9/30/12

Boo the Min Pin Puppy


Boo, our 45th wedding anniversary gift to ourselves.  She has on a "felted" cashmere sweater sleeve, with little holes cut on the sides for her legs.  She is so cold in the mornings, she lays in the sun in her sweater, on her blanket.  Too funny how many little habits she has already.


To the left is a picture of her the first week we had her, that is a 12" tile in a back yard.


And below is a picture of her with another felted wool sweater sleeve, the rounded section down  her back is the upper sleeve where it sets in at the shoulders.  I just hold it up to her tummy to determine where to cut holes for the sleeves.  A felted wool sweater cuts without fraying.  She practically climbs into her sweater in the mornings, she's shaking so bad on her first AM outings.

9/22/12

A Collection of Free On-Line Knitting Patterns

I've collected several FREE on-line knitting patterns and written about the results with lots of pictures in this article.

  • Read a review of patterns I've used.
  • View pictures of many items I've made.
  • Find resources for FREE patterns.
  • Discover step-by-step YouTube videos
  • Bonus pattern included 
When you go to the article, please click on LIKE if you like it, as I'm rated for the quality of the article by the number of LIKES I get and a half-dozen other reasons.

You can write original content on Squidoo, too.

I got started writing on Squidoo in April 2011.  I have 77 articles that are published.  I started with a "bucket-list" of topics that I hoped to complete in my lifetime, I've accomplished many.  My goal is to have 100 articles by the end of 2012.  Several have a knitting theme, but most are about life and experiences along the journey.




9/5/12

I recent took this picture of an older home in Indianapolis.  It reminded me so much of my childhood home, I got carried away with thoughts, memories, and tons of nostalgia.  So, I took several pictures on the block of homes that age, remodeled.  Beautiful city block.



I'm currently writing an article about these homes on Squidoo.

9/4/12

Purse Straps - Handles for Knit Felt Purses

Today I had an inquiry on options to attach straps to purses.  I guess I didn't realize how many methods I've used in my purse designs.  I've listed several here with pictures.  Let me know if you have any questions.









This is the most common way to add an i-cord to a purse.  After the base is knit and felt, punching holes in the fabric and adding an i-cord strap.  See my video of making an i-cord here.





In the Coral stripe bag, the strap is attached by sewing belt buckles to each side attaching the middle bar of the belt buckle to the purse anchoring it, then running the handle through each belt buckle and poking a hole in the flat felted knit/purl strap, made from the same yarn as the bag.  I believe this was a 9 stitch, knit 2 - knit RS and purl WS - Knit 2 pattern for the strap, to avoid curling.



I called this bag Camo because of the distinct browns and tans I used in the design.  The strap was sewn directly to the purse just folding over the ends and attaching to the outside edges.  It was handwoven on a loom using the same yarns as in the bag itself.  But this strap was not felted after woven.  When you enlarge the picture you can see detail better.






I used macrame to tie half knots in leather strapping for this shell shape bag.  Then I punched holes in either side of the opening and slipped the strap through, a larger knot on the inside holds it in place.






Another handwoven strap added after the piece was felted.  The closure strap is also handwoven and added later, I sewed it to the back and let it hang as a closure to the front.  The straps are attached with closed rings.  I designed a larger flap on either side of the felted bag to attach at the bottom of each ring by folding over from outside - in, then sewing in place with matching yarn.  The handwoven strap was sewn by wrapping it around the top of each ring in the same manner as the tabs on the sides.




This has a similar strap to the one above only I left a fringe on the handwoven strap, so I threaded the strap through rings on both sides and sewed the straps in place so that the fringe decorated the sides of the bag, matching the closure.






Last but not least, I've designed a pattern for this bag which has the strap built-in, when the piece is felted the bag is finished!!  Here's another view, and a link to the pattern.

THE KNIT PATTERN FOR THIS PURSE
Embellish your purse.  That's the topic of this published article on-line.

I read this the other day and decided I'd like to quote it:  Earth without ART is just "eh."  Get creative!!

You can buy this poster.