Christmas Ornament Swap

I always mean to make some and never get round to it. So I thought that if I was in a swap to make them I'd make some extras and get to keep them. Plus the ones others send me. Hoorah! Click on the image below to join in.

Anyone can join in and SwapBot is free.

Knitting bag bonanza

Off I went yesterday, on the bus to lewisham to visit the most amazing fabric shop called 'Rolls n Rems'. There are three of them, I think, in London, but I've only ever been to this one. I really love it. I came out with some clear plastic sheeting, two cottons, a stretch cotton for a skirt, curtain fabric, iron-on interlining, 4oz wadding, buttons and a fabric marker for less than £25. Take a look at the fabric:

and some of the buttons.

These are for my button-up socks as they are all quite small.

Nearby are a couple of charity shops and one had patterns so i got these three.

I also splashed out on a huge bouquet of thistles and these pinky orange things. I can't remember what they are now.

And why was I buying all this fabric? As I said on the podcast (which I know has stopped working again - I am very annoyed with the hosts and have complained again - why do I have to spend so much time complaining? I really hate doing it) I have been spending quite a lot of time thinking about knitting bags. For many years I've been using tesco ziplock type things. They're efficient but not exactly sexy. I also have some drawstring type things that I've sewn in the past or bought. The problem with those is that you can't see what's in them and, if you have such a terrible number of UFOs as me that can be quite a hindrance. So, some thinking and many comments from people later and here we are.

I made 4 prototypes. My frist thought was to make a couple of half plastic and half fabric. These are the ones made of the yellow star fabric. I did wonder how to get these to close since the plastic is a bit thick to ruffle properly. And sure enough, exhibit A.

And exhibit B which wouldn't close properly at all.

I do love the fabric though - £3.60 a metre I think.

So then I moved on to the idea of using reverse applique to create windows. This is the first prototype.

The fabric is furnishing stuff and so quite thick. Not ideal but works pretty well. So being happy with this one I refined it a bit. I wanted to make the edges look neater while not having to do too much fiddling about. Plus I was wondering what would happen with a shaped window. Ta da!

I'm going to write up a pattern for people in case anyone wants to make their own! I'll definitely be making more.

As well as this sudden burst of sewing I've also been knitting away. The Noro socks continue, curse them.

The colours are (mostly) good but the yarn is just horrible. If only there was something like a cross between this and kauni but in sock yarn. Closest I've found is this but the colours get blurred when the plies don't match. I have got some of this stuff, incidentally, and it's pretty nice. Cheap too.

I've also started knitting a bathmat after deciding I don't like mine. I'm using the 10-stitch pattern from an old issue of SlipKnot. Going pretty nicely!

Using some aran cotton I got on ebay, held double. Pooch is very doubtful about this and thinks it will never stand up to his use. I told him that another knitter on ravelry said it was used by her and her husband and their two teenage sons. Pooch says his usage is equivalent to that of 5 fully grown men so I guess time will tell.