Free Pattern - Summer Bracelet Bag

This handy-dandy little bag is perfect for going out on a hot summer evening when you don't want to lug a big purse around or carry your beloved Felted Bracelet Bag. It's also a nice gift, and takes 2-3 hours from start to finish.

Summer Bracelet Bag

Yarn: Knitpicks CotLin (less than one ball; possibly two bags could be made from one ball)
Needles: Size 3 circulars or straights
Notions: tapestry needle, two thin bangle bracelets

Half linen stitch

Row 1: sl1, *sl1 wyif, K1
Row 2: sl1, Purl to end
Row 3: sl1, k1, *sl1 wyif, K1*, end K1
Row 4: sl1, Purl to end

Cast on 29 stitches. Work half-linen stitch for 3 1/2 inches, or until desired length, ending with a wrong-side row.

Decrease rows: sl1, ssk, ssk, work in pattern until the last five stitches, end k2tog, k2tog, k1. Work wrong side as usual. Repeat these two rows until 7 stitches are left.

Final decrease and bracelet tab:

(wrong side) sl1 p2tog, p1, p2tog, p1
Work 4 rows in stockinette.
Bind off these stitches.

Make two. Seam bottoms of pieces together. Seam sides up to the beginning of decreases to leave an opening at the top. Place bracelet against each tab and sew securely.

The Holiday Craziness begins!

I'm not doing much gift knitting this year. A few small things, really. But a friend and I decided to trade crafts this winter. So I made a bunch of bracelet bags, and I got a supply of handpainted gourd Santas, snowmen, and ornaments. This idea came about when she saw my little black bracelet bag that I use for going out when my big giant purse isn't needed. But several of her gift recipients live in Florida, where a heavy felted bag isn't exactly the thing, so I came up with a pattern using smaller needles, cotton/linen yarn in a nice stitch pattern, and thin bangles. I made them the exact size to hold an iPhone, your ID and money, and maybe a key.

Here is the full array:

And the felted bags:


And the not-felted bags:


I was really pleased all around. The bracelets came primarily from eBay, an awesome source for mismatched/vintage bangle bracelets. The thin bangles for the cotton/linen bags came from amazon.com.

Felted Bracelet Bags Details:
Pattern: From Crazy Aunt Purl
Needles: Size 13
Yarn: Mostly Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky leftovers (the pink is Worsted, held doubled) with KFI Dazzle (sadly discontinued)
Notes: These work up in maybe two hours. Less, probably. Lamb's Pride goes crazy furry when it's felted, so I trimmed the excess with sharp scissors. The bracelets are from eBay, and I like the fun, mismatched look. I love this pattern, and the bags are fun and unique. I really love Laurie's patterns, which she calls recipes. This would be an easy felting project for a beginner because she spells out every step (with pictures!) and makes everything very clear.

Cotton/Linen Bags Details:
Pattern: My own. I used the idea of a bag on bracelets from the felted version, but changed the stitch pattern, gauge, direction of knitting, etc. It is right here!
Needles: Size 4
Yarn: Knitpicks CotLin (I think I could get two bags out of each ball, but it could be close.
Notes: I was really happy with how this turned out. It's a lighter version of the felted bag, nice for summer. I think this would be a really fun gift for the girls on your list. Each took about 2-3 hours.

Other knitting: I have some little things to finish before Christmas. Hjalte is clicking along on the front, which surprises me. It seems to be going faster than the back.

Reading: I just started Room With A Clue by Kate Kingsbury, the first in her Pennyfoot Hotel series, and it's a blast. Very Upstairs/Downstairs or Gosford Park.

Writing: Hmph.

Cooking: Lots of fall cooking, and lots of Lilah Bug Bakes products. I have apple butter, Pears in Bittersweet Chocolate, and Pears in Pinot Noir available.

Geez, is it November?

It must be, because we've already had Halloween:
And it's getting chilly enough for Lilah's hat and mittens (which she loves):

And I am still knitting scarves:

And my word, I have finished the back of Hjalte!



