Day 22: Stockings and Yet More Martini’s

It is December 22 but my guess is that you don't need me to tell you that!!

The downhill stretch is on us and I’m amused by knitting and crafting blogs everywhere that detail the frenetic activity of the season! Schedules made, schedules abandoned--- and some that have no schedules at all. I think I like those best! I am enjoying so much reading about fellow knitters who are knitting away madly at school concerts, in the car, on the bus---- and generally full of the season. It’s great and I send you all my best with fingers crossed for easy schedules and a weekend to finish projects for loved ones. Are you done? Will you be?

What to do when you forgot someone? Or need a filler? How about a stocking stuffer???? It quite frankly happens and laying in an emergency goodie or too is a spectacularly great idea. Personally, I think stocking gifts are the very best and I have more fun with them than anything. My Mom was the Queen of stockings! From her I learned not only that the stocking itself needed to look great and reflect the owner but that filling it was an art form. Mine always had certain things you could count on, those chocolate covered cherries that were filled with the sugary glop that ran out if you bit them, Andes mints, and always things that were so fun! Usually a magazine to read in pj’s when all of the Christmas mess had been cleared away, and silly things that made me laugh (then and now). Some of the things I’ve picked up for the 3 stockings I have to stuff this year range from handwarmers to hair scrunchies, disposable razors to gum and my favorite--- a pez dispenser for dogs. Seriously, how great is that???? I am insanely in love with last minute stocking stuffer shopping at Walgreens! It is the coolest place in the world to assemble an awesome collection of wonderful crap! Every year since my Mom has been gone I always buy myself that box of Cello chocolate covered cherries and eat like 5 of them in the car on the way home. Mom smiles every single time.

In case you’re in a jam----- or need a good backup (it happens)----- how about a little chart that can fit into a purse or notebook that a knitter can list what needles are owned???? I think I own five of them and they’re in different knitting bags and notebooks—but they have saved me more than once!

Print it out, laminate it maybe if you’re hard core. My favorite idea is to give it with a little certificate for what needles do you really need…………… my treat card. I gave a card like this to my niece last year and she wanted to know if a set of Denise’s counted. That’s my girl! (And no, they didn’t!) She chose a pair of lovely Lantern Moon needles, I believe they were rosewood. If nothing else I did teach my child about the quality things!

Some of my very favorite gifts are wonderful gift cards that offer things like breakfast, giving the dog a bath….. you know what I mean. I would personally love a card from my significant that said----- “you can sit and knit whenever you want and ignore anything in the whole wide world that is just pissing the boogers out of you by presenting this card. Really.” But you know what? That pretty much is my life, can I get an amen?

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It was a lovely day yesterday! What a treat to spend the day with my son just hanging out and talking. And laughing. And eating! We even made dinner together which was pretty great. (Coconut chicken, cauliflower gratin and a nice salad). You have to admit that it is nice during the holidays not to have to actually MAKE dessert with all of the sweet options hanging around the house! Bless that childs' heart, a young man shouldn’t have to hang out with his mother on a Friday night so he went out with some friends leaving me to knit. (Candy Cane Cocktail knitting!) On the subject of those minty cocktails, they are addictively good little suckers. I wouldn’t be partial to drinking a peppermint martini any other time of the year but baby--- you mix equal parts of vanilla rum, Godiva white chocolate and peppermint schnapps, rim that glass with some crushed mints and you have yourself a little Merry right in your glass! Cocktailin’ aside, the scarf from Artful Yarns ‘Broadway’ was finished and I absolutely love it. One of those yarns with enough mohair to be really interesting and the colors and segues were fabulous. The best part was the metallic flecks, not a gold or silver but the coolest sort of marbelly metallic glint. I absolutely love this! And mine. Ho Ho HO!

I had to seriously crop this photo. We’ve discussed before that I hate my neck worse than just about anything and if I won the lottery big or small I’d make a plastic surgeon my new best friend. Which makes me doubly love this scarf---- it hides a multitude of sins (i.e. my neck) and is cute to boot! I think I might have to knit one in every color in the rainbow. Hey---- you can wear cotton neck hiders (er, scarves) in the summer, right? Just in case that windfall doesn’t come anytime soon that is!

News from my oldest daughter------ a Wii will be under her tree for the grandboys! She's feeling smug and exhausted! Those toy people do such an excellent job of whipping the public up into a froth about one thing or another every year. The search for the Wii was even on The Today Show today, sheesh.

I’ve just cast on for yet another hat. I know, the hat a thon around here has just come to an end but I did need one for ME, so I happily cast on for another “unoriginal hat” in Malabrigo Aquarella, the colorway ‘tranqueras’. I'll get my very own hat done by Christmas (I hope) so that I'll be able to do---- well, something wonderful.

What makes me happiest? I think it is probably my first holiday season in recorded history (and perhaps beyond) where it is 3 days before Christmas and I’m done. And relaxing. Enjoying the season. It is a heckuva concept and I think I’ll have to try and replicate the feat in years to come. For now I’m practicing the days after Christmas when it’s jammie time.

