Happy Halloween! Hey everyone,
I'm still here. I have been working on this "Lush Carpet Bag". A pattern I got from a Leisure Arts book called In the Bag featuring Lion Brand yarns. I love me some Homespun. Not working with it, per say, but the colors and texture of it are great!!

I used Adirondack Homespun(it took about 2 and a little of 3 skeins) plus Basil Thick chenille (2 skeins). I already had the Homespun so really it cost me about $12 for the chenille. The handles are some my husband has made for me for just such occasions. Sorry the picture is so wonky; I had it all nice and laid out and found that the camera had no batteries (surprise). Then while they were charging, I filled the bag with my work stuff and just propped it against the wall.
It is super thick. Makes the fabric of the bag more dense. With this bulky yarn I had to use a J hook. Yikes. My fingers are sore now, but it was worth it.
Hope you all have fun on Halloween and that you all got that extra hour of sleep Sunday morning. I was up early, but that is nothing new.
Peace~ DAWN  ¶ 3:17 PM |

  Aah, Thanks Mouse You just had to talk about Dark Candles on your blog a few weeks ago, didn't you, Mouse. Well just look what you made me go and do:

They are wonderful. I ordered an assortment of scents because it was my first time. They came rather quickly (I just let them pick the colors, I am more interested in the smell anyway). Below the candles is part of the new flooring that my husband put down. It looks beautiful in our hallway.

Peace~ DAWN

  ¶ 9:05 AM |

  Rad Bad Beanies Some of you may have seen the Link on my sidebar for Rad Bad Beanies. I have chosen to do this for part of my 25 Things for charity project. This is the first beanie I decided was "Rad" enough. I think I can get about 3 hats out of one skein of black.
First modeled on me:








Then on my son:

Okay, so this one is his, but the others are for charity. I swear. Here is the pattern: Snowboarder Skullies
(with modifications made by moi) and here is Dana's flamin' idea.

Pretty cool, no?

Okay, I have more beanies to make. Have a great weekend.
Peace~ DAWN  ¶ 4:46 PM |

  Button Button, I Have a Button A big shout out to Kaity from PunkRockKnitter, for making this Sa-weet button for my blog:

Thank you very much.

~DAWN

  ¶ 9:19 PM |

  Moving On Okay, first of all thanks for all the encouragement and interest in the "bag". I really appreciated all the words of support ( and needed to hear them).

Next, thank you to all of you who wished me good health in the house of vomit. I want to say all of your positive energy (and a good dose of antibacterial cleaning product) did the trick. The "boys" are gaining strength and I am happy to report that I feel fine. I'm also glad to hear I would have been welcome at a number of your homes had I needed to slip out in the night.

Now, I have a request. I would like a button to put on my sidebar stating:
Patterns by Wild Yarn. Any of you out there so inclined to put your graphic talents to work for me, I would be very grateful {she said with a sweet grin while batting eyelashes}.

My husband has a job interview tomorrow. Fingers crossed. This is like number 6 or 7. I hope this one takes. He would have to commute an hour each way, but frankly, benefits and extra income would be worth it at this point. He got groomed today at the salon and looks shiny and new. He has his goatee/mustache thing going but it is trim and nice looking. I wanted his sideburns a little longer, but whatever. . .

I am about half way done with the Family Circle Easy Crochet tote bag. I'm using up extra yarn from the Well Traveled bag for it. If it turns out half as nice as other peoples, well, lets just say I know quite a few who are gonna get one for Christmas. Not you, Kivajo--settle down.

Well, you all have a great day and I hope to have a few pictures next time of something else that I am sending my secret pal in her reveal package.

Peace~ DAWN  ¶ 1:23 PM |

  The Answer was NO You know what, I posted MY pattern. So, there.  ¶ 1:55 PM |

  Well Traveled Bag
  ¶ 7:43 AM |

  Blah! Blah! I hate sickness!!
Sunday and Monday my youngest had the pukes/craps and today it is my husband.
Please, please, please don't let me get sick.
I have cloroxed and lysoled, wiped and washed my way around this house. Not to mention the handwashing that has taken place.
If it isn't enough that the sound of puking and groaning from the craps will make you ill, my dad decided that he was gonna boil TURNIPS! What the hell.
Can I come live at your house for a few days? I'm a licensed massage therapist. I can give you a back rub.
Fine.
I'll dig my way out of this hell. Oh, and if that isn't enough drama. My oldest got bit by (we think) a spider sometime over the weekend and the back of his arm is swollen and red. To add to the fun, yesterday kids at school started asking if it was a Brown Recluse that bit him. "They're deadly, ya know". This is my hypocondriac son. We had to take him to the doctors yesterday so he could be reassured that he will not be taken to the other side by this bite on his arm. **Bonus: we have no health insurance at this moment so it's gonna cost us. But, we love our kids and their peace of mind and happiness are all that matter.
I better not get sick...
Peace~ DAWN  ¶ 2:09 PM |

  THE BAG May I present to you my felted "well traveled" bag:

Before felting:
Size was 10" wide x 11" tall x 5" deep (ignore the cording because I didn't like how it turned out felted so I made a different handle).






After felting :
Finished size is 7" wide x 9" tall x 4" deep. I used some metal eyelets for the holes to slide the handle through (you can't really see those in the picture) and I made my handle from leather that I braided and then knotted at the ends.




