knitorious

Larger Than Life Bag = Larger Than Life Love

LARGER THAN LIFE BAG by Cecily Keim, Interweave Crochet, Spring 2007. Done as part of Cecily's Larger Than Life CAL, with additional inspiration from the Flickr group.

I used Lily Sugar & Cream, 7 or 8 colors from the dishrag stash, mostly leftovers.  Handles are drapery tie-backs found at the fabric store -- an inspired idea that I blatantly stole from Margene.  I bought two maroon and two black, using one of each color per side and staggering them so that a handle is sewn at the corner of each crocheted square -- giving lots of support for this large, heavy, cotton bag.

Going for an old-fashioned granny square look, I bordered each square with a row of single crochet in black and seamed them together (in black), I then worked a row of single crochet around each completed side.

After a failed attempt at crocheting and sewing on the gusset (it was too short), I picked up gusset stitches on one side of the bag with a long, circular needle and knit in garter stitch for 3 inches or so. I then picked up and knit the same number of stitches around the other side, and worked a three-needle bind-off to join the two sides together. Voila!

The fabrics for the double lining are upholstery and drapery remnants, chosen with the aid of my lovely daughter Alison, and they couldn't be more perfect.  I shudder to think what I was considering and what I might have brought home without Ali's keen eye.

At this point, it's just an open tote -- no zipper, snaps or buttons.  I'm going to use it for a little while and decide what (if anything) I'd like to do.

I got bogged down with the finishing -- as is the case with almost any project -- but I love this bag. I have not tired of the squares and the colors make me happy.

* * * * * *

Oh, now I don't remember where I found this:  CNN Favorite Pastimes survey -- Knitters, represent!

Almost...

If you've never cleaned or oiled your sewing machine yourself -- never gave a thought to cleaning or oiling except when it's suggested by the guy at the sewing machine shop when it's taken in for repair -- do it.  My machine is not used that much, and it's been several years since it was in for repair/cleaning/oiling, and I can't believe how much dusty, dirty lint was packed in around the feed dogs after I removed the plate!  The machine came with a couple of small screwdrivers, but I've long since lost the brush (not because of over-use), so I borrowed a couple of DH's stiffer paintbrushes.  I bought sewing machine oil (cheap, cheap, cheap compared to the repair/cleaning/oiling!) the last time I was at Hancock's... and I must admit, I've had my machine for over 20 years and I never knew that those three small plastic holey things on the top of the machine were actually oil ports.  It was all right there in the manual.  I also "checked under the hood" and oiled the specified points in there, too.  Thank you, Julia, for the tips!

Have you joined Sandy's Saturday Sky Flickr group yet?  If you're Ravel-rousing -- or anticipate getting your Ravelry invite soon -- then you've no doubt got a Flickr account, so why not add a "Saturday Sky" set while you're at it?  This afternoon, I was... Doo doo doo, Lookin' out my back door!

I caught a bug in this photo -- just coming into the frame on the right.  I didn't even see it 'til I got it up on the computer.  The camera was set on "Burst 3," so it took three photos, one right after the other -- this is the first of the three and the only one with the fast-traveling bug.

It was a gorgeous day here -- simply gorgeous.  We did not go to Algoma, but instead to the farmers' market with a few other stops here and there.  Mom wasn't able to go, but we picked up some strawberries and radishes for her.  We grilled hamburgers (from grass-fed cows) and fresh zucchini and dined al fresco in the pergola tonight.  Yum.

One reason for the al fresco dining is because the sewing machine is set up on the dining table.  I am all but finished with the Larger Than Life Bag!  I broke a couple of needles before I was completely finished, though, and I don't have any heavy-duty ones left, so it's going to have to wait.  In the end, I did not apply anything to the lightweight fabric because what I had was not iron-on, as I thought (or I screwed up, whatever) and because of that, I didn't add any pockets or anything.  I totally stole Margene's drapery tie-back idea.  I bought four -- two maroon and two black -- there's one of each color on each side and I'm sewing them so that there will be as much support for the bag as possible.  Since I made it in cotton rather than wool, it's a bit heavy.  ; )  I'll post the low-down when I'm completely finished... shouldn't be long now.

Ready to sew

We probably have a half-dozen different varieties of iris -- most came with the house and some we were given.  I don't think we've ever purchased any, at least not from a nursery.  I can't pick a favorite -- there are things I like about each one -- it's the daintiness of the blue flag, the veined maroon and golden yellow color combo of the other.

Except for weaving in some ends, I've finished the crocheting/knitting portion of the Larger Than Life Bag!

I made the garter stitch gusset just over three inches wide -- the squares are roughly six inches each and I liked that proportion; I thought that four would be too wide.

Because of the way I picked up the stitches on the first side -- from the wrong side so that the single crochet stitch made a little ridge (or corner) -- the only way I could think to join the two and have the same ridge stitch/corner was to also pick up stitches along the second side, and then three-needle it all together.  I did one side at a time, as I was flyin' a little bit blind, but it was worth the fiddlin' (and a little bit of rippin') because I love how it turned out.