Know what? I’m going to be really, REALLY good at it!

Day 20: Holiday Love Challenge

For all of the many things that the holidays are (and they are many because we are all different and bring our own customs and traditions) what it is is love. Love that is spiritual, love that is familial, love that is marital, love that just IS.

Today I’m celebrating the LOVE and I invite you to join me. A challenge of sorts! I’m taking out an hour of my day (give or take)---- time my friends, time--- and I’m calling three people I have loved and lost. For me it is lost touch with. A friend that I went to college with and have not spoken to in years and years, my Mom’s best friend in Florida (I haven’t talked to her since my Mom’s funeral), and lastly my Pastor when I lived in New Jersey, moons ago. Time is what we value so dearly during this busy season, and people that have meant much to us will value our time, our thoughts and our love. It is going to be really great!!!! I hope you will make some calls too and celebrate the love. If everyone took the challenge and reached out to three people, we'd make a big impact today. And you know what? It warms our heart too!

I finished my last big project at the studio today, right down to the last detail. (WOO HOO!) Not that there won’t be something from the work column every day (as there always is) but I have to say that my leopard jammies are much, much closer! When I shoveled my desk off, the grocery store called my name and what a blessing the cashier was just a doll and a half! $350.00 later, I came home to unload. We will not discuss how much of that was alcohol. (thanks!)

Another batch of those pretzel/kiss/M&M delights was made (we call them Belly Buttons) and another tray of the easy Ritz snowflake cookies. And, so there will be cocktailin’ tonight when my son arrives, there is a batch of Crabmeat Canapes in the freezer. Delightful indeed.

Knitting? Mmmmmmmm, well, I’ve thought about it but that is pretty much where it lies. I finished wrapping after dinner dishes were done instead. A very few rows happened on the scarf, and even a few were bliss -- I know you understand completely! I went to finish the buttons on the Pocketbook Slippers and completely struck out! I used those “Create a Button” mesh blanks. With a tapestry needle you go in and out of the plastic mesh button top and before you know it, poof, it’s a button. Well, all of my needles that would carry the yarn had eyes that were too fat to go all the way through the mesh---- ack! How frustrating! So you know what? The slippers will not get buttons, so there. During my time of irritation I test drove (someone has to!) a Candy Cane Cocktail. It was really, really good. I only had one, in case you’re counting!

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Can we talk gift tags???? I love gift tags almost as much as I love the gift itself! There are some great tags available but the handmade kind is always the best. This year I’m printing my own using the commercially available muslin backed with stiff paper for the printer. (You can pick it up in a package with about 4 sheets in it, I even saw it at my local Kinko's.) Or make your own to run through the printer by cutting out sheets of muslin and ironing them to waxed paper but it is a trickier process that has the potential to muss up your printer, I take the safe route and purchase my sheets. My collection of antique holiday images, postcards and cards over the years has served me well. I have them all stored on the computer as .jpg's. The image is chosen, sized, and a bit of PhotoShop magic is applied, and they can be grouped to save paper and then run through the printer. Once they are printed and dry for a bit, I give mine a good ironing to set the ink. Layer the muslin with a plain sheet of white paper on the front and back to protect the iron and ironing board cover. Then, I can add a backing with a layer of fusible web and a layer of felt. You can also print to cardstock and cut out with those foofy scissors. Then again, if you are a crafty sort you can take the printed tags and just embellish them to your hearts content. Just punch a hole and hang with pretty coordinating yarn.

My tag fetish started about 10 years ago when my best friend and I would exchange a Christmas gift each year. There were rules y’know. Gifts must be handmade, they need not be expensive, and they don’t have to be practical--- fanciful is fun too! Most importantly is that they have to be wrapped really pretty and there has to be a cool gift tag, also handmade. Over the years the tags grew more elaborate, sometimes artistic, sometimes funky, always wonderful! My collection of beloved gift tags disappeared in the divorce, we won't go there it makes me cranky and that is just not fitting to the season! I love to give (and receive-- dare I say it) at least one gift each year that is wrapped in a way you wouldn’t for ‘ordinary’ giving. You know what I mean….. kids don’t appreciate it, much of your family wouldn’t really get into a package that is wrapped over the top.

It is the 20th day of Knitting Contrisstmas and I am gifting a few of my gift tag designs. Use them as you like----- be creative and promise me that you use at least one of them for a very special and wonderfully creative gift! Or step out and create something uniquely yours!

If you would like to use them as the starting point for your own lovely gift tags, right click on the images and use the 'save as' option to save to your computer.

