i'm in!

i've finally been invited to join the club. it's like being accepted into the popular group at school except better. i'm talking about ravelry, of course.

i've already spent all weekend playing around with it and taking pictures of my stash for inventory. it's getting to an unhealthy point. i only knit a few rows all weekend long.

this could be bad. in an amazing way.

a sewing saturday

i'm working on a secret bit of knitting. i'm test knitting something for a friend's book that will be published soon, so i'm not able to share it on blogland. but i assure you i am knitting.

i have been multitasking as usual though. my SILs birthday was in march. i remembered, but i had no idea what to get her. i gave a million different suggestions and ideas to my husband, but he didn't like any. she's his only sister, and we wanted to be creative. not just "here's some money" because that's just too impersonal. yes, i am aware that it's mid-july now, but i finally came up with a gift. i sewed a tote bag that i'm calling "the partridge tote"

i didn't use a pattern, it came out of my own noggin. i love the details that make it more than a basic tote bag, like the floral cotton print with the blue corduroy, and the tan crochet lace border.


i love the little birdie too. this was my first time using the satin stitch on my machine for applique. fun, but a little wonky here and there.

such a happy little birdie.

the tote is reversible too!


i love the contrast of the pocket on the main fabric. i had a lot of fun sewing this gift (even though i am very much a novice sewer) and i think perhaps this late b-day tote will be acceptable. :)

a malabrigo diversion

i ordered some laceweight malabrigo in olive.

it's gorgeous. perfect green with more of a golden hue than a bluish one. definitely olive and not hunter. i always prefer olive over hunter.

it's malabrigo, you know. it's soft, airy, lofty and lush. i had to knit it up into something right away, so i started kniting the shetland triangle from wrap style.

this blob turned into this wet wool triangle.

which turned into a shawlette that i am not sure how to wear.

back on the front?

or back in the back?

wait, is there a back at all? i don't know. but i do know that this shetland triangle is pretty and soft and yummy and i love it. i knit it while watching lots of episodes of arrested development so it is also a happy shawl with a sense of humor.

the finished dimensions are smaller than those in the book, but it's still good. it's about three feet by 1.5 feet but it scrunches up nicely around my neck. soooooo soft. yum.