A little more eye candy…

Ok, so I have lots more pics today 😀 I figured it was about time I showed you some of the things I got for Christmas, and a couple of projects I’m working on too. If I show you them, I have to finish them. Do you see?
Ok, so the Christmas pressie things are the knitting things I’ve already told you about – the Namaste Jetsetter bag, and the yarn swift. Here’s the bag.

I don’t think you get quite a full idea of the size of the bag from this photo, but it is big. When I came home to find the box on the couch, the box was the same size as the couch cushion. The bag is a little smaller than an armchair ;D but I can say that right now it is sat on the armchair and is almost as wide as the seat. To give you a bit more of the scale and capacity of the bag, here’s another pic:

Inside there is a copy of Last Minute Knitted gifts, the knitting so far on the Hourglass sweater (about 8.5 inches in the second to largest size, the worlds biggest purse (you can’t see it, but it is in the zipped pocket), my mobile, acidophelus capsules and other equally embarrassing emergency tummy kit items, plus my Harvey Nicks mints (they have a mirror in the case! Yay!), and you can see there is room for more. I would like to point out that the strap isn’t long enough to go over the book, but it gives you an idea of how big the inside is.
I love my bag. I’m hoping that I don’t experience some of the problems other owners have had with handles coming off, and I know that scratches and colour scrapes are kind of inevitable from the many, many, MANY other bags I’ve purchased in the past. Nothing a bit of cleaner and a felt pen wouldn’t fix 😉 But I really do love everything about this bag – the handles are the right length to carry in the hand or on the shoulder, the clasp is magnetic, the pockets inside are numerous (3 stitched inside pockets on each half of the back – one side elasticated, one side plain – I use the elasticated for my phone and knitting bits, and the plain for my work ID card and keys and stuff like that), the zipped pocket in the centre doesn’t seem to catch on the knitting or yarn I carry, and I’ve had plenty of compliments on it. Yum.
Next up, the swift.

This is, quite simply, the best thing I have ever bought. I don’t know how I managed without one before now. Before purchasing, on a good day I might wind a heavier yarn in about 30-40mins. Lighter ones I’d need an hour for. This one wound a dk skein of 300m in 10 mins (with ballwinder obviously!) 😀 Someone tell me why I didn’t buy one sooner?! Woot! I am soooo happy I invested in this now 😀 No more skeins falling off the back of a chair and tangling. No more farting about for hours and losing valuable knitting time. Yay!
And next to it? That is my new wedding shawl attempt. PotW was coming out a little too slim for my liking for a wrap, and given that I couldn’t guarentee how it would work out after blocking, I’ve set it aside, and started a new wrap that I think will work out really well.

This is Sarcelle from Knitters Anonymous, as if you didn’t know. It doesn’t look very big right now, but I just have one set of increases left before the main body of the wrap, and the edges are about 8 inches long right now, so it is moving quite fast now I’ve learnt the pattern more. I’ve got 4 weeks to make this and block it, so if the increases are finished by the end of today, that means getting about 1/3 of the way through the wrap by the end of the week… Keep in mind that I’ve only really worked on this properly about 3 days this week or something, with no knitting at lunchtime at all, so I might be able to do it. And the pattern is really flexible on length, so if I get to the week before the wedding and haven’t quite done what the pattern wants, I can just start the decreases early. And decreases always seem quicker than increases, because you know you are nearly done. The yarn is Jaggerspun Zephyr in Elderberry, and is more purple than in the pic, which seems to think it is blue… The yarn so far is lovely and soft and buttery, but occassionally splitty, although that’s probably down to me using Addis. For this project though, Addis are fine – it isn’t complicated or hard, and it is almost, *almost* tv knitting. If the tv you are watching isn’t something you have to look at or focus on all the time (e.g. Friends) you can easily work on this. Don’t go watching any foreign language subtitled films and start complaining to me though.
Lastly, a photo I found on the camera which I thought I’d put up for the sake of it 😀
Remember I said I’d gone to Coldspring with DB’s mum on the way back from theirs over Christmas? I think I said that anyway… I made one purchase, in spite of craving a large quantity of sock yarn, handspun hand dyed chunky yarns, Debbie Bliss discounted stuff and gorgeous 100% wool chunky stuff that still smelt like it had just come off the back of a sheep. DB’s mum bought some gorgeous gorgeous stuff, much of it for charity knitting for hats and jumpers and stuff. I knew that if I did that, my bank would hate me, and my stash would shout at me and ask why I didn’t just use it up instead and send nice things off to charity (thanks to Dee at Posh Yarn, I’ve found a pattern that makes fingerless gloves with only 35g of sock yarn, which could be good for the homeless or to send to Romania in the shoebox schemes – if I have enough I can make full gloves! If not, great. Still looking for somewhere locally that wants preemie stuff though…). But I did buy some yarn to help me stashbust. Ages and ages ago I bought some Elsebeth Lavold Chunky Alpaca in a lovely mid green. Then I realised that 10 balls doesn’t really make a jumper, so I ummd and ahhhd about whether to do a sleeveless tank or something. When we went over the holidays, I found some more of the same yarn in an earthy brown, and the brain started to function and everything. I bought it (half the full price may I add), and cast on almost straight away for a stripey chunky ala Sesame. Suddenly I feel like I’ve said all this before. What the hell 😀 But anyway, I have a front and a back done, and they only took about 3 days to knit. It could have been finished by now, but I have other things to worry about. And I have no idea what buttons to get to use on it…

Doesn’t look too exciting right now, but the yarn, while hairy, is warm and soft and it will make a good comfy lazy cardi. Yeah, I know stripes and chunky yarn might not be the best thing for a gal of my kind, but I don’t care, so yah boo sucks to you. There will be quite a lot left over – enough for a smaller stripey jumper, which might be good for the bride to be, Sue to play with. I’ve already suggested that to her, and if she wants it, I’ll suggest a swap or something. Either that or I’ll make something for someone else as a gifty thing.
Oh, and the knitting for x hours on x projects is working. I’ve done the thumb on the gloves, which surely wouldn’t have happened otherwise. They could be finished by the end of the week. Which means I’ll actually have to start those chunky green socks for the guy at work too :S I’ll be glad to get this monkey of my back though.
More updates next weekend probably, seeing as the weather – gales, rain hammering down etc – means that the light is still as bad as it was at the shortest day :/ But at least it feels like winter. Apparently we’ve had nights as warm as in July this winter. I’d like whoever said that to come and stay here and spend the night in the garden and say that again… It has been warmer sometimes thanks to a lot of cloud cover, but this is no July, and there has been sleet and snow which never settled thanks to the rain. Oh, and if you are cold in your area, make a Clapotis – it has been my saving grace in the wind and the rain this year. Hoorah!