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My son arrives in a few hours………… I’m smiling very big! I'll be smiling bigger when the house is clean, there are dustbunnies the size of cats I fear. I've been less than diligent with all of the other things going on around here and I do so love a nice clean house. When Mr. Manhattan comes home he always stops en route to the airport for real live New York bagels. (That sounded like one of those salsa commercials didn't it.... New York City!!!! Ha!) I bought extra cream cheese yesterday in preparation, yum. He's a great kid, and so tall and skinny you wonder how he came from this body! The only problem is that he is a dead ringer for his dad............ I try not to hold that against him! :)

Thanks to those of you who have added me as a friend on Ravelry! How fun is that???? I love it!

Tomorrow on Day 21 is an interview you won’t want to miss!

Day 14: Mixed Bag

A What’s Important Moment

It’s hard to follow a great interview like Knitting Contrisstmas had yesterday…… and I had every intention to follow it with a cute knitted dog sweater. I finished it in time (and have a few photos to prove it), and was eager to share it with you, but well……. we had a bit of an incident. Prince, the finest dog in the whole world was wearing his new sweater yesterday. He seemed to be quite warm and happy in it. When I got home from the studio last evening at the respectable hour of 6:00, in his excitement he jumped off of the couch where he was all curled up taking a snooze. He was somehow tangled up in his sweater, it was chilly in the house and he was a little napping ball of fluff----- his duclaw got hung in it somehow. It ripped back his nail and started bleeding. Oh, it was horrible! After a quick peek to see what was going on, I hopped in the car with Prince and we took off for his vet, very thankfully just a few minutes away and still open. His sister Hana was just inconsolable, she had to stay at home and keep a light in the window. Once reaching the vet, Prince was sedated and the nail was cut way back, the bleeding stopped and the whole paw bandaged with a layer of gauze and a pressure bandage to protect it. I could hear his crying down the hall, I think I was the one that needed sedating!! We got home and he slept very well all night long, I don't think he even moved. I sat with him and held his sweet self and had a nice martini! Okay, I had two but don't tell anyone!

I feel doubly bad because it was MY handknit sweater that seemed to have caused the whole thing!!!! ACK!!!!!

Even though Prince is a dog--- he is one of my babies after all---- and it did give me a moment to remember what is important in life. Not getting the blog up or even getting much work done from home last night but taking time to enjoy life and be able to care for the creatures human and fur who are placed into your care.

The really ironic thing about it is that I had named the sweater “The Lucky Puppy Sweater”. Awwwwwwwwwwww………… that just makes me tear up all over again! Here it is, just because. Prince’s was maybe too roomy------- I say knit these bad boys a lot closer to the furry body!

Lucky Puppy Sweater

A super simple quick and easy favored pooch sweater! Mind you, my dog is about poodle sized (he is a Chinese Crested Powderpuff) and I knit his sweater in a few hours. The hardest thing is the arms (a snip and pick up technique) but you could do it differently like fingers on a glove. This is the perfect gift for your dog (or cat if your cat does the clothes thing) and a wonderful gift for someone’s furry family member. Yarn snobs note, this is for my dog--- it gets washed. A lot.

Note: This sweater is for a medium-small dog. Think poodle. You can very easily size it up or down it is that simple! When you have gauge just cast on more or less stitches to accommodate the circumference of your pup. If you size up, you will also need more yarn, don’t forget! *Note from the Vet Side----- knit this fairly snug on your dog’s body!

To knit this Lucky Puppy Sweater you will need:

• 1 skein of Lion Brand Thick and Quick (my color was Claret #143)
• 1 circular needle in US size 15
• 1 set of DPN’s in US size 15
• 1 tapestry needle with large eye
  

Get gauge. I know, I hate that too but you don’t want to fit a hamster do you?

Gauge= 9 stitches in your 4x4 swatch (which takes no time!!)

Cast on 44 stitches using cable cast on *Note from the Vet Side----- I’d drop this back to about 35 or 36 I think. I’d have to swatch it, just like you should, but I'd want it to be a lot snugger.

If you have little shortie cables or don’t mind a bit of a struggle with 12” cables you can cast onto your circs, otherwise divide on dpn’s and work for a bit.

Join nicely and knit 2x2 ribbing for 4 rows. If you have a larger dog and are sizing this sweater UP, you will probably want more rows of ribbing.

Knit happily in your tube until you have about 8 inches of length. Measure it against your dog. It should be long enough without the turtleneck.

Row 1: Knit 9, Knit 2 Together (K2T)

Row 2: Knit 8, K2T

Row 3: Knit 7, K2T

Row 4: Knit 6: K2T

Row 5: K2T

You will have 24 stitches.

Knit the next row onto DPN’s evenly divided for 6 stitches on each needle

Knit 2x2 rib for 3 inches OR as high as you want the turtleneck to be

You will have a tube with a turtleneck! Not very useful for most dogs at this point. You will notice that the decreases make a pattern on the sweater. Lay the sweater flat and mark a point with crossed straight pins 3 rows below the last decrease- you can always change placement for your own pet.

