Leather Purse

This past summer I got it in my head (as I tend to do) to try to make a purse out of a thrifted leather jacket. I didn't ever do anything about it (find a thrifted jacket for starters...) but the idea kept popping into my head. A few weeks ago I stumbled across Philigry's tutorial and I knew what I would be doing that weekend.

Value Village had a lot of leather jackets and coats but the prices were really high for a lot of them ($50 for a jacket at Value Village?). I was looking for a great battered brown jacket but couldn't find what I wanted for under $40. I ended up getting a beautifully soft black leather jacket with no shaping which would provide me with a lot of leather for $15.



Using Philigry's tutorial as my guide I cut my jacket (cut the lining out) and used the front pockets as exterior pockets for my bag. I made a very basic tote style bag. I cut handles and sewed them with raw edges exposed and attached them with rectangular metal rings. I lined the bag with some cotton from stash and included basic patch pockets in the inside.



In this picture you can see the rivets I tried to use for the straps. I could not get them to work properly. Well, they work in that they hold and I can't get them off but they wouldn't go on straight and really don't look very good. (in the pictures they look okay but up close they're really bashed in) I'm calling this an experiment (if anyone were to ask).

I used a leather needle that I bought at Fabricland and had no problems with sewing the bag on my mom's machine. The only issues I had were with the leather sticking to my sewing machine a bit. I have an idea for a cheap/easy fix for that which I'll try out with some of the leftover scraps.

Next up: a wallet with some of the scraps. And then the search for a brown leather jacket... :)

How do you solve a problem like...

my Deep V Argyle Vest?



As I was knitting it I kept thinking that I should have done more arm decreases than called for. I didn't. Why? Why didn't I? The vest looks very line-backer-y in the shoulders and gapes at the underarm. Also, I needed to block it more aggressively. I think if the lower body is a bit more roomy it'll sit better at the arms.



Sigh. I haven't had this much disappointment in a project i was really excited about for a long time. I'm steam blocking it to see if it makes any difference. I'm thinking I should undo a few rounds of the arm bands and maybe decrease a bit before binding off.

Any thoughts? Advice? For now this is my feeling about it:

Sigh.

*************************

On the plus side I was super happy with the steeking. I was nervous about it but it went really well.


Pre-cut

And, after a really deep breath and some hesitation...



No matter how much I know that it's okay cutting my knitting will NEVER feel right...

Readjusting

I've been back from my trip to Houston for 5 days now and I feel like it was weeks ago that I was there. I love my family and was so excited to spend time with them. The kids are hilarious always and there was never a dull moment.

Now I'm back here and fighting to get over my souvenir from the trip: One of my nephews came down with some sort of flu on our second day there and he generously shared with us. Fever? Check. Cough that rips your lungs out? Check. Runny nose? Check. Fatigue, loss of appetite, aching all over? Check Check Check. Whee. Having to take half a sick day on your first day back from vacation is really awesome.

This morning I'm sitting in bed with my computer, knitting and coffee and just taking it easy. I need to start finishing some stuff around here (start finishing? excellent grammar lady). So, this weekend my goal is to work on just one (or two in the case of this morning) projects: My deep V argyle vest that I started a month ago (or more... I don't think I wrote down when I started) and for my bed knitting this morning: the second Not-cranberry biscotti sock. I'm recording these here in an attempt to hold me accountable somewhat. Let's see how that works out for me...

Now I need to get up and get some bread started. (Getting the bread started is a desire not a need but in order to do it I need to get up... oy enough with the over explaining.)

I have to say though, I wish I were here:


These pics are from my favorite day in Houston when we went to Galveston. I don't know what it is about beaches but it's like my entire body relaxes when I get to a beach. The sand, the water, I don't know what it is but my ideal vacation will always involve a beach.

It was really windy that day and the beach was pretty much deserted, since it was mid-October I guess. For us Canadians it was summer temperatures (around 27 Celsius! woo!) and we had a blast playing in the waves. Well, until two of us got stung by jellyfish. You'll be shocked to hear that one of them was me. Yes, accident prone me got stung by a jellyfish on vacation. Unprecedented.

(Also, I may or may not have bashed my upper lip somehow in the pool and had a swollen, scraped lip for several days).

In all, I managed to get a tan due to all the time spent in the pool/at the beach (yay! tan in October!!) and I had a ton of time with my family and got to see some of Houston and area. In all a very successful vacation.

Mustachioed Women

You know how sometimes when you're at work you start drifting and the next thing you know you're discussing the merits of a felt mustache and beard with your coworker? No? Hmm.

A few weeks ago I saw a felt mustache/beard on Craftzine Blog and showed it to my office-mate, Wen Shu. We thought they looked fun and decided to make some to wear at work for Halloween. I ended up making mustaches only but the idea was definitely inspired by the ones on Craft.


(Why, Hello double chin, nice to see you)

We felt silly of course but had a great time wearing them, pretending to be terribly stuffy important businessmen


(how cute is Wen Shu? Seriously)

or trying to twirl the ends like a villain.



