amimono note

Felted Bag Pattern

jen asked which pattern I used for my felted bag, which is my own. It is not some kind of smart pattern (rather fussy...), but here it is.

The yarn is Cascade 220 Charcoal Grey. I don't remember the needle size, but use larger size needles since it is for felting.

Body

1. Cast-on 40 sts. Join into round.


2. 
   
   • Row1: Knit. Place stitch markers after the 10th and 30th st. These will be the sides of the bag. (You can mark the 20th and the last if you use a circular needle.)
   
   
   • Row2: Knit. Increase 1st before and after the stitch markers. (Plus 4sts, 44sts.)
   
   
   • Row3: Knit.
   
   
   
   
3. Repeat row2 and 3 until there are 80 sts on the needle.


4. Knit 15 rows.


5. Start decreasing. Decrease 1st before and after the markers. (Minus 4sts, 76sts.)


6. Decrease in this manner on every third row until there are 60 sts on the needle.


7. Cast off.


8. Sew together the bottom of the body.

Handle
Cast on 5 sts. Knit every row. After felting, it will be cut in half so make it long enough for that.

Felting
I used a washing machine to felt them. The body should shrink more in length way than in width, so after felting it should look like kind of an oval.

Dry
I put a rolled hand towel in the bottom of the bag so that the bag looks heavier and rounder in the bottom. Pat the handle flat.

Assemble
Embroider before you attach the handle. Cut the handle in half, see if the length is right. Sew the handles to the body.

This one is knitted with Noro Kureyon. The handles are felted I-cord.

Deborah...

I haven't knitted a lot these days, even though it's been a little cold here. It's just... Deborah in pink is not my thing. I've been trying to think how to wear it but none of my clothes seem to match. But I'm tired of seeing it around the house, so I really have to pull myself together and sew the sleeves. Then it will be done and I can put it somewhere deep in my closet (or give it to my little sister).

~~ A few hours later... ~~

It's done!! I feel so free...whew...

"Deborah" from Rowan magazine #36, Kidsilk Haze #586 & Kid Classic #842.

I really did a poor job on this cardi... maybe someday I'll knit it again with another color.

Asian Knitters Ring

This blog was approved for the Asian Knitters Ring yesterday. Thank you Sue!

I'll introduce myself a little...

My name is Noriko. I'm from Japan, currently living in the U.S. (Vancouver WA) with my husband (also from Japan). Although I started knitting when I was 15, it has only been in the last few years I actually do it on daily basis.

I've been here for 5 years and still learning English. Most of my blog entries are reviewed by my English teacher, but some are not. My comments are usually on my own, so I beg your pardon in advance. You are really welcome to correct me... :-)

bead embroidered felted bag

front

back

This is a felted purse I knitted with some leftover yarn from a last year's LoTech Sweat. I tried the first time to embroider with beads. I think the result is kind of mediocre... I like the contrast of the shiny beads and matte felt, but the surface was a little soft and it needed some effort to keep the beads up on the surface.

I found out two things from this project:

#1, Embroidering with beads is fun.

I used to cross stitch a lot, but I think I did it too much and I came to avoid the whole embroidery thing for awhile, almost 3 years. Maybe I should dig out some of my unfinished cross stitch projects.

#2, I don't like felting knitting.

It seems like too much work and the result is too unpredictable. Maybe it would be predictable if I had enough experience, but...

Crochet!

Today's entry is about crochet. I saw Chie's works and I want to share some of my crochet too. I use to crochet a lot! These are some doilies I made.

I especially like the largest one in the picture and made several of it. I gave them to my mother.

These doilies' patterns are from a Japanese book called "Ondori basic Series 3, Lace Crochet" (ISBN 4-277-20925-4). This book is basically an explanation of the Japanese style symbols of crochet stitches with detailed illustrations, but it also has some fabulous patterns. I highly recommend this book.

(no pop-up larger image for this one.)

This is the biggest fillet crochet I've ever made. Sorry for the bad picture... The pattern is from the Swedish Handcraft Guild's cross stitch pattern book. I bought the book in Japan. Unfortunately it is out of print.

I like this one too. The pattern is from "Beautiful Crochet Lace", ISBN 4-529-02584-5 (also a Japanese book).

These above are all done with #40 crochet thread.

A few more stuff...

Snowflake ornaments pattern is from here. I think this is one of the prettiest crochet snowflake I've made. K and O shaped ornaments are tatting. I really like how tatting lace looks like, but I'm not good at it.

Finally, some small purses. These are crocheted with Appleton crewel wool. Have you ever tried to use crewel wool for a crochet project? If you are going make something small but has lots of color, they are great. They are sold in small quantity (=less expensive) and have great color variation. Appleton's are a little bit coarse but there are softer wool yarn for embroidery from DMC, so you can choose.

Opal sock

I just don't feel knitting my pink cardigan and now I have a few knitting work-in-progress.

The first one is another sock. The yarn is Opal Crocodile. I'm not sure I like the pattern... I hope my friend likes it...

The second one is a cardigan for my husband, knitting with Rowan Calm. Back in December I asked him to choose yarn for spring clothing. He picked black. I made sure that he really wanted this jet black color for spring, and now he says, "Black?"
... I think black will work anyway, because by the time the cardigan is done spring will have already gone, so he can wear it next fall.

Non-knitting content

I had been fighting with birds for the past few weeks over my kitchen ventilator and I'm glad finally it’s over.

One morning I was washing dishes and I heard a strange sound from the kitchen fan. At first I was not sure what it was, but it seemed like a bird had entered into the vent. Of course the lid of the vent closed itself and the bird sounded panicked, and I was in a panic too. I only heard the birds screaming and scratching, I had no idea what to do. After a horrible few minutes, the bird found its way out and everything was O.K. or so I thought. Then the bird and another bird returned, somehow figured out how to open the lid and came into the vent again. So when I heard their scratchy footsteps I turned on the light and fan. Then they flew away. I did that for a while.

They didn't come everyday and I thought they were playing, because why would they want to make their nest where wind go through? I cook everyday and use the kitchen vent a few times a day regularly. The fan is noisy too. I WAS WRONG!! The other day something was stuck in the fan...it was a twig..........

The apartment maintenance men were very quick and the nest is now gone. They said it wasn't finished, so that was good (I don't want to imagine removing eggs!). They put a net in the vent and the battle is over, although the birds still come and try to enter the vent. I hope the net is set firmly enough to withstand the birds attack.