CAREFULLY clip one little stitch in where the pins cross. Remove pins. Very carefully ease the yarn back from 12 stitches (more if you have a larger leg to make openings for). Pick up the live stitches and divide them on DPN’s. Join new yarn and knit one row. Then work in 2x2 ribbing for about 4 rows or until you have as much ‘sleeve’ as you want. Another Note from the Vet Side----- not too long these sleeves! My next puppy sweater I’m going to crochet a simple row around the opening and call it good.

*Here is the beauty of putting in the sleeves this way. First of all, it is a dog sweater with minimum time invested. It is a great opportunity to try something like picking up stitches into the middle of knitting. Actually cutting into knitting causes most of us to draw in breath and maybe even cuss a little. If you go very slowly it will go just fine. Really. If you need to, you can always pick up any really stray bits of stitches and tack them, or use a crochet needle for a quick fix. It sounds terrifying, I hear you! I did not need to apply any alcohol for the cutting so how hard could it be?

Alternately, you can use the same placement points and put stitches onto holders and knit the sleeves later. Again, because it is a sweater for your dog you can go a little crazy.

Experiment! Have fun!

Your dog is going to look really great, stay very warm, and be so happy! That sweater smells like YOU……… it doesn’t get any better! (Last note from the Vet Side---- I still just feel like total crap about this whole sweater thing!!!!!)

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I am delivering a few presents this weekend to knitting friends if the weather holds (and at the moment, that sounds iffy at best! I’m placing their gifts in large gift bags with a tag and a yarn ornie attached to the handle with a pretty piece of ribbon.

They’re cute, easy as pie and always appreciated--- and because we’re getting very close to Christmas, very quick to make is always a huge plus! I love these when they’re marbled by hand painting, but what else would a knitter do but paint them with yarn?

Yarn Ornies:

• Clear glass ball ornaments

• Bits of yarn in different colors, sorted into color families if you’re an organized person

Remove the hanger from the glass ball carefully and set aside. Fold pieces of yarn by color and using a chopstick or pencil, push the yarn down into the clear ball. Keep going until you like it. Done! Just replace the hanger and tie a piece of yarn around the top!

Join me tomorrow on Day 15 of Knitting Contrisstmas for a great interview from Lolly from Lolly Knitting Around. I know you will love her to pieces!

In the meantime, my little girl puppy Hana will be guarding her brother Prince today. He's still sleepy, poor baby.

Day 12: Measuring, Wreaths and Heartbreak

Little Tape Measure

I love small things and tools for knitting. I think it came from my passion for the sewing room. A place (whether real or in the heart) where the only thing that goes on there is the art of the craft. Shelves stocked with goodies, fiber, fabric and tools of the trade and perhaps an easy chair to sit in and create. The most important thing to my way of thinking is a door that closes. How many times can you make your corner of the world a better place if you can just get away and BE???? That idea is transported with you when you carry your knitting around…………… every time you say, “Let me just finish this row.”

Because it is holiday time and the season for giving, I doubly love small things that are quickly created for giving, things that don’t cost a great deal of either time or money. One of those things is perfect to tuck into a stocking or into a small gift exchange for a fellow knitter or anyone that loves things with a handmade touch.

You will need a simple tape measure available at any fabric or craft store. Don’t purchase the super long ones but a regular tape measure, normally under $5.00. From your stash pick out a favorite yarn, something fairly fine gauge, it’s a great time to use something really luxe as this project doesn’t take much yardage. I used a mystery yarn from the depths of my stash, something fuzzy and neutral. I'm making more in a rainbow of bright colors, notably a hot pink for my best friend who crochets.

Requirements:

• A small bit of yarn from your stash, fingering or lace weight
• Double pointed needles in US size 1 or 2 (you won’t be working on them for very long, no fear of the dpn!)
• Crochet hook
• Vintage or pretty buttons no larger than one inch in size
• Sewing thread to match yarn
  

You will be casting on enough stitches to yield one inch and a pinch. That is, an inch to cover the tape measure and a teensy bit larger than the tape in width. For me that was 8 stitches with a size 0 needle. You want to make a fairly firm knitted strip.

Knit in stockinette stitch until you have enough yarn to wrap around the outside of the tape measure and have about ¾ of an inch extra in length. It is impossible for me to give you an exact measurement because tape measures are different---- yours will tell you the exact size.

Bind off when you have enough length and weave in edges.

One one edge of the knitted strip, along the short edge, insert your crochet hook through the center of this edge and chain a piece long enough to go around the button you have chosen with a couple of extra links in the chain to secure the loop firmly. Weave in the yarn and with sewing thread in a matching color secure tightly and invisibly.

On a sewing machine (or with a fine hand backstitch) stitch along the edge of “inch number 1” and the knitted strip. Stitch slowly and barely catch the edge of the knitting. Note: there is usually a metal edge on the ends of the tape measure. Be very careful not to hit the metal with the sewing machine needle! You can definitely stitch this by hand, no worries.

