First, the tote bag. This one is a ballet bag for one of my daughters since I got on a bit of a kooky crafty mom kick-- my little girl certainly shouldn't head off to her first ballet class with a mass-produced ballet bag (oh, the horror). It was a good idea to follow the same pattern again (Lotta Jansdotter): I learned some things to watch out for when I made the first one (all "duh" things really, like making sure the bottom part of the bag would line up on each side this time) and I felt confident enough to make and install a lining. All in all, I think it came out quite beautifully, and I've got some fabric lined up to sew yet another one shortly (squirrels!).
Last spring, I began and nearly completed this Waldorf baby, and didn't get back to it, even though all I had left to do was sew the sleeves to the arms. Why the wait??? I don't know-- even though I am a slow and terrible seamstress, it couldn't have taken me more than 20 minutes to do this last bit, and now we have a much loved new addition :).
On the knitting front, I started and completed the Back to School vest from Fitted Knits with stash Karabella Aurora 8. This was a quick and enjoyable knit. I added some extra inches to the ribbed portion which were much needed, so it took a bit more yardage than stated in the pattern, but other than that, made no (purposeful!) modifications.
I should have just kept working on the Striped Raglan Sweater for my husband and it would be a FO by now, but, no... I've cast on for a different one. I'm following the directions for the Set-In Sleeve Sweater from the Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, but modifying for additional length through the arms and torso. He wants a plain black sweater to replace a store-bought one of 15 or 20 years ago that wore out long ago. It's a boring knit, but I am liking the yarn (Cascade Pastaza) and it does knit up fast at 4 stitches to the inch. I hope it won't be so hot that it doesn't get worn.
And, finally, for me, I succumbed to the lure of the Tangled Yoke cardigan from the latest IK. I initially swatched for it in stash yarn, but was unhappy, so I went ahead and ordered some Rowan Felted Tweed in a greyish-pinkish-purplish color (142) that should work well with most of the more neutral parts of my wardrobe. It's exactly this kind of decision that I have been finding Ravelry so useful for-- the ability to see what yarns others used/ are using all together and see how happy they are with the pattern as written. So far, it's coming along well, albeit slowly. (Note to self: you have never once liked knitting garter rib, so even though you like the way it looks, you ought to just admit you will not be willing to knit inches and inches of it.)
Oh, and I almost forgot, in order to avoid these sweater projects and the stagnating afghan projects, over the past week, I made some birthday legwarmers for one of my girls and one mitten each for my 2 littlest kids out of a wonderful yarn-- Cascade Cloud 9-- it's so soft and squooshy and I only wish all our upholstered furniture were covered in it, imagine the lovely naps on the couch if that were so... The mittens are again based on the schema in the Small Sweaters book, but have my own designs, and I will take photos when finished.