I'll be able to fire up the sewing machine!  My goal for this four-day weekend, at minimum, is to have this bag all finished!!

With a little help...

I had a great day with Ali yesterday.  I delivered her vanity and a few other things, and saw her apartment (she has a nice, big room), and then we dropped off her car for new tires and went out to lunch -- her choice.  First, we made a stop at Radio Shack -- I needed a new battery for my cordless phone (ack, it cut me off during a conversation with DAD the other day) and a headset so I can knit or crochet or clean... knit or crochet while I talk on the phone!

After lunch, we skipped over to a nearby Goodwill where I scored an old Steve Martin album and a book, and Ali found a couple of pairs of pants for work and a few little things for the apartment (cleaning stuff!).  Hancock Fabrics was also close and I was so happy to have an able assistant to choose fabric for lining my Larger Than Life Bag!

I didn't have the bag with me for color matching and I didn't have the pattern for yardage requirements (so my yardage is... um, let's say... very healthy), and thank goodness for Ali and her artist's eye.  I think she's only seen these squares a few times on the blog!  I was not so sure about these choices and I kept asking, "Are you sure this wouldn't be better?  How about this?"  She was nice, but firm, replying, "THAT??  In THOSE colors?" in a way that came through loud a clear, and was later rewarded with some flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth stuff that caught her eye.

Isn't it perfect?  I'm so excited to finish now!!  The dark stripe will be the outside of the lining and the lighter stripe will be the inside of the lining.  Yeah.  Let's see if I can pull that off.  And I'd also like pockets.

We picked up Ali's car and it's insane how happy we were about new tires.  I'd been talking with a nice guy at the tire place on the phone a few times -- checking options, making the appointment -- and he happened to be the one to handle our paperwork in the end.  Turned out he was young and cute and I think my daughter knocked his socks off -- well, actually, she left him speechless.  I swear.  He was telling us something terribly important (I'm sure) about the tires, blahblahblah, looked at Ali and totally lost it -- admitted that he couldn't remember what he was saying!  Too funny.  I love this stuff -- life is never dull.

Ali zipped off to work and I had a few minutes to spare before I had to pick up Maddy -- not enough to first go home -- so I did the only thing I could do and made a stop at Iris, my LYS.  I picked up a few skeins of worsted -- some 220 and Lamb's Pride to go with the Galway -- to work out the HEX, and I chatted with the owner.  She told me about a Master Knitter Interest Group they're starting and this might be It.  I recently read about Marlene's fabulous success in passing Level I on the first go -- and this has just been on my mind almost since I began blogging.

I'm glad y'all see the humor in the words we pick up and use -- even at a young age, even when we don't really know what we're saying, even when those words really aren't part of everyday language.  Honestly, my sister and her family do not F-this and F-that all the time, nor do I, but kids just seem to pick up on all that stuff that's bad in no time -- like cussing and candy!  There were some caramels on the table the other day -- Mack had never seen them before, but somehow he just knew... "I want that!"

Back in black

well I'm back in black
yes I'm back in black
back in the back of a Cadillac

--excerpt from Back In Black, AC/DC

Last night, while stars danced before my eyes, all the various methods for joining crocheted squares became clear when I actually consulted a reference book -- and not a single one was anything like the foggy vision in my mind.  It seems the best way to achieve a black border around each square is to... crochet a black border around each square!

Play me

You are the sun
I am the moon
You are the words
I am the tune
*Crochet* me

--"Play Me" -- okay, a play on "Play Me,
with apologies to Neil Diamond

I've finished hooking all the Larger Than Life squares and have ends to weave in yet on about five.  I've been weaving in all along so I wouldn't feel as daunted by the ends in the end.

Color selection was more or less random for each square, except that there are two squares bordered in each color, and roughly two with the same color in the center and ditto for the "middle color", but there was no rhyme or reason to the combinations and so no two squares are exactly alike.

I'm going to use black for the joining and I want some of it visible between the squares -- reminiscent of the granny square afghans that my grandmothers might have made -- so slightly different than the pattern as-written -- and I have never crocheted anything to anything in a manner meant to be seen like that, so this is where I really learn something new.

I could not find the pale yellow I needed -- Sugar & Cream in any color or quantity seems mighty scarce in these parts -- so I ripped the edging off the one square I'd already done in that color and re-did it and another in off-white instead.

Last night I was reading my email and came across Cara's comment and *doink* how could I have forgotten the "Cease and Desist" letter that she got last December from the fancy schmancy sweeps lawyers, warning against using the two trademarked words that when put together mean "award tour" or "booty beat" or "present parade" -- the same words that we'd both used to title posts?  I heeded her warning, of course, and changed the title, made an addendum to my post.

It was frosting on the litigious lemon cake when DH came home, about an hour later, from a meeting of the creative minds at the co-operative gallery to which he belongs with news of a similar letter, though this from fancy schmancy lawyers of another sort, received by said gallery and accompanied by a screenshot of a post from this very blog.  I attended an art opening last month and posted pictures here, including one of an old candy machine, a permanent fixture in the gallery, which had been repurposed as and for art.  Uh-oh.  I had a comment to that post, too, which led to some editorial changes.

