Silly Sal - Knitting Once a Year

Close up of Purchased Purse

Once a year, I knit for a couple of days. The reason it's only once a year? Well, our Best Man, Richard and his wife Sharon, come and stay with us and help us celebrate our wedding anniversary every year. We were married at our home at 8 pm on New Year's Eve, 1994. Sharon is a knitting maniac and makes beautiful and difficult projects. She doesn't scrapbook nor paint nor sketch. So, our common ground and how I can improve my knitting proficiency takes place at this time. This year they were at our home from Thursday before New Year's Eve and returned to their home in Glendale on Tuesday of the new year.

Purchased Purse

So before she visited, I went to the local Knitting Store called Knitting in La Jolla on Prospect. The owner is such a helpful person. I saw this beautiful purse that she had made and said I wanted to make it. Well, it turned out she didn't carry the yarn any more or any yarn like it that would work. Plus, she got the pattern on line from Sweater Babe - pattern #19. In the end, I purchased the sample from her along with the pin that I placed in the center of the flower she had designed that was not part of the pattern. The purse that I purchased is the exact color of the favorite very heavy sweatshirt jacket that I bought last year at JCrew. Plus, I also have Uggs the same color. Yea! I will finally match!

At home I download the pattern and now go off to find yard to make the purse myself. The next closest yarn store is by my friend Suzi Blu's home in Encinitas - The Black Sheep. I didn't find what I wanted there either so off to Michael's. They have this thick yarn always in stock and purchased the black and the gray.

Purse I made with two yarns

Here is the purse I made with the Black yarn. I added a skinny black fuzzy yarn with a white flag that I thought would spruce up the solid black yard. Well, two things happened: the skinny yarn really bulked up the yarn and the purse ended up a lot bigger than the sample purse; plus, you can't see the wonderful simple pattern with the fuzzy/flag yarn added. I then knitted a single stitch to make a latch to go over the plain white button I added.

Close up of my purse fastened with button

OK, what I liked the most about the sample I purchased was the pattern. So, I knitted another one and it came out perfect. But, it needs more than a button to compliment the simple design.

My dark gray purse

Close up of "my flower" that I winged

Amazingly, I picked up a crochet needle that we were using to tuck in the yarn on the back sides and proceeded to crochet a tight circle and try to remember how we did something like this at Margie-Romney-Aslett's workshop called Spark! The Event in Utah over a year ago. I just winged it and I think it is fine. I'm going to sew Velcro at the top to work as the fastener on this purse.

Pink hat that I made

The year before I had learned to make this little hat that was a patter from designer Kim Hargreaves, called Elsie. It is in a book called The Rowan Cork Collection. This hat was the first thing I ever knitted beyond scarves and one shawl. I actually made a couple of them the year before.

Pink Scarf that Patricia made

Well, Suzi Blu rents her house from the neatest gal, Patricia who owns the wonderful little shop in Leucadia called Embellishments. She had theses beautiful scarves that she crochets and I asked her to make me one in pink which she did. So, at The Blac Sheep, I found this beautiful silk/wool/Alpaca yarn that worked wonderfully with Patricia's scarf yarn.

Patricia's pink scarf again

I am going to wear all of this when I go back to Baltimore January 29 - February 1. Yes, this is the same time I was suppose to go with Suzi to CHA in Los Angeles this year. I am very sad to miss this fun time and Suzi understands. I have promised to help her however I possibly can all month while she prepares for CHA. My son is graduating and the entire family is going back there to be present and support Erik's accomplishments. I sure hope it is cold and I will have the opportunity to wear some of theses warm things I have knitted. When I visited him in November they had a warm spell and I didn't need any of the warm clothing I had brought.

New Year's resolution - to improve on my picture taking and presentations. I have no excuse except that I use a very, very small Sony Point and Shoot. But, I truly know PhotoShop and CS5. I need to take the time to use it when my camera fails me. But, I hadn't posted for so long, I just wanted to get this up.