Wrap the knitted strip around the tape measure (rolled firmly) and mark where the button should fit through the crochet loop closure. With hand sewing needle and thread, sew on the button very securely, going around the threads between the bottom of the button and the top of the knitted fabric several times making a nice shank for the button. Backstitch your thread and cut thread.

You have a cute little tape measure so far, but with a bit of very simple embellishment you can make it far more special.

Some embellishments:

• Buttons
• Purchased ribbon flowers
• Silk ribbon embellishments
• Crochet edge trim

I stitched vintage buttons around the strip and ran a very simple running stitch around the edge with silk ribbon. The finishing and embellishment are up to you.

I’m making several to tuck into the stockings of knitters, stitchers and quilters on my gift list. Useful, pretty and handmade--- what could be better? Well, except that you made it in no time and for very little money. Who wouldn’t love a little tape measure?

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A Knitter’s Wreath

Because I celebrate Christmas with rather mad abandon, the holiday is all over my house. One of my very favorite things is my Creative Wreath, on the door of my sewing room. I got so many great comments about it last year when I made it that this year I’ve made similar wreaths for a few lucky friends.

I’ll make it extra special by tucking in a set of Addi Lace Turbo’s, a Little Tape Measure, a pattern for something fun to knit and the final touch will be a gift certificate tied on with a beautiful length of wired ribbon.

To Make the Wreath, Gather:

• 1 18” artificial wreath (or larger if you like)
• Vintage aluminum knitting needles in bright colors
• Bits of an old quilt
• Small yarn balls
• Vintage patterns
• Old tape measure
• Small rulers
• Packages of antique seam binding, thread, yarn bands, etc.
• 1 spool of Wired ribbon
• A few blossoms of a silk flower/poinsettia
• Silk greenery (I purchased a few stems of silk poinsettias with some glitter and cut them apart yielding blossoms and some greenery for each wreath)
• Small knitted ornaments (I used some from “Knitters Almanac” by Elizabeth Zimmermann)
• Fine gauge florist wire
  

Fluff the wreath a bit so it looks a bit more natural. Add larger pieces first and fill in with your smaller pieces, wiring in things as you go. Tuck the knitting needles in last and wire at the top and bottom so they will be secure.

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My niece is 19 and has suffered her first heartbreak in love. Do you remember yours? They hurt so dipdog much the pain of them is easily remembered by almost all of us. It really does make it sadder still that it happened during the holiday season, she had to take down her first 'alone' Christmas tree for pete's sake! My dear niece had graduated high school and decided to take a year to decide what she wanted to do with her life before she had to use her student loan for school. In my day we called it “finding yourself” and the truth of it is you never did. How in the world can you find yourself in a year, much less decide what you want to do with your life? I’m decidedly older than 19 and it took a long time to get it together. Heck, I think I still am! When you were young you thought that you'd be perfect and wonderful by the time you were 25. Now with some well aged wisdom the certainty is that you never stop growing and becoming wonderful is just flat hard work! My sweet naive girl met and fell hard for a boy who, shall we say, is a Bad Boy. A card carrying ne’er do well (although very cute) 20 year old with a bad attitude and a then concealed past with a world of problems. Like many young girls there was no way she was going to listen to her parents, her grandmother or even her auntie--- she knew better and this love was going to save the world. Needless to say she had a lot to learn and we all watched and waited knowing that there was an incredible amount of pain yet to come. She left her hometown and moved with this young man about 6 hours away, got her own apartment that took about every dime she made as a receptionist at a glitzy day spa. The young man moved in with breathtaking speed and her spoken too quickly statements about him living in the second bedroom fell on deaf ears. A short 3 months later my sweet niece has been picked up by her Dad and they’re moving her back home with her still fresh Christmas tree sitting out by the curb as a testimony to love gone wrong. The boy broke her heart and his bad past and broken relationships took their toll on him, with her life being his ugly collateral damage.

It’s been hard to watch even though I do know one thing for sure. I know that the soul and spirit of a woman is tough as nails and that no matter the heartbreak she will rise up from her pain and be better. Wiser, and even happy someday to have a much finer relationship down the road.

I know her pain because when I was 17 I graduated from high school as a junior and followed my own bad boy to college. My Dad offered to send me to any college I wanted, and of course I knew better. I didn’t know then what I know now of course, and for those that loved me, their pain at the time was probably like my own now. I wasn’t smart enough to pick up and move on however. I married my young man when I was a freshman in college and my oldest daughter (The Thin One) was four days old when I graduated with honors. I was for the most part miserable with my choices and even when my son arrived (an unexpected visit from the Stork) our marriage was doomed long before the start. It all fell apart and the heartbreak was like nothing I could have expected. For as much pain as my niece is in right now, I feel like at least she wisely averted a much larger nightmare.

Life is funny……….. no matter our heartbreaks we continue on. And during the holidays we stop to celebrate life. We are every bit of the pain that has made us and each breath of the wonder of tomorrow.

