Discussion of Past Works - Day 1

I realize that there are a number of knitted items in my gallery that I have never written about, because they were made before I started blogging. And, there are a number of items that I've made while blogging but never posted pictures because they were gifts (Christmas, baby shower, etc.) So on days when I don't have anything else exciting to post, I'll dig back into the knitting archives.

The trekking sock continues and I'm four rows in on a fair isle bag. Nothing really worthwhile to blog about and nothing photo worthy at the moment.

The Diamond Shawl was my first attempt at lace, just a couple of months after I learned to knit. I had knit, purl, k2tog, p2tog and yo down without a problem, but there were a few stitches in the pattern that I didn't know and I hadn't really learned to recognize all of the stitches yet. I started this thing over at least 6 times. Each attempt I got a little further into the pattern and I learned a lot from the process.

The pattern is a free one from the Lion Brand website and it was worked with 2 strands of Wool-Ease, each a different shade of pink. I now prefer Encore over Wool-Ease, but I was generally happy with how it turned out and I have been told that the recipient, my cousin Sara, wears it a lot. (She gets cold easily.) Given that she was 7 for Christmas 2004, an acrylic blend was the best option for washability (and that was early enough in my knitting career that I might not have heard of superwash yet).

These two bags were made for two of my aunts for Christmas 2004. Having made Zeebie's bag from the first SnB book, I decided to try my own design changes. I ribbed the left and right edges so that when the bag is empty it will have a smaller profile, but it can expand to hold more than it seems. I also used a ribbon yarn to accent the top edge and single handle. The main yarn was a wool from Arucania. I love the variation in the color and it was a nice wool to work with. I've been disappointed that the LYS near my office doesn't seem to offer as many colors in this yarn anymore.

I finished the pieces of these bags well in advance of Christmas, but made the mistake of leaving the sewing until late December. The unexpectedly large snowfall in western Ohio delayed our trip and helped me get all of the presents done that year (I finished the last one 5 minutes before arriving at my grandparents on the 26th...). I stayed up late sewing them together the night of the 23rd, watching bad Christmas movies, like the one where Michael Keaton turns into a snowman. I knew it was time to give up for the night when I sewed one side on backwards...