Some knitting

I tend to knit a lot when Mr Odysseus is out of town(or state) for work. Well, I also knit a lot when he is here.

So, the point is, I knit. A fair amount.

I tend to start projects and then start new projects as soon as I see an interesting pattern or yarn. I've been making a green cabled handbag out of craft cord that I started back at the beginning of summer and haven't made much progress on. The craft cord is a good, durable, material for a handbag, but it is very difficult to knit, particularly with cables. What was I thinking? By the time I get back to it and finish it, devise a strap, put it together, and find a suitably poncy fabric to line it, it will probably be next summer. And that's fine.

I started an entrelac (how exactly do you pronounce that?) scarf recently because I saw a yarn I wanted to work with.

So of course I started the Danica scarf.

The absolute best yarn to use for this scarf, according to most of the 1000+ people on Ravelry who have made it, seems to be Patons SWS. It splits like crazy and has no twist, but it is plush and has a bit of a sheen. Three skeins were recommended, but I just purchased a fourth - managed to find the same dye lot too - because I'd much rather have a scarf a bit too long than too short.






My other project lately has been market bags. I've bought a couple reusable bags at grocery stores, nylon things that would fray all to hell if you damaged them in any way. And let's not forget that I never ever remember to take them to the store. Part of it is I would feel super awkward. Despite the fact that both major retail stores (that's right, -two-) in our very small town sell reusable bags, I have never seen anyone use them. Ever. I doubt the baggers would even know what to do if I handed them one. So bringing a handmade one seems even more out of the question.

How do people do this? I know people knit market bags all the time and I've even seen some pictures of bags with groceries in them. Our small town is probably not the place to bring handmade reusable bags, but I'll still feel awkward after we move. Ugh.

So by the time I manage to figure this out, if ever, I should have a couple made that I will either forget to take with me, or be too embarrassed to ask them to use.

The Grrlfriend Market Bag on Ravelry is a popular choice. And is easy as hell. The circular cast on was new to me, but I used this tutorial and it wasn't so bad.

I like DPNs, despite the fact that everyone else in the world is obsessed with this Magic Loop thing.

The bag went well. It's a really simple k2tog, yo repeat, but I even managed to screw that up on a few rounds although it's not like you can really tell.

<--- Yes, this photo is staged.

I knit with Sugar N Cream cotton because it's a staple and I already had a ton of it from making dishcloths. Although I would love to try a cotton/linen blend for extra strength. I've seen Linen at my LYS and it is expensive, but KnitPicks Cotlin is pretty cheap at <$3 per 123 yards.

My first bag used less than a ball of each color. My next bag will be a bit bigger, and I think a modification for two handles instead of one will make it easier to load.