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Join me tomorrow for a truly wonderful interview with Kelley Petkun from KnitPicks!

Day Nine: Holiday Martini Bar Towel

Holiday Martini Bar Towel

Cute, easy and happily giftable! What could be better? I’m gifting this cute Martini Glass bar towel with two oversized martini glasses and some red sugar to rim the glasses. I have some of that very fine red shreddy paper to line the box with and my giftee will be giggly happy! And that is before the martini-ing even begins to commence!

Every knitter knows that the best way to make simple look a bit more complex is to use variegated yarn, which is what the martini glass is worked in. even the stripe on the bottom of the towel looks a bit futzier!

• Sugar & Cream: Red, one ball
• Sugar & Cream: Variegated, one ball
  

Cast on 40 stitches with cable cast on*, US size 7 needles

*(Note: I think the cable cast on makes the nicest edge for the towel and it’s nice and elastic.)

Knit 10 rows in stockinette

Knit 4 rows with variegated yarn in stockinette

Knit 4 rows in stockinette

Work Martini Glass chart (below)

All wrong side (purl) rows, when you come to the martini glass, purl in same colors

Knit in stockinette until the towel measures 18” inches or until you just can’t stand it anymore.

My true confession is that I am a horrible crocheter, never have been able to wrap my fragile eggshell mind around it! I can manage to chain until the cows come home, and I can (if I really concentrate and hold my mouth just right) perform a simple row of single crochet around the edge of something like I just had to do on the last hat I finished. I think that a pretty little crocheted edge around the bottom of this bar towel would be super cute so if you can crochet, I say jump on it!

Get the towel good and wet and pin to block. When it is dry, weave in the ends and think about martini’s.

My current fave is the Peppermint Martini, created by those fine folks over at Van Gogh. It is the holidays for goodness sake, I think you can have two. If you have more, I simply can’t be held accountable and we both know that your knitting is going to suffer something awful!!!

Frangelica Peppermint Martini

• 1/4 oz Peppermint Schnapps
• 2 oz Van Gogh Regular Vodka

The recipe says to garnish with peppermint candy and to be honest I don't want peppermint candy in my martini! But life should be all about personal choice so I say if you want peppemint garnish you should just get down to it! I prefer to find some of that pretty red sugar.

Pour ingredients into cocktail shaker and add crushed ice. Let stand for five seconds. Shake vigorously for five seconds. Strain into martini glass. Serve on a pretty holiday tray with some peppermints tossed about in an oh so artsy way next to your pretty Martini Bar Towel. Fab!

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I was delighted to read a comment on the blog yesterday from Ruby who was going to take pictures of her family. Darn right Ruby! So often Moms' and Dads' don't want to be in the holiday photo, only the kids. After all, Mom might have gained 5 pounds and Dad didn't want to change out of his sweatshirt. Bah Humbug I say! Family photos aren't (shockingly) about you! They are for the kids who, believe it or not, really want photos of you. As much as it pains us to think about it, we won't be around forever, a photo of the family is a lovely and thoughtful gift to leave behind.

I stayed a bit late at the studio last night so I could do all of the pesky little things that needed to be done this afternoon and into tomorrow. What that means is that I cobbled a bit of time together to be able to stay home today and knit on that second Knitty hat. With any luck I can mail out my box to the east coast by the end of the week. We're in the middle of a widespread and scattered ice storm today, it is icy and cold and chilly. The luxury of staying inside with endless tea (and occasional eggnog) pleases me greatly! I hope you can be warm and safe and knitterly as well!

Don't forget to comment on the Haute Sock Knitting Bag, you might be the lucky winnah' next Saturday!

Please join me tomorrow for SHERI BERGER from The Loopy Ewe on Day 10! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Knitting Contessa's Haute Sock Knitting Bag

Knitting Contessa’s Sock Knitting Bag ©

Okay. I’ll be honest up front. This is a GREAT sock knitting bag. Stylish, fabulous, wonderful, cute as pie. I love 'hard shaped' bags, think "Birkin", "Mulberry" or "Ricky"..... ahhhhhh! This is not an immediate gratification project, but then again it isn't something you can't do in a day either. There are 50 steps so don’t get all woozy on me….. it’s broken down into small little bites that you can do. Really! It is worth a bit of the fuss and bother to be sure, but if you are looking for a great sock knitting bag that is easy peasy I suggest you stitch up a rectangle of great fabric, run a casing through the top, add some really fabulous trim or fringe and call it good. This bag was designed by me and it goes without saying that it is copyrighted and protected by all of the laws and good stuff. I’m just sayin’.