I have no problem with trademarks, copyrights or the law in general.  You know what?  I'm all for protecting creative property and rights and such.  I get it.  I'm married to an artist, I know how it feels to have shit ripped off -- the very shit you're trying to sell to make a living to provide for your family.  I do have other problems, though they're mostly to do with my own opinion about the purpose of things and their inspiration, and about things being particularly or singularly creative -- slippery, subjective slopes in my mind -- or that have possibly become, let's say, part of the vernacular.

In other news -- revolving door news (see also: emotional and hormonal issues; also parenting):  Ali will not be moving home except for this weekend (school's out for the summer on Friday!) and maybe for a little bit at the end of summer (more like early fall).  And, in addition to Seattle, North Carolina is also on her map of relocation possibilities.  Cluck, cluck.

Welcome to Squaresville

A square by any other is a horse with no name of a different color.

Or my mom and dad, ca. 1969-1973.

I kind of miss seeing Cara's mitered squares everyday, don't you?  A daily dose of madness never hurt anyone.

It's a good thing I started the "Tote My Granny Along" so I could make and post my own colorful squares everyday!  They're not nearly as inspired, nor am I as nuts single-minded and obsessed driven, but they are quick and colorful and fun to play with!

I tried the dustier pink and it's WAY too Pepto.  Can't have that!  The first and only time I ever took Pepto Bismol, I "got sick" anyway and, well, I'm not going to paint a picture -- you already know the predominant color.  I can't have Pepto in my purse!  The Sugar & Cream palette is rather limited in solids and there's only one other solid pink left to try -- a soft, baby pink.  If that doesn't work, I may have to echo Nova and "ix-nay on the ink-pay" altogether.

I'm using different yarn than specified, of course, but the same size hook and my squares are turning out a little smaller than written.  That's actually a good thing because that bag is HUGE -- which is fine for a tote but I think I might want to use this as my go-to bag this summer.

It all continues to evolve.

Tomorrow morning I'll be knitting again (seems like ages) in Joan McGowan-Michael's "Vintage Knitting" with class at the Spring Midwest Master's Seminar!  There isn't any homework for that class, so I just need to show up with needles and yarn!

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

No pink!

My most recently finished square -- purple, lime green and maroon -- is my new favorite and it's shaken everything up!  One thing is clear...

The pink must go!!  The smaller, unifinished, two-color square was bordered in pink, but I've already ripped it off and will re-do it in another color.  I have another, more dusty pink that I might use instead... or maybe a different color altogether.  I really thought the bright pink would complement or balance the lime green, but it's just too hot.  This is turning out to be a little bit of a trial-and-error project -- and I love it!

Early yesterday morning I tried to roll over from my right side to my left and was jolted awake by a very sharp pain in my right shoulder.  Now, I have aches and pains everyday, it's just a matter of degrees, and I've learned to manage things pretty well.  For over 20 years, I've had carpal tunnel-ish wrist problems, and tennis elbow-ish elbow problems, and various neck/shoulder/upper back/lower back aches; I know to expect a bit of stiffness, that my hand and arm may feel a little numb or tingle on occasion, sometimes at night, I also know when to back off, when to stretch and when it's time for medication.

The sharp pain is disconcerting.  Not being able to raise your arm over your head is disconcerting.  It is much better today -- I can actually do a lame sort of windmill -- and I think it was mostly the result of sleeping on it wrong (though how that happens after 48+ years of practice -- something I do at least once every 24-hour period -- is beyond me), but I think the crocheting -- and perhaps especially crocheting with cotton -- have a featured role.  I sit differently when I crochet, definitely have a lot more wrist action going on than when knitting, and I think I may use my shoulder more -- or differently.  It's a whole different thing.  I took a lot of breaks last night to stretch and will continue to be careful, but I probably won't go too far in the hooking business.

Thank you for all the wonderful encouragement, advice, support and understanding in regards to my little chickies stretching their wings and flying the coop.  I've had some trial runs with this, taking Katie to school in California, sending her off for a semester of study in England -- heartbreaking (mine), clucking at full volume, feathers flying -- but the "school" part gave those a different spin.  Actually, I think I do most of my freaking out on the inside -- or here on the blog -- I don't really freak out much on the outside... too much... I don't think I do.  Well, maybe a little.  I do try to project confidence in their reasoning, decisions and abilities, I attempt to gently guide them, if needed, and especially keep communication open, keep a level head.

I especially smiled when it was suggested that perhaps friendly knitters in Seattle could be enlisted to keep a watchful eye -- because don't think for a second that I didn't bring that up within two minutes!!  I've told them all that I know people EVERYWHERE!!  And isn't that just the most amazing thing?  I couldn't say that when I took Katie to college in California -- if that trip were made today, you can bet I'd be stopping in SLC to see Margene and the Utah Grrls instead of just filling up my gas tank, visiting with Birdsong as we traversed the hills because we could have made it "on the way."  It's incredible -- one of those times that truly blows my mind, when I realize what a wonderful myriad we are -- all as a result of blogging about our knitting and other important things.