Market bags, continued

One more bag for gifting - this time I tried to get clever with color.

Initially I didn't love it. But after some time (and a few high compliments from friends over for dinner) I realized it's not too shabby.

The yarn tails from the dual colored strap were killing me, until I got the idea to put a crochet flower on the seam.

Perfect! Hides the stark transition and gave me a way to inconspicuously weave in the ends.

In another serendipitous moment I realized this will be perfect for M, because this bag was made with leftover yarn from her twin daughters' twinkie jackets:

Hope she likes it!

FO: Market Bags

Here in Los Angeles they've recently jumped on board the "no plastic bag train." Being from the Bay Area, which embraced this idea early on, I am ecstatic! I also am terrible about remembering to carry a bag with me.

I found this schnazzy Market Bag pattern on Ravelry and tried out a purple color-block theme:

Then another:

And another, another:

And so on...until I had made 7 of these. And I've just ordered yarn to make more!

This has become my go-to quick gift knit idea. It's amazing! It's fast! It is a stash buster, it's easy to memorize, it looks cute and most importantly it's useful. I loathe impractical gifts. And I also have a fair amount of concern when it comes to giving knit gifts to people - what if they hate it? Or it doesn't fit? Or gets destroyed by their hellish cat? Too much pressure. These are PERECT. Expendable, washable, good for the environment, etc. Of the 7 I've made 6 of them have been given already, and I've already got requests for more.

Bags for everyone!!

Pattern: Knit Sunglass Holder

This project was really simple. The hardest part was actually finding a lace pattern I liked that (a) had enough holes to host sunglasses, (b) wasn't boring, and (c) was simple enough that I could finish quickly. This one is the Checkerboard Lace Scarf from Purl Bee.


I measured the frame and checked gauge and turns out that I could make it happen with only 2 pattern repeats. (The pattern is a 10x + 8, meaning any increment of 10 stitches plus 8 stitches for edges. So I used 28 stitches.) I was using scrap yarn from a sweater project - because the color was perfect - but it was bulky, so I upped the needles to 10 (but they knit like 10.5 or 11 for some reason - metal needles).

I just eyeballed to get the length of the frame, and then did a quick steam block.

post blocking

pre-blocking

I already had a frame in mind - an old piece that I painted years ago that no long matches anything in our house. I ended up keeping it there, in case an intrepid observer looked closely, and because the color matches the yarn I used...and I still like it. :)

knit piece and frame - size match!

picture without the matting

After that, some easy sewing with more scrap yarn to get the piece to stay on the glass and such:

just enough stretching to keep the lace taut

Then, it was just about popping it in the frame. Due to the bulky yarn this was actually harder than I expected, and I cracked the glass in the process. Sewing the back to keep the piece tight and in place was definitely important - you can see in the final picture that there are two saggy points, on the top and bottom. That's where I got lazy and didn't sew because I ran out of yarn and didn't feel like getting something else out. Derp...I'll be fixing that soon.

Anyway - tada! I placed it by the front door so I never have to worry about "where the heck are my sunglasses?!?" again. And I can stop trying to smush them into my Plastic Bag Stash-o-matic.

P.S. Here is the link to the Ravely project page.

FO: Knit Sunglasses Holder

First off, let me talk about how hard it was to name this project. A knit sunglasses holder? I mean...it sounds terrible! Awful! Like the itchy cruddy iPod holder/necklaces after-school knitting clubs teach kids to make for their family for Christmas because they are totally lacking in creative energy and resources. Anyway, I promise this project doesn't live up to that disappointment.

So this is something I have had my eye on for ages - ever since I saw a neat craft idea for hanging jewelry. Can't find the original inspirational photo now - dammit. I think it was on Apartment Therapy or something like that... Anyway, it's amazing and I've dreamt of using picture frames for hanging accessories ever since.

For this project I focused on a place to hang sunglasses - as that is a problem in this house - but it can be used for earrings, buttons, etc. (Buttons and brooches are the next item I need to address, in fact.) Interestingly enough, this idea has popped up a few times since then - most notably here (from my favorite inspirational knit-tastic blogger, of all people!) but never quite in the way I envisioned it.

Fast forward days, months, possibly a year? And I have FINALLY found the time and resources to make this happen. Here's a picture of the finished project:

There is, admittedly, room for improvement (I can see the sagging~ I didn't pull it tight enough around the glass! Bulky yarn made framing this a lot harder than I hoped - I actually cracked the glass.) But overall....I LOVE IT! And now, finally, have a cool place to hang all the sunglasses that end up floating around the house. 

Full notes coming soon !

FO: Plastic Bag Stash-o-matic

Do you have something to stash plastic bags in?It's pretty much a "must" if you have dogs, are a huge reuse/recycle fan, or are Asian. The basic idea is it's something that you can easily stuff a lot of bags in, and pull bags out of, and is put in a convenient place in your home.

We have a bunch of them made by my auntie - sewn sleeves that have elastic at each end, to hold in the bags. Unfortunately we've used them so much that the elastic is shot. Now, anytime you try to grab a bag, a whole bunch dump out all over the floor, and, well, no one likes that.

Ah-ha, knitting to the rescue! Wouldn't it be neat if instead of sewn, closed fabric - our PBS was mesh? Since I've taken to hanging my sunglasses on this it makes perfect sense! A new, improved Stash-o-matic that has dual purpose AND uses some of my leftover yarn! Win-win-win.

Improvised as I went, it's a really easy knit. Basically I made a meshy leg warmer, and then added a strap. 

I may have tried it on and danced a short 80s musical montage. Cannot confirm.

Check out the Ravelry project page here. 

Full notes on their way - I'm going to try another version and then type up the best product. So far I'm thinking I'll definitely switch to a larger gauge for the mesh, and a smaller needle garter stitch for the ends instead of ribbing.