Monday, April 27, 2009

bag of horses

I made this as a birthday gift for a six year old girl. She loves horses. I wasn't really planning to actually make any gifts but I stumbled across this fabric and thought it was just too cute. I used the basic construction pattern of the Haekelbeutel but instead of granny squares, I did mitered squares. Also, instead of creating each strip from four squares, I used three. I wanted it to be much more petite than the full-on Haekelbeutel was.

Lining this thing was... interesting. I've been hesitating to line my own Haekelbeutel because I'm more than a little intimidated by its odd shape. I started with half a yard of fabric and, after attempting to create the proper shape by pinning the fabric together inside the bag (both were a bust and created a lot of waste) finally came up with something workable on the third. Strangely enough, when I technically made it too big, I was able to make it work. Don't ask. I just don't even know.

The other interesting facet of lining this little monster was I wanted one of the horse scenes to show at the bottom of the bag. A lot of trial pinning and hand-sewing later, Emma's horsey bag lives. It turned out cuter than I expected considering that I was winging 50% of it. I had hoped I could make something else with leftover fabric but-- my scraps were small as I wasted so much in my first two lining attempts.

I ended up cutting out individual horse scenes and sewing them together and stuffing them... why this child would want tiny stuffed horses, I don't know. Anyway, it took a total of maybe ten dollars and six hours to complete this project. I'm proud of it. Emma may look at it sideways but that's okay.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

haekelbeutel

...and I already want to make another one but with mitered squares this time. This was one of the funnest, most interesting patterns I've done in a long time. It will be hard to line though because it has a funny shape-- It's made by assembling squares into strips, the strips assembled into a "+" then attaching all of the edges so it's not exactly square. (But I do plan to attempt a lining.)
This was a free pattern available on Ravelry and found it to be pretty easy. This was the first time for me to make granny squares-- not something I usually like AT ALL but I loved the unusual construction and shape of the bag and the way it creates diamonds and squares within the diamonds.
By the way, Haekelbeutel is German for "crocheted bag." Yup.

Mitered squares (starting in one corner and working out instead of starting in the center and working around) worked into this pattern would be great with variegated yarn Hmmm... Or you could do a mix of different types of squares. As long as they all come out the same size and same number of stitches along the outside edges.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I have maybe three projects to finally finish off then it's time to take on knitting. Who knows, I could totally love it.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

handle-bag: updated

...and here is the latest incarnation of my circle-handle bag. I added the lining-- much needed considering how many loose strands of yarn were on the inside from all the color changes. I'm much happier now. (the voices are finally settling down...)

summer sling

Okay, I found this pattern on Ravelry and made it on a whim. If you sat down and did it all in one sitting, it could be finished in maybe 6 hours so, that's not bad at all. It's already lined and I added a slip stitched edge to clean it up a little where my turns weren't perfect. I'm still trying to decide if I want to add some kind of closure. I briefly considered a zipper but I feel like that should have been done directly before the lining. I'm not thinking about an inside snap or a tab that would wrap over and button.