Ok, so here's the good stuff. Piccies! I'm still getting the hang of this blogging business, so let's see how this works:
Ha! So that's how that works! Anyway, these are the first of my series of "Insane Socks" (and before you ask, yes those are my lovely hairy legs...hairy and proud baby!). They aren't insane to knit, they just tend to alarm people. I love to knit these, just making up patterns as I go - I find it much more exciting than following a pattern. I guess I just have a short attention span. The problem is that if you want to have the second sock the same, it's not as fun to knit, but there you go. I knitted these for my good friend Sam, just for the hell of it.
These socks I knitted for myself, because I always seem to be knitting socks for other people! I went a little more crazy with the colours and the patterns because I didn't have to worry about someone else getting beaten up for wearing freaky socks (I can look after myself).
And these ones I finished just the other day for Halie, another great friend of mine.
So now I've decided I have to stop knitting socks...for a little bit. I just keep going back to them because they're so much fun. But there's a universe of patterns and yarns out there! So the next project is my Andean Skull Bag:
This is a mish-mash of a few things. The basic structure of the bag (with a few minor alterations) comes from Andean Folk Knits by Marcia Lewandowski. Wow I love this book. The patterns are fun, heaps of funky bags, and information about the knitters of the Andes, who are amazing. However, I'm not really a girl for wearing items decorated with llamas and dancing figures, so I went for the Jolly Roger motif - a particular favourite of mine. I stole the above skull pattern from a wonderful skull scarf pattern I found here. I hope the designer doesn't mind too much. I'm no good at designing anything but geometric patterns. Here is another skull pattern I'll be using later on for the pockets and shoulder strap.
I'm knitting this bag in acrylic yarn. This is new for me. I don't like acrylic, I really tend to use natural fibres because they're just so much nicer, friendlier, warmer, softer. They have life. Acrylic has none. Anyway, after debating with myself for a couple of weeks, I decided to use acrylic because a) I'm very poor and b) it's only a bag, it doesn't have to keep me warm, and its not likely to pill like a wearable would. What's more, I thought perhaps it would be stronger. I always put all sorts of crap into my handbag, and I'm sick of bags which fall apart. So there, I've made my excuses.
The changes I've made to the structure itself are mostly minor. A few extra rows and increases here and there to accomodate the Jolly Roger, and the main change which is a shoulder strap. The pattern doesn't include one, but I have to have one, I absolutely HATE carrying a handbag in my hand! So there you go. I'm also considering lining the bag. I don't know yet. I'll try to scan the picture from the book some time to show what it's supposed to look like.
And that is the end of my first real blog entry.
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