Lilah went as a black cat for Halloween, and I decided to make her a Kittyville Hat to top off her costume. How fun! I don't think it took me more than 2-3 hours. I cast on 76 stitches instead of 84, then decreased 4 on the first stockinette round to have a multiple of 12. I tried it on her as I decreased, so I didn't do as many rows for her smaller head. I definitely didn't do 4 plain rows between each decrease row. Anyway, a fun little pattern, and very cute. I don't do pompoms, though. Or bobbles, for that matter.

My Lace Ribbon Scarf is getting longer and longer. This is my purse knitting, and gets worked on mainly in the car or at the playground while Lilah runs out toddler energy. And I am so relieved to have seen the back of the back of Hjalte (hee!). But now I have to do almost the same thing again so there's a front. Argh. This is the neverending sweater.

Reading: I have been in a Harry Potter re-reading slump. In fact, I've done a lot of re-reading this year. I think in 2008, I read over 200 books, and I'm barely over 100 for 2009. I am starting the Enola Holmes mysteries (a juvenile series featuring the sister of Sherlock), and then I'll shift into literary fiction.

Writing: Argh.

Cooking: Oh, my, yes. Lots of improvisational pasta. Batches and batches of apple butter, which you can purchase at Lilah Bug Bakes. I've made a spent grain bread from fermented apple starter, and lots of butternut squash stuff. And sweet potatoes. And I've conquered my fear of kale. If I remember the specific things I meant to post about, I'll do it next week :)

So it's really autumn now...

It's a rainy, rainy day, so pictures today are not great. Still, I finished something! And it hasn't been a month since I last posted, a bonus!




Pattern: Love Bites Scarf from Gherkin's Bucket
Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Archangel (one skein)
Needles: Size 5

Notes: This pattern is fun and easy. I sometimes forgot it was time for a fang mark row, so they're not as evenly spaced as they could be. Whatever. My chosen yarn doesn't really fit the vampire theme, colorwise, but who cares. I love the yarn, which is soft and squooshy and subtly shifts from one gorgeous autumn-ish color to the next. The indoor photos really don't do it justice. I really like this scarf, and it'll get a lot of wear. It came off the needles in a tube, but a quick steam-ironing* flattened it nicely.

*I bought the ironing board in summer 2007 when we moved here...and just took it out of the shrink wrap today to block the scarf. Stuff like this is why I don't put "housewife" as my occupation when I fill out forms. I'm pretty sure real housewives iron. I usually put "woman of mystery."

Other knitting: I started a Lace Ribbon Scarf in Misti Alpaca. I'm making it a bit narrower, eliminating two lace repeats.



Hjalte is still going...slowly...

Reading: Mostly Harry Potter re-reading. I did read part of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for book club. I'm not as into it as I expected. I love quirk, but odd things bugged me. Like, I was fine with Lizzy and her sisters being trained in zombie combat. But at other bits, I would get mad and say "Lizzy would never say that to Mr. Collins! It's just too rude!"

Writing: Not really.

Cooking: Oh, yes! First, last weekend was Lakefest, and I sold jam there. A lot of jam. Over 70 jars. I still have some stock, but a lot of my flavors are completely sold out. I rescued a jar each of my favorites for personal consumption. The best part for me was when the flavors I had out for sampling would sell quickly. Talk about validating. It's also fun to watch people's reactions when they try them. One woman said, "That's so good it'll make you want to slap your grandma!" How much fun is that? I still have apple butter and pear sauces to make this fall - I think apple picking might happen this week.

I made a nice on-the-fly pasta with fennel, onions, eggplant, yellow squash, and crushed tomatoes. I used lemon zest, crushed red pepper, and thyme from the garden to season. I think the squash was unnecessary, but the fennel/eggplant combination with those seasonings was really bright and fresh, but with depth.

I tackled the Dobos Torta from my Kaffeehaus cookbook and really enjoyed it. It involves making six thin layers of cake by spreading batter on parchment paper in circles, buttercream spread between the layers, and a caramel layer on top. It was a bit humid for caramel, but it worked out all right. I brought it to book club, planning to bring half back home to feed my in-laws, but the hostess's dog ate the other half. Since it took four hours to make, that was sort of tragic. I don't think of myself as good at the fiddly, cosmetic parts of pastry chef-ing, but I thought this looked pretty nice:

And now it's autumn!