Here is a side view:

I used Knitpicks wool of the Andes yarn:
2 skeins blueberry
2 skeins fern
1 skein maple syrup
1 skein snickerdoodle
6 yards of leather cut into 2 yards each
8 eyelets
and 3 times in the wash cycle and one in the spin and tahdah! I love how it turned out and the colors are great and the wool felted like a dream. It is holding its bottom shape really well, but if I feel like it need support (and who doesn't) then I will cut a piece of plastic canvas to fit and cover it with some felt or cloth and that should take care of any "saggy" bottom. I wish mine where as easy to fix, but that is another story.

Thanks for checking in to see how it turned out. I was told that Julie of the booga bag may get upset about my crochet bag so I won't be offering it to CrochetMe. If any of you want the pattern, however, let me know and I will send it to you. Have a great day! Peace~ DAWN

P.S per Elizabeths advice *grin* I have contacted Julie and asked if you would mind if I offered the pattern publically. I'll let you know what she says.  ¶ 10:57 AM |

  Of Felt and Exams and Charity. . . First things first; for any on you who may care... I passed my CTA exam with a 93%! yeah! so my nites are free to crochet or read or whatever now, instead of studying.

Next, my felted bag (which has yet to be "named") turned out perfect! I mean it, perfect. It is still in the blocking stage but by this weekend, I will have attached the handle and will post about it with pictures. I may see if CrochetMe wants to put the pattern in the Dec./Jan. issue, if not I'll just throw it out there myself.

Finally:

I made these for 25 Things (see sidebar). Let me thrill you: all this came from ONE skein of LB Wool Ease Chunky on sale for $3.22. Hellooo. . . that is one ski hat, one headband and one scrunchie for $3.22! I have like one yard of yarn left. That is awesome in my book, cause it means I don't have a bitty bitty ball to add to my stash. I'm so happy. I have one more skein to go (the green one called "grass") and then I will hit the stash pile to make more hats for charity.

Off to decompress. Oh, thank you so much Secret Pal for the encouragement on my test-- you rock!

Peace all~ DAWN

  ¶ 5:42 PM |

  More Yarn Okay, okay--I know I have stated in the past that I need to de-stash really really badly. But here is the thing... I joined 25 Things for Charity {side note: please check out this group of awesome people who are trying to make a difference through their craft of choice and if you feel the desire to, please join us--} back to my excuse; I joined 25 Things and then went to Hobby Lobby to kill some time while my spouse went in search of more parque flooring. They have a ton of Lion Brand on sale (don't rush to the store until you have finished reading my blog. . . it's rude). There on the shelf was Spice and Grass in LB chunky. Well, you know and I know that they would make great winter hats for someone. So in the name of charity I bought two skeins--see, I have will power.

If that weren't enough, I then went on to Walmart and found the Easy Knitting plus Crochet. I haven't even looked in it yet. I simply saw it, threw it in my cart and got the hell out of there with my fix in tow.

Felting update:

I have completed my bag (I wrote the pattern down as I went so I could share it with all you good people if they whole felting/fulling thing works out) I have only to finish up the end of the corded handle (I need my son to photograph me making a couple of stitches for the pattern) and then on THURSDAY I will be felting my heart out. Then I will go and take my CTA exam and proceed to throw up. Any who, it looks really really good and I can't wait to share it with you.

Peace all~ DAWN

  ¶ 1:22 PM |

  What's Cookin'? Why, it's a pot of Wool of the Andes from knitpicks.com and for a little spice, some sock landscapes in 'red wood forest'. Mmmmmm.

I had joined the CAL at Crochetville for making the FCEC Tote bag and I did start it. Then I saw Jewels blog and remembered seeing and loving the Booga Bag. No offense to the tote bag, I just like this one much much better. So I have abandoned the tote in favor of compiling a crochet pattern for the Booga Bag. So far so good I am just freaking out about the size right now and hoping that it shrinks (I mean a couple of inches all around!).

We went to town to get some flooring (parque) to match our entry way and to go down the hallway leading to the bedrooms. We needed 9 and ended up with 6. When we got to one store they didn't have the color we needed (oak-hello) so they called their distribution store and they had of all things, NINE!! so they were to set them aside until we made it there to pick them up. When we got there and the guy pushed the cart up it only had six in it. We were like 'whoa, where are the other three?' and he says, "oh, someone must have seen them in the cart and taken them." WHAT! I won't get into what took place next. They are suppose to get 3 more boxes from another store and call us Monday with the pickup info.

Must get back to my bag and to the reveal I am making for my secret pal. Have a great Autumn day!
Peace all~ DAWN  ¶ 7:54 AM |

  Who's a Cute Bear? Yes, you are! This is Pumpkin Bear from the Big Book of Bears. His is so cute and so tiny. He is only about 6 inches high. He will reside at work with me (probably sitting in a bowl of candy for the clients) and then. . .he will be gifted to my secret pal as a part of her reveal package. I just don't want to hide him away for the next few weeks. He is just so damn cute.

I said that I finished the economesh bag from Natalie and I now will show you the picture of the finished project:

It turned out so good and I highly recommend this pattern. I made mine out of La Espiga Nylon. It is super strong and durable and I love the colors you can turn them out in. I used the varigated green for the main portion and when I ran out I did a couple of rows in the matching 'celery' color. I have some red and blue left so those will be bags for my co-workers for Christmas. Thanks for such a great pattern Natalie!! you rock.

Hope you all are having a great weekend. Peace~ DAWN  ¶ 1:13 PM |