Remember when this blog was about knitting?

When I first started this blog, I wrote about knitting a lot.  And funny story, I actually used my knit lunch bag today, on the day I will finally blog again about something I've knitted.  No kidding.  PS - I just realized that I never shared the finished bag, avec lovely star button (that I don't actually use as a button, because that buttonhole would just be annoying).  So here ya go.  The bag. 

The lovely Miss Keira was my bag model, which actually ties in nicely with today's post about knitting.  Keira recently became a big sister, which inspired me to bust out my circular needles and learn how to make a little baby hat. Of course, my first attempt resulted in the tiniest hat known to mankind, which ended up being more doll-sized than baby-sized.  Perhaps (and this is just a guess) I have underestimated the size of a newborn baby's head.  Did you know that their heads are actually not all that tiny when they come out?  Terrifying.

I digress.  After teeny babydoll hat, I tried again...resulting in about 1" of twisted, mobius-y gigantor that would definitely have been too big for Baby.  I decided to invest in some slightly larger yarn, and use slightly larger needles, since um, I was frustrated and wanted to try again with something that wouldn't take quite so long.  I didn't want to venture in to the scary land of Double Pointed Needles, so I stretched that thing as far as it would go on my 16" Size 10 Circulars.  The result? The hat you see below on the left.

It was almost big enough to fit me.  My head is slightly larger than the head of Miss Baby, but I had extra yarn and tried again, casting on about half as many stitches.  The result?  An adorable pair of hats, perfect for Big Sis and Lil Sis to wear together.  And by golly, these hats better fit those girls! :-)

Actually, I made three hats in the last week.  Baby is getting 2 hats, because baby yarn is ridiculously soft and adorable.  I may have bought 4 different skeins of baby yarn. Attention friends: if you are pregnant, or recently had a baby, expect to receive a baby hat.  I might be obsessed.

I got an amazing deal on a set of DPNs on Amazon (5 DPNs in 13 sizes for $21.99!), and figured I'd brave the DPN knitting on the smaller hat...smaller hat = more difficult to stretch out on the circulars.  And you know what?  It wasn't awful.  I made a little mistake when making the pastel hat (it was my first try), and used 3 DPNs total instead of 3 for the stitches and a 4th to stitch with, but you can't even tell.  See?

Thanks to Crazy Aunt Purl for her awesome tutorial.  Also, see this one about decreasing stitches.  She is hilarious, and is one of the main reasons I am not afraid of DPNs.  After finishing off the pastel hat, I finished off the bright baby hat, this time using the correct number of DPNs.  Wow.  That was way easier.  I might even say that I love doing this now.  It's pretty awesome, and I really like pulling the yarn through the stitches at the end to finish it off - there's something satisfying about pulling it all together (literally) like it's a drawstring bag.  Super!  No fear!

Wow, totally scary!!!

I'm totally doing it!!

How-To Grocery Bag From Reed

In case you wanted to know how to make that awesome grocery bag that Reed made me, she was kind enough to write out some instructions and share her favorite links for me to share with you.  Right here.  On this blog.  In this post!  It's technically crochet, not knit, but I'm putting it in the category with the knit stuff, cause well, it's all the same type of thing, isn't it?

So here ya go - instructions and tips from Awesome Reed!


First of all, here are nice links to:

• making plastic bag yarn (pictures included) 
• and how to crochet (here, here, here)

I also recommend crochetpatterncentral.com for more info on crochet.

As for the pattern, here are the steps I use to make a bag. There are also patterns available on crochetpatterncentral.com if anyone needs more pictures.

• To start, chain 32 stitches (this forms your foundation row). 
• Double crochet (DC) in 3^rd chain stitch from hook. Continue in DC for entire foundation chain, then turn work & DC down other side of foundation chain (you should have 60 DC) 
• Join round by DC in 1^st DC stitch of first round. Continue working DC around continuously until bag is 1 inch shorter than desired depth. Work 1 row half double crochet (HDC), then 1 round single crochet (SC). 
• Flatten bag & locate side edges of bag. Make sure your SC row ends at the side of the bag. 
• Work 12 SC, chain 50, skip next 16 SC of previous row, SC 24, chain 50, skip next 16 SC of previous row, SC 12. Work SC around top of bag & handles. Bind off (BO) 
• Join yarn in “skip next 16” SC stitches (inside edge of handles). Work SC around once, BO. Repeat on inside edge of other handle. 
• Weave in ends, and you are done!

Seems easy enough if you know how to crochet.  I'm not very good at learning from pictures (I learn by doing, and usually need someone to show me/do it with me to really get a feel for it), and I don't know how to crochet...I think Reed needs to come out for another visit so she can teach me in person :)  The actual making of the "yarn" looks like fun though...tedious, but therapeutic maybe?