Let the sweater panic begin! Will Hjalte be ready for cold weather? Will I fix my Simple Knitted Bodice in time? Do I have a prayer of casting on for Twist and Shout, much less finishing?

I *did* go shopping for layering shirts, and found a camisole to go under Simple Knitted Bodice and a couple of thin, long-sleeved t-shirts to go under short-sleeved things. Amy, I have to say, I am SO glad I'm not the only one who waits for the trends established by the fourteen-year-olds to be widespread before jumping on board. I'm going with grey underneath the Somewhat Cowl. And I really think the white tank is fine under Marie Louise. BUT. I did some blocking of sweaters, and I blocked the HELL out of Simple Knitted Bodice (I counted it as 20 minutes of cardio, seriously), but it is still too short and too snug across the bust. Here's what I'm thinking, though. Instead of ripping out and starting over (which I considered, actually), I'm thinking I could salvage the sleeves up to the armpits and put them on a holder AND maybe even save the below-the-bust part of the body. To make this wearable for me, I need more length below the waist detail AND more length above the waist detail. So I'm almost thinking I can remove the sleeves and set them aside, then rip out to just above the waist detail and set the bottom part aside. Then re-knit the top part and put the sleeves and body back on, rip out the very bottom edge and knit it longer. Does that sound insane? I really, really like this yarn and this sweater; otherwise, I would never consider re-knitting any part of it. It'd just go in the closet with the other sweaters I don't like. I'm not sure if it would be better to just start over...it's not like it's a tough knit, and it went pretty quickly the first time. It's just that I have Hjalte and Twist and Shout and I'm not sure I want to add an entire sweater plus ripping-out time to the mix. If I do the rip-out-in-pieces strategy, I will do photodocumentation!

I keep going on the Malabrigo scarf, which I love. Perfect purse knitting. And Hjalte is ALMOST to the armholes. Did I say that last time? This sweater may be the death of me...

Reading; I have to stop re-reading HP and get to some other stuff. I have Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for book club, two books coming out this winter to review, and a backlog of review copies. Plus the new 39 Clues and the latest Bobbie Faye :) I am on Book 4 right now, and every time I read it, I can tell more that Rowling was tired and on a tight deadline. The main plot twist drives me NUTS and it's so long and rambling and the subplots are out of control. It's still a Harry Potter book, so it's fun, but it's my least favorite of the series.

Writing: Not much at all, really. Matt was out of town, and being the only parent is tiring.

Cooking: Ah, Amy, Romesco Sauce! Yum. This is a Spanish sauce based on stale bread, almonds, and roasted red peppers traditionally served in the Catalonian region in the spring with charred baby leeks (yeah, I know weird stuff). It is delicious. I really ate some with a spoon one day. It was nice with polenta wedges. Camping food was pretty funny - most people think S'mores and hot dogs on sticks, but we're a gourmet book club, so even camping we had fancy stuff. The group in charge of making dinner made carrot soup (yummmmmm...) and to-order grilled cheese (choice of three breads; choice of three cheeses). My book club pretty much rocks.

Romesco Sauce (Allison's probably-not-traditional interpretation)

6 Roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded*
4 red bell peppers, roasted**
4 cloves garlic, peeled
3/4 cup blanched almonds
4 oz. white, French, or sourdough bread (I used my leftover sourdough), sliced and toasted
1/4 tsp smoked Paprika
1/8 tsp (or more) crushed red pepper
1 tsp salt
2 TBL sherry vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil (or more)

Place garlic, almonds, and bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until finely chopped. Add peppers, tomatoes, and spices. With motor running, drizzle in oil and vinegar. Taste and adjust seasonings.

* To easily peel tomatoes, make an X at the bottom of each, then drop into boiling water for 30 seconds. Plunge into ice water. Skins will slip right off.

**You can do this under the broiler or over a grill or gas range. Place peppers under broiler or over flame until blackened, turn 1/4 turn and repeat until skin is completely charred. Let sit at least 15 minutes. Very, very carefully (pepper has steam inside), peel off skin and remove stem, seeds, and membranes.