One of the guys came in and once he had stopped laughing called me Lanny McDonald which was so fitting we couldn't think of anything else...

If you too would like a really quick disguise or have always wanted to look like Lanny (or an old timey villain) here's how I made them:

Lanny McDonaldOld Timey Mustache
Materials:
1 piece of craft felt 9" x 12"
20" ribbon or yarn for ear loops
needle
thread to match felt
scissors
Mustache template:
(click on the pic and then download the large 1024x873 size to print)

Choose a mustache and cut 2 from your felt. Cut your ribbon or yarn in half so you have two 10" lengths. Fold each in half and place on the bottom piece of your mustache. Cover with the top mustache piece and pin together. Hand sew or machine sew the 2 pieces together being careful to secure the ear loops but not to get them caught. Wear with pride.

Please don't make these to sell, but feel free to make them for yourself or your friends, random strangers on the bus or coworkers. Or anyone else who needs one. Just don't sell them or the template.

Monkeys!

This time Saturday evening I'll be in Houston on my first real vacation in a really long time. My brother and his family moved to Houston this spring and I'm so excited to go visit them. I miss my nephews & niece (and my brother & sister-in-law of course) and I'm really looking forward to going to visit and relax.

Now, those of you with kids are probably thinking "Relax? Who are you kidding? 2 four year olds & a two and a half year old? Relax??" but right now it sounds very relaxing to me. I won't need to be on a computer 8 hours a day and I won't need to answer calls from angry or cranky or just unreasonable people. I won't need to solve problems or investigate issues. All I need to do is play and swim and hang out. I can't wait. I love those little monkeys.

Speaking of monkeys, I made these for the monkeys I'm going to visit.



I used a few different tutorials I found online and I love how they turned out. I'm still thinking about whether they need clothing or accessories. I'm thinking about superhero capes for the boys and a skirt for the girl. I'll see how much time I have tomorrow.

I love these faces.



I'm really excited about our trip. If anyone is from Houston or knows any really fun things we might want to see while we're there I'd love some suggestions. For now I have to think about packing. First things first: knitting. I can knit on the plane right? I haven't flown internationally since 2002... Maybe step one should be the FAA rules...

Short Sleeved Wrap Cardigan

Happy Thanksgiving! I made a Thanksgiving dinner for the Boy and me yesterday, which I've never done by myself before. I roasted a turkey breast rather than attempting an actual turkey, dressing made in the crockpot, mashed potatoes, gravy & pumpkin pie. So good but not quite the same. I don't know if I'll ever be able to master my Mom's turkey dinner. I thought of her often as I was getting stuff ready for the dinner.

Moving on...

As I mentioned a few weeks ago I finished the main knitting on my Wrap Cardigan and had started the collar. I ended up needing to order an extra skein to finish the collar. The color is a match but it ended up just slightly darker/more saturated than what I had knit the rest of the sweater with. It's not very noticeable so I'm calling it good.





I really like it. It's a perfect layering piece for the office. I had planned to include button holes when knitting the collar but in the end I decided not to. It's quite wearable the way it is but I do wish I had included them for the option.

Specs:
Pattern: Ariosa Wrap Cardigan (free pattern available from Classic Elite Yarns)
Yarn: Custom Woolen Mills Mule Spinner 2-Ply. I ended up using about 3 1/2 skeins (around 800 yards).
Mods: The pattern is written for a chunky yarn but I wanted to use this worsted weight yarn. I knit a size larger than what I needed (in order to avoid having to do math) which worked out perfect.

Oh what a gift!

My very good friend Julie went to Ireland in August. Now, being slightly fiber obsessed, my first thought was "Oh! Wool!" I didn't say anything about Irish wool, because I thought that was a bit of a big imposition. Fast forward to her trip. I was supposed to water her plants and check on her place. It turned out that the key I had for her place was old (she had changed the locks last year and I didn't realize it and we didn't think to check. d'oh). So I wasn't able to take care of her house for her. Imagine my chagrin then when she arrived home and told me she had something for me (after taking in stride the news that I hadn't been able to take care of her amazing plants).

Imagine my SHEER JOY when a couple of weeks after she returned home she presented me with this:


There are 600 grams each of a dark grey and a light grey Aran weight Jacob. It's wonderfully wooly and so gorgeous. I need to find something to make with it. I don't know the yardage, but I have a feeling there's more than enough for a sweater.

Any suggestions?

(I have FOs to show-gasp-but I'll post those over the next few days. I have a splitting headache and the computer isn't helping.)
(Why the headache you didn't ask? I know a lot of people call themselves clumsy. Not to be a one-upper, but I think I'm the queen of clutz. I tripped over something in my apartment Sunday night in the dark and fell, bruising my hip and landing on my head (I didn't have time to brace myself or anything). I actually "saw stars" (a flash of light). It was one of my finer moments. So for the last 2 days I've been trying to take it easy and not feel too much like an idiot. )