09.09.09
Sept Knitting Update
I just popped into my blog today and found that Wordpress must have updated their program. So I’m going to have to learn to navigate it again, ugh (I’m not a great computer person, so I tend to struggle with this. . . ) I generally find my knitting updates the easiest to post, so decided to update my yarn projects while I figure out Wordpress’s new format. This weekend I decided to work up the purse kit I got from Suss Designs. Here’s the contents of the kit. 
I noticed that the level listed on the card is “beginner,” but the experience level listed on the instructions is “intermediate,” heheh. Regardless, it is a pretty straight forward pattern and a good beginner project. While the overall purse is a very simple knit stitch, I can see why the instructions calls for intermediate skills because of the sewing for the lining and also for the crocheted flower. However, I decided to make a different flower and attach it with a pin, which I’ll show on the completed purse. Here’s the beginning step of this project. 
I found that I didn’t have to wind the hand up into a ball. I could just unwind it and knit along the way and when I wanted to take a break, I could just twist up the hank again to keep it orderly. After I finished knitting the bag portion of the purse, I folded it, sewed the sides together and then sewed the handles on. Here’s a pic with one of the handles attached along with the lining I picked out from my fabric stash. 
The instruction said to knit the bag longer, but I wanted to make it look more like the picture, so I stopped knitting and the hank above is what was left over with the yarn. Seems I could almost make another purse with that. . . After I sewed the handles on, I sewed in the lining. It was kind of hard to get a good picture of the inside of the bag to show the lining, but this is what I got. 
Then I decided to work on the flower. As I mentioned, I didn’t quite like the flower on the pattern because I’m making this as a present for my mom, and that flower just didn’t look like my mom’s style. So I found a flower pattern from Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Flowers book. Here’s what the flower looked like in progress. 
Here’s what it looked like completely assembled. I still needed to sew it onto the pin here. I decided to sew it onto a pin instead of directly onto the purse in case my mom wanted to remove the flower. If she likes it and wants me to, I can sew it directly to the purse later. 
Okay, now that I’ve gotten this far into the post, I can say that the upgrade Wordpress made sure makes it easier to attach pictures! So I think I’m liking this new feature so far. 
So moving right along, here’s the completed purse. I put a picture of the kit purse for comparison. I like my flower better, heheh. And since it’s on a pin, it can be moved to different spots on the purse. 
By the way, the flower in the kit calls for crochet, but I used a knitted flower pattern. I know there are many cute crochet flowers, so that’s definitely an option for more interchangeable flowers. The other project I finished recently is a pair of socks for Andrew. Here it is in progress. 
And here it is completed with Aaron modeling them for me. 
The yarn I used was Sock-Ease by Lion Brand. One ball makes a pair and the color is #202. I guess they don’t give it a name because it has mixed colors? Oh well, it’s the first time I’ve used this yarn, and I think it works up nicely and is nice to work with. I would like to try some of their other colors in this yarn.
Welp, that’s all folks. The fires are not quite out yet, but getting contained and less smoke around. I was shocked to see Halloween decorations or advertisements out already, then I realized that it’s already September, oye. . . It’s amazing how fast time flies by! No time to slack!
Marlakins