I chose as the fabric for the bag a vintage feedsack fabric in a fun Asian print. I doubt they called it a fun Asian print in the 1930’s but instead thought of it as a utilitarian end use for an old bag of flour. I’m all about the whole double value, recycling thing, those housewives were just ahead of their time! The button on the front is vintage as well from my Gramma’s button box. The secret of the bag is in the shaping---- again, think of the Lauren “Ricky” bag, or a la Hermes Birkin bag. You have to use very, very stiff interfacing. I use Timtex, available at fabric stores. Timtex is kind of pricey, so ask them if they have something comparable. Don’t’ skimp, I’m warning you.

You will need:

• 1 feedsack (available from specialty retailers or on eBay) (or your choice of fabric)
• 1/3 yard Timtex
• A fresh stick of fabric glue
• Thread to match
• Hand sewing needle
• Water or air erasable marker
• 1 square of wool felt in a coordinating color
• 1 button

The project is machine sewn, so don’t run in fear! While it is not quick and easy, it is not out of reach if you have a bit of experience. Jump in and give it a whirl! The key is that the Timtex is very stiff and sometimes during the process you just have to be firm and show it who is boss!

Cut the following shapes/pieces from the Timtex:

• The body of the bag: 15”x8 ½”
• The bag flap: 8 ½” x 3” (You will shape it a bit later)
• The bag sides: 2 ½” x 6 ½”, (shaped later)
• The strap: 1” x 14”

The cutting out process using a good ruler, a self healing mat, a pen and good eyes!

Using the stiffness of the Timtex as a pattern, cut from the fabric the outer shell and the inner lining:

• 2 body pieces 18” x 8 ½” (flap is included in the fabric measurement and does not have to be cut or added separately)
• 4 bag sides
• 1 strap 2” x 20”

Cut from the felt:

One flap
Pocket- 4”x6”, fold in half

Jump in and Get To It!

1. Shape the bag sides by measuring a little half inch square on the bottom of each side of this rectangle. Holding a straight edge at the outside top corner (without the ½” square) and going to the inside of the square you have marked-- (you will have a line from the top edge to the bottom of the rectangle, one half inch inside the bottom corner), mark a line on both sides. Cut along this line. You’ll have a long triangle shaped piece left when you make the cut.

The shape of the SIDE when the bottom 1/2" has been cut off, the shape tapers up to the top of the pattern piece.

Leftover little pieces when the sides are trimmed down.

2. Machine stitch the flap to the bag by holding the pieces next to each other along the long edge and slightly apart. This will facilitate the folding of the finished bag. Use a very wide zigzag stitch. The flap and body will be attached, and able to fold easily, like a gate hinge.

3. Now you will attach the sides to the body of the bag. Use a slightly fat ¼” seam allowance for the Timtex shell.

4. Bring the bottom edge of the bag to the zigzagged stitch line and fold. Make a tiny clip with scissors to mark this fold on both sides of the bag.

5. Fold the widest part of the bag side pieces lengthwise and clip at the bottom edge to mark. These clipped notches tell you where to sew the pieces together.

6. Match up the clipped notches and mark ¼” from each side on the short edge (bottom) of what will be the seam that attaches the bag to the side of the bag.

7. The first seam you sew is the short edge of the side piece. This short edge matches the clip marks.

8. You will start and you will stop ¼” from this short, bottom edge when you sew. The unsewn portion of the side will be what actually turns the corner when you stitch the long sides.

9. Begin stitching at the ¼” mark and stitch these two pieces, the side and the body of the bag.

10. Holding out the side piece that is stitched along the short edge you will see that the bag makes a sort of “T”.

11. Wrap the body of the bag around this “T” shaped extension. See how this will shape the bag?

12. Fold the body of the bag to the side piece of the bag, wiggling the part next to where the side stitches attach the bag.

The Timtex wrapped around the side piece. See the shape of the bag? The notch is cut at the bottom (or 6 o'clock position)

13. Match the top of the bag with the top of the side piece. Stitch from the top to the bottom where the side piece joins. The Timtex is stiff, show it who is boss! Repeat for the other side piece and repeat for the other side of the bag.

14. The hardest part is where the body of the bag meets the side stitches that are there. You are forcing the Timtex (and later the fabric and lining) to turn a corner. Be patient, wiggle it around and you will be able to do this step!

15. Yay! It is starting to look like a real bag now!

16. Stitch both side pieces to the body of the bag in the same manner. The flap will be above the now completed bag.

17. Create the outer fabric of the sock bag in the same way you made the Timtex shell. Use the same seam allowance on the outer fabric that you used on the shell.

The fabric body pinned to the fabric side piece.

18. If you want to add an inner pocket, this is the time.

19. For the lining, fold down the lining extension on the fabric and press. From the center back, mark 1 inch down from the fold where you turned the extension. Center up the felt pocket, which has been folded in half. The fold of the felt should be the top edge. Use a zigzag stitch or a fairly close straight stitch to attach the pocket to the bag. It is easier to attach the pocket when the lining fabric is flat.

20. Now stitch the shape in the lining using ½” seam allowance. You want the lining to be slightly smaller than the body of the sock bag.