The Bag. Finally.

Here you go. You can stop holding your breath. Pictures of the bag. Before and After. I still have to add a button (I bought a big, red, star-shaped one. Fun!), but at least I can check this off my list of things to do...enjoy.

front of bag (before)


front of bag (after)


folded bag (before)


folded bag (after)


water bottle for perspective (after)

it looks like it's jumping. awkward.


view from the top (after)

Apologies for the weird formatting. I'm not so great at adding multiple pictures to my posts. Yet.

Friday the 13th...oooh scary

Not so scary, this Friday the 13th.

Things of note:

1. Another newspaper article about my mom, this time with a picture! To see the first one, click here. For those not in the know, my mom recently received an award and grant (with the highest possible score!) for her outstanding developmental kindergarten program. She rocks.
2. Today, we at Berkeley Rep said goodbye to Madelyn Mackie, our fabulous production manager. She's leaving the "reptiles" for a job with the Red Cross, something she's incredibly proud to be a part of--which she has made apparent by providing us with several earthquake/fire/emergency preparedness seminars. We had a lovely ice cream social, and we all went home a little early.

the one and only madelyn mackie

1. I saw a surprisingly good production of The Cripple of Inishmaan tonight, presented by Berkeley's Wilde Irish Theatre. Read a review here--I also thought it was quite good. The room is tiny, and upon arriving, I thought it was going to be an amateur, community theatre type production, but I thought wrong. Martin McDonagh is fantastic on taking his audience on an emotional roller coaster (pardon the cliche) - you are literally taken by the twists and surprises throughout the entire play. Just when you think you know what you're feeling, or think "oh, well I figured out that twist," he surprises you again. Love him. And this production certainly did him justice.
2. Last night, at a lovely little 2-person SnB at Espresso Roma, I (finally) learned how to pick up stitches and knit in the round (SO easy! I can't believe I was such a scaredy cat)! My brown bag is (finally) on its way to becoming a bag! It even looks bag-ish! For a moment, which sadly I did not photograph, it looked somewhat like a beret. I might make a beret. It might be ugly. I should have put the "beret" on my head and taken a picture. Not.
   

note the bag-like shape. pouchy! ah, bag, I remember when you were but a mere square...

note the lovely seam created by picking up stitches and beginning to knit in the round...


note the square-ish, bag-ish, totally 3D knitting! progress!

So you see, all in all, a rather un-freaky Friday the 13th. More posts soon...maybe more knitting? Eh? Eh?

Random Thing of Interest...and Knitting!

These things could not be more unrelated, but here goes anyway.

My friend Josh is currently on an Adventure in Thailand. He, being the morbid, sarcastic, zombie-loving, nerdtastic (lovable) freakshow that he is, wanted to go to someplace he had heard of called the Human Bakery. Check out his latest blog post for more information. Quite interesting indeed. Linked to said blog post, however, was the Japanese Banquet of Cannibalism. It may be one of the most disturbing things I've heard about. Ever. Although it's not as bad as it sounds. Really. Check it out. Josh, being a pre-med (and as I said before, a zombie-lover), would probably love to eat her. erm, here. editor's note: Josh is not a pre-med. He is a "full blown med" now. my bad.

In Other News...Knitting!

I have begun to work on my bag. Must rip out what I've done to re-size it. See how tiny it is? That's the base of the bag. And when I felt it, it will be about 1/2 the size it is now. Even tinier. Not so good for holding my lunch; and let's face it, I like to eat.

such a tiny, tiny square

So now I begin the task of ripping and restarting. Stay tuned for the exciting results...

I Want This

I have decided that I MUST make this bag. It is the perfect solution to my lunch bag needs (lunch box is too heavy, plastic market bag is too flimsy). I think it might even keep my food cold if I stick an ice pack in there. I have included a picture, just in case you didn't believe me that it MUST be made. I mean, it rules. I would use a different clasp, or maybe just a giant button, but I totally can't wait to get started on it. I would need to get a 16" size 10.5 set of circulars, and possibly some yarn (unless some of my 52-skein-megastash that I bought for $5 would work, I'll have to check), and I may try to make it a little bigger (math skills???), but man...I can't wait to make it! And Michaels is having a sale this week! 25% off bamboo needles! SCORE!

such a good idea. with a different clasp.

In other news, the weather was gorgeous today. 70 degrees and sunny. Took a walk to Yogurt Park with the roommates for some delicious frozen yogurt. I love sunshine. And frozen yogurt.