A crafty weekend

Woohoo!
Elfines…


Sew? I Knit! bag sew-along – a toothy Amy Butler Rural Messenger Bag…



Ok. First of all, the Elfines. For some reason, I just didn’t enjoy making them as much as I have other socks. The pattern is lovely (they were my first toe-up, and the pattern was really easy to follow), the lace section was beautiful and made it fairly quick in terms of measuring the sock out, the yarn was yummy (beautiful Fyberspates alpaca silk 4ply), and the needles fab (addis of course :D). The overall result is wonderful if I do say so myself, but for some reason, they just didn’t inspire me to work on them. I was determined to finish them though, because of the gift knitting I need to do, which, incidentally, has already begun, and is moving much much faster than I believed possible 😀 Anyway, they are done, and I am very happy. I would still recommend the pattern, and the yarn is just gorgeous to work with, if a little splitty (but I think that was because of using 2mm needles – a large needle would stop that from being a problem). And they are very very very warm and soft. So all is well that ends well.
Second of all, the messenger bag. The pattern was the most complicated I’ve made, but the instructions were pretty good. I had problems in two areas. The first was sewing the side of the bag to the front and back – I was rather worried that I hadn’t cut the strip long enough, but I never realised that the construction method would make the strip fit the way it did. The second was on the purse flap – I’m not sure whether I cut a part too small or too big, but I ended up with a raw edge showing on the inside, which I managed to hide when I sewed the top edge of the bag in the finishing process. I also had a problem half way through with some birdnesting, which took 3 attempts at re-threading the machine (by which time I was beginning to worry about the machine, which is not the newest one in the world). But the overall result I am very happy with, if only because of the fabric 😀 There is enough left to make a small handbag I think, if the pattern is right. I’ll definitely be using Amy Butler patterns again, and this one too in a firmer fabric (mine is a bit flimsy really, but I had to do it! And it was ironed, but the fabric creases really easily, so don’t think the pics of creased bag are me being lazy…).
Finally, my pal has revealed herself, but I won’t tell till she has given me permission… Needless to say I’ve been reading her blog and thoroughly enjoying it, so I hope she lets me reveal her to you 😀