21. Press, Press, Press. Nice flat seams, and nice crisp bottom corners will pay off later.

22. With the right side of the outer fabric OUT, put the Timtex shell inside the fabric. Line everything up just right. Pull the fabric tight around the shell and press if you need to. The fit should be fairly snug, the sides might have a little play, which is okay. Using a fabric glue stick, wrap the outer fabric around the shell. Fabulous!

23. Insert the lining with the pocket to the back of the sock bag.

24. Progress, sweet progress!

25. You will be able to pin the lining snugly to the top edge of the bag, just bring the lining and the outer fabric together a teensy smidge above the shell. The bag and lining should be smooth around the front and back.

26. If the sides have any extra, you can simply form a pleat and pin.

27. Now time for the felt flap lining. Lay out the felt, lay the bag on it’s back and trace around the flap, extending the felt piece about 4 inches so it will tuck in between the lining and the shell. Cut around the shape you have traced.

Trace around the sock bag flap onto the wool felt --Cut out the shape you have traced

28. Lay the shape on your bag flap. You want it to be JUST inside the flap so you may need to trim off a tiny bit on the top of the flap and down each side.

The felt pinned inside the bag

29. Fabric glue will help you hold it down.

30. Topstitch around the bag from 1” inch above where the flap meets the bag all around. Go around at ¼” from the edge. Check to make sure that you have caught the felt lining in your stitches.

31. The opening is where you will insert your purse strap.

32. The strap is easy. Press the fabric of the strap, fold it right sides together and pin. Stitch along the long edge ¼” from the edge and turn to the right side. Using a safety pin, insert the Timtex strap shape and pin the fabric to the Timtex ½” inch up from the bottom of the strap. There is more fabric than Timtex strap, that is the fabric will gather up as you insert the strap. Pin the other end when the fabric is all around the firm strap. Arrange the gathers evenly and press well on both sides. The fabric should lay rather flat.

The finished & ruched bag strap, topstitching in place

33. Topstitch very close to the long edge of the strap on both sides.

34. Looks great!

35. Insert the strap into the top flap of the bag just where the flap begins to fold over the top of the bag. You should have an opening in the felt flap lining here. Pin.

36. Stitch the strap in by machine, make sure to back stitch so the strap is nice and secure.

37. Top stitch around the flap of the bag, from the front. One row of stitching at a presser foot’s width, and one row very close to the edge.

38. Give the bag another good press with steam.

39. Cute bag! Almost done.

40. What button have you decided on? You’ll need it to determine the size of your button loop.

41. To cut the button loop cut a piece of your body fabric 4”x2”. Press that in half and stitch very close to the edge. Press and fold in half again. Press nice and flat.

42. Hold the loop so that you can get the button in and out easily. Now pin the loop to the center of the bag flap on the inside. The loop will point down toward the bottom of the bag when the bag is closed.

43. Mark with your fabric marker the place on the bag to sew on the button.

44. Stitch the button on, wrapping around the threads that attach it quite a few times to form a nice shank.

45. Now……… double check! Does the button loop catch the button? Does it need to be smaller, or larger?

46. When you have the button loop just right, machine stitch both legs of the button loop along the inside line of topstitching.

47. Almost done!

48. See where the bottom of the bag sits flat on the table? You will stitch the front and back of the sock bag along this edge, VERY close to the edge. It will make the bag sit better and it looks very professional.

49. DONE! Great job!

The finished bag hanging on a hook next to the door, at the ready!

50. Now, quick make one for yourself too!

No time to make one? No sewing skills whatsoever??? Leave me a comment and I'll randomly pick the name of a winner! Win-nah! I'll announce the winner next Saturday!

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Past one solitary round on the Knitty hat I'd love to finish for so I can wrap gifts and mail to my oldest daughter and her family, not another knitting stitch happened for me yesterday, not a single one. One row hardly counts when there is So Much To Do. It's the thick of holiday portraits at the studio and that entailed putting up the set, three more trees and the backdrop and everything that goes along with that. We won't even mention the hauling and schlepping. By the time I got home late last night it was time to root around in the refrigerator and find something to eat and plop down on the couch long enough to get the energy to head to the shower and to bed.

One of our longstanding clients, a really wonderful woman with a lovely family is struggling with breast cancer. Her short remission post double mastectomy is over and this Christmas with her family is likely the last they will all be together. I'm just so sad. That's definitely one of the hard things about working in a photography studio, we are with families full circle from birth, and life and marriage--- and when death touches a family member it is always difficult. We have the honor and privilege of taking the last family portrait, one that will last for generations and preserve the legacy of this lovely woman...... but it is at the same time so hard to hold back tears. Please remember to make memories of your own, not for yourself but for those who will follow you. As I say all the time and will repeat again, it's all about the love!

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Today is quite thankfully a new day, I do so love that each new day is fresh and clean! Tomorrow, Day Nine of Knitting Contrisstmas, brings an easy knitted project-- a great little giftie to create!