Messenger bag -- all over but the felting

I finished the strap and put the whole thing together over the weekend. Of course, as with everything I do, I didn't bother to do a gauge sample, so my piece was 5 inches shorter and 2 inches narrower than the pattern, which then necessitated a whole lot of math on my part. Math and I don't get along at all, but it appears that I was successful in figuring it out.

Hopefully this coming weekend I'll travel to my mother-in-law's house to do the scary felting.

Messenger bag -- progress!

I made some really good progress on the messenger bag this weekend.

Here it is with a couple more color blocks finished:

And a couple more. At this point I had seven balls of yarn hanging off the thing. It was pretty crazy:

And finally, with all the ends woven in.

On to the strap!

Messenger bag started

I started the messenger bag on Monday night and am making decent progress. I bought some super yummy colors of wool over the weekend and was really looking forward to starting on it, but when I read the instructions closely they weren't making sense. So I emailed the creator of the pattern, Julie Holetz, who got right back to me with clarifications. So nice of her!!

I'm sort of winging it on the color blocks. I currently have three balls of yarn hanging off the thing. Seems to be working but I have no idea if that's what's supposed to happen. Julie did say that carrying the yarn behind the stitches would result in felt that's too thick.

And I could use some advice from any felting experts out there. I live in a condo and the washing machines in the basement are front loading and lock when you start them up, so there will be no stopping the cycle and checking the progress for me. Can this be done by hand?

Icelandic Turtleneck: Finished!

I started this back in April, made a bunch of modifications, and absolutely love it! I wrote all about it on the CrochetMe.com blog. Wahoo!

Comfi Cardi Start

Comfi Cardi Start
Originally uploaded by rchach

Hi All,

I decided to take my recent trip traveling time and devote it to me (instead of work like I usually do). With the 10 hour trip out to CA, and the 6 hour trip back, I got pretty far along with my own personal Comfi Cardi. I adored this project from the moment I swatched it. I really really didn't want to give up the sample that was photographed in CM, but I did. Now, a year later I am finally making one for me!

I am making a couple of changes, I am shortening the sleeves to be elbow length. I am also making the sleeves smaller, b/c I definitely don't fit in standard body sizes. So my cardi will have a large chest size and small arm size. So far so good. I am finished with the back, one arm, and one front panel. I am using Peruvian Pure Alpaca Fina, which has been a great substitute for me in a blueish gray. Can't wait to show you more as I go!
-Robyn

Thanks everyone for asking how I am changing the cardi!- I posted a bit on this on my blog.

Victorian Shrug + Wrap Errata

Victorian Shrug + Wrap Errata from the CrochetMe Book:

LACY TOP EDGING, WRAP ONLY
Row 1: Ch1, sc in first hdc, sk next 2 hdc, fan st in next hdc, sk 2 hdc, *sc in next hdc, sk next 2 hdc, fan st in next hdc, sk next 2 hdc, [remove extra: sk next 2 hdc] rep from * around front panel and back, end with sc, turn. - 40, 44, 48, 52 fan sts total

(Thank you Margaret for finding this error for us!)

Victorian Wrap/Shrug

Howdy! I stumbled upon this blog while trying to find other folks working on the Victorian Wrap/Shrug. I ended up emailing Robyn and she's been helping me along...by the way, she's AWESOME! I was so thrilled that she not only wrote back (quickly), but she's also been providing really great instructions. I'm not the smalled gal and I've been having a bit of trouble resizing the garment to fit me...I'm just now starting the sleeves. I've had a bit of trouble with the gauge, but I think I'm finally on the right track. When I sent the first email to Robyn, I was using a different yarn so that I had the same gauge as the pattern...so when I changed to a thicker yarn, my gauge ended up TOTALLY different and I had to figure out how the calculations I had made translated to my new gauge. Yeah, I'm so not a gauge person! haha

I think the part that's most difficult for me is seeing how the garment comes together...because I can't see how the sleeves are built, I'm not able to relate the various measurements to the pattern itself. It's my inexperience with this type of resizing...I usually just size as I go and add stitches as I need to. This is definitely the most involved project I've ever done...but I'm so glad that I've taken on this challenge.

Anyhow, a big HELLO to y'all and I'm glad to have some support during this crazy journey!

~Teresa :o)