in.
I enter in the open class at the fair, so the competition is quite wide and varied. Only one item per class is allowed, but you are free to enter as many classes as you want. For instance under the sewing category there may be ten different classes you can enter: quilting, adult garment, child garment, baby garment, pillowcase, embroider, etc. It is a lot of fun and I enjoy it immensely. Normally there are other ladies and gals I know entering, and it provides a bit of friendly competition.

This is a choker I crocheted last week. It only took a couple of hours to make, that is counting the time I spent pre-stringing the turquoise beads.

Here is the completed chemo cap. In a previous post I only showed the yarn and the book where I got the pattern. It is from "Knitting for Peace", by Betty Christiansen

I love the way the decreases form a spiral at the top.

It is a simple eyelet pattern.

I used Cascade pima cotton. It is very soft! I purchased two skeins, but barely made it into the second skein. So now I have an almost complete skein of a lovely cotton to use for whatever I please. Hmm.....what should I make?

The Rachel Bag is completely finished! It seems to have lingered in the final stage of finishing forever, simply because I have been needing to purchase the little magnetic snap for a closure.

I entered it in the fair ,where, I am pleased to say, it took 1st place in the felted item class!

I look forward to using the boku yarn more in the future. It has a beautiful striping sequence, and feels so soft when felted.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing what I have been working on recently!

Purses, Bags, etc.

I have started another new project, as of half an hour ago. I quick snapped this photo to show you. It doesn't tell much, but in actuality that will one day be a bag. We shall call it the Rachel purse for now. I am kind of winging it on the pattern. It is supposed to be modeled after a purse I already have but instead of double-stranding the yarn I am only using a single strand. So consequently I have to change things around a bit.
The yarn used here is: Boku, by Plymouth Yarn. Three skeins should do it for the bag.
The computer is being slow tonight so in between waits I am working on this. It should whip up fairly quickly I think.
Lest one get the impression that all I do is start projects, but never finish, here is a finished one for you to view. The Sarah bag is complete! Well, it is missing one small detail, a decorative button on the outside of the front flap. I still have to put that on. Minor details though.

This bag is of my own design. I had a request for a specific bag type but no patterns to match. I think felted bags are the easiest thing in the world to design. Of course I have not designed anything else.....

Some views of the inside. I put a couple handy pockets in, one is sized for a cell phone. Oh I forgot to mention that Sarah's bag is made with the same yarn as Ri's bag: Cascade Pastaza.

From previous experience the owner of this bag will stuff it to it's capacity, and then some. So it is made as sturdy as possible with future abuse to it in mind!

I am glad I am taking pictures of all my projects. Even if I do not post them I find it helps me to keep track of what I have made. My ideal goal would be to put a picture and detailed information about every project, into a little note book. Or perhaps a big notebook. But although I have been called very organized, I am not that organized yet!