Today at work

In Dutch 'Let's go eat'

me 'Ja'

'oh, so you speak Dutch?'

'No, not really'

'But you speak such good French'

I say nothing...my colleague (French) starts laughing... 'yeay, that would be because she is French'

Awkward silence followed by the compulsory 'no, really, but, no, seriously, blah blah' hihi, the usual..

'but does she speak good French then?'

'well actually, she has a bit of an English accent...well more like intonations'

I am MOR-TI-FIED....I mean come on i know i make words up in French ALL THE TIME...but the accent? New one on me...

The is no pleasing some people...

I am still on a high from finishing my pattern (see 10th April for details) and I am daydreaming about the use of the beaded ribbon...I see lace, I see beads, I see a bag, I see seriously summery colours....and a headache trying to design the lace pattern...but I will get there! I have even got the handle done already and a bit of the side...and i will have to beg for use of an i-cord maker...

Finished! (and grow your own cat)

The magic ball bag is finished... and the ball revealed it's final content: some gorgeous ribbon trimmed with dangly beads!

Oh...the love!

I although thought I'd include a couple of pics from the weekend before: flowers and cycling in sunny Holland!

And last but not least: available at a flower market near you: cat in a pot (just add water). Pretty cheap too!

The one where I got pooped on...

Days seem to follow the weather...

Some are really good (like 2 designers saying yes to pattern translation services and random networking on the train, as well as making knitting progress)...

and some not so great, like bills for £100+ arriving in flocks, friends vanishing into the sunset, bag sides not matching and pigeons deciding that my purple cardigan looks like a public toilet.

I take heart in the fact that it COULD have been my cashmere cardi... that the bag sides were crochet-ed on (so the joint has been frogged)...and that the bills will get sorted out...to some extent...

but I STILL have a poopy cardigan...

so i shall just go back to reading the ranting of Laurie about yard fart, and listening to L&V elaborating on possible recipes for recycled fridge mould (yum, mexican mold...now EXTRA SPICY)

------and then she drops a fork-full of tomato sauce on her trouser leg------

* resists the temptation to check out silk yarn AND cashmere lace yarn on jardindeslaines.com* ...and BREATHE....

The bag...and the pattern to go with!

You've seen the bag, and it is calling your name (yes...it's Monday...how did you guess?)

Want to make your own? Read on!

Materials:

Lana Grossa (silk/acrylic) Gala Print in colour 506 1 ball (50g, 90m)
Lana Grossa (cotton) Basics in colour HP No 31 1 and half ball (50g, 90m)
Needles: 4mm (straight)
crochet hook: 3mm

applique felf flowers...present from my magic ball swapper!

LOTS of pins

Main body:

With knitting needles, cast on 54 st (I used cable cast on for a more defined edge).

Row 1: [(KFB)3 times, (K2tog)6 times, (KFB)3 times]3 times (still 54 st)
Row 2: change to other colour, K1, purl to last st, K1

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you have a sufficient length for the bag flap AND the back, minus say about half an inch, ending after a row 1.

Row A: change to other colour, K1, purl to last st, K1
Row B: Knit to end

Work 5 repeats in total of rows A and B (so you'll have 3 stripes of one colour and 2 of the other)... ending with a row A (so I guess that's 5.5)

Row 1: [(K2togKFB)3 times, (KFB)6 times, (K2tog)3 times]3 times (still 54 st)
Row 2: change to other colour, K1, purl to last st, K1

Repeat until front length is almost achieved (leaving about 1 inch). By now you can see that the bottom (folded along middle strip of the stock portion) naturally makes that scalloped edge (magic instant wiggly bottom!)...ending with a row 2.

Next row: [(K2togKFB)3 times, knit 6 times, (K2tog)3 times]3 times (36 st)

Carry on in stripey stockinet as before 9 starting with a row B for a total of 9 rows (last row is a WS)

Bind off. weave in ends.

If you want a neat finish (like me) now is a good time to sc along the edge with the pretty silk yarn...

Sides/strap:

(note: 2sc means '2 sc in the same stitch', sc x a means work in sc for a stitches, dc means decrease, number after - is the stitch count...just so we're clear!)
Using crochet hook, loop 1, chain 1.

row 1: 2sc in 2nd loop from the hook, ch1, turn-2st

row 2: 2sc, 2sc, ch1, turn -4st

row 3: 2sc, sc, sc, 2sc, ch1, turn -6st

row 4: 2sc, sc x 4, 2sc, ch1, turn -8st

row 5: sc in every sc, ch1, turn

work in sc (as row 5) until your arms fall off, or even, until you have a length sufficient for the strap AND both sides of the bag.

row 1:dc, sc x 4, ch1, turn -6st

row 2:dc, sc x 2, dc, ch1, turn -4st

row 3: dc, dc, ch1, turn -2st

row4: dc, ch1, turn -1st

fasten off. Tidy off those lose ends.

You could knit a similar strap, but crochet give a more sturdy finish. Decrease would work the same though.

Now for the putting together...and the many pins.

First line up the strap along the bag and mark on the strap where the top of the front panel comes too...for both sides...now check them against eachother to amke sure you have the same number of crochet rows from the tip...don't laugh, i had to frog the whole border!!

Now pin the tip of the strap to the middle stripe of the bottom of the bag and pin the front edge too.

Do both before pinning the back, and to make sure the bag flap seats nicely pin the back edge up to 1 row higher than the front.

Now get the crochet hook out again (yes, you can use a needle, if you must...) and sc the edge and the strap, starting at one tip (i worked from the strap to the body, ie pushing the hook through strap then body) all the way along the strap (it takes longer but it's SOOO much neater) down to the tip, and same again on other side.

If using pretty applique, you may want to add it now...

With some nice fabric, line your bag.

Tip: the bottom stands out better when in us if the lining stops just before the crest of the waves

This is a free pattern copyrighted to me. I believe in good Karma, so feel free to print it and share it, but not sell the pattern or the items using the pattern...unless it is for a charity (and no your yarn fund is NOT a charity)

I find the flap is heavy enough that it needs no button, but i may add a pressure clip just to be sure...

Voila!

Let me know of any pattern errata as it has not been tested...

I was born on escape day...when were you?

More Fun Quizzes at QuizