knitwise

Blue June

  June Project Spectrum is blue and here is my modest contribution for this month. 

I was in need of a new wash bag for the bathroom + I had a few fish buttons and blue beads crying out to be used + a couple of hours spare time = mission accomplished for June.

I might have found a pattern for my cotton glace top and I am happily working on it at the moment.  I'll wait to see if it  fits the bill before I say more about it...

What to knit?

Now that the summer is finally here... maybe to stay for a while,  I am torn between sewing and knitting.   For me,  Winter calls for longer projects made lovingly during those dark evenings which seem to last forever...  But Summer calls for small and quick projects as if my hands suddenly want to work at double their speed!

I have picked up my shawl today (as it was a bit cooler) but only managed a couple of rows over half an hour! (there are rather a lot of stitches now...)  Wanting more action, I dived into my fabric stash and an hour later I had my June Project Spectrum almost completed (only because I have got to buy some ribbon to finish it off)!

I am now looking for a suitable "Summer" knitting project to occupy my hands.  I had to frog my de-stashing project which didn't turn out right.  So, I am leafing through my knitting magazines for a "quick" summer top which will use my Cotton Glace... Then I thought of my oldest best friend who will be celebrating her 50th birthday in September and the idea came to me that I could make her a slightly different version of my Victoria bag (still got enough Phildar Sport'Laine).  Now that I have got those two ideas in mind,  I have got to decide which one to go for...

On its way...

This is my contribution to The big Bag Swap and it is on its way to its new owner at this very moment...  I hope she will like it! 

As I have said previously,  things didn't go exactly according to plan,  and there has been a slight moment of panic when I messed up with the original idea and had to re-think...  My fault entirely for choosing a fabric unsuitable for the pattern...  I took a good look in my stash and found another fabric, and decided to improvise, praying for the Gods to be on my side this time...

In  her questionnaire, my bag pal's  preferences went for natural tones and her favourite colour: blue.  She wanted also something not too fancy.  So I made the shape of the bag fairly simple and only added buttons and those fabric flowers for which I must thank Blair for her wonderful tutorial.  The fabric for the flowers is the same as the lining of the bag.

Now it is my turn to wait impatiently for the postman...

Progress...

I have just finished my bag for the Big Bag Swap and now have to wrap it up nicely to send it next week to my bag pal.  Once I know she has received it, I'll post a picture for you.  I had to change my original plan as the fabric I had chosen wasn't the easiest to work with.   In other words,  I messed it up completely.  At the end,  I even changed the shape I had planned to do,  and made my own version.  I showed it around the house and I got the thumbs up from everyone so I guess it must be OK...

At the moment I am working on a de-stashing project,  using Rowan Cotton Glace  and  it is growing very nicely and quickly,  so maybe another FO to show in a little while...

Now that we are in June,  I must think of something blue for Project Spectrum too.  No concrete idea yet,  but I am sure something will come up...  Knitting is a great way to let the mind wander of its own,  so I'll carry on with my Cotton Glace until the little light bulb in my head lights up...

Sunday Evening...

Sunday evening!  The children are asleep in their beds,  peace and quiet have descended over the house.  The holidays are over and it is back to school tomorrow...  I am back in business...

First of all a huge thanks to Amelia for converting my plain pattern into a pdf document.  I really do appreciate your help, Amelia.  I hope you have a super time in Montpellier soon with your Mum!

I have to show you what the postman also brought me this week. 

First, I swapped some books with Milouson for those beautiful fabrics which come right on time for a project I am working on at the moment (part of the de-stashing plan...) Thank you so much for this great swap, Milouson!

Then, I received this from Suzi:  some lovely German craft magazines and a piece of some beautiful old cotton sheet to "practise" embroidery.  This material is too nice for practise run,  it deserves better!  Once again, thank you Suzi for your generosity!

No pictures of my work as nothing is finished.  The shool holidays and extra hours at work took care of my time this past week,  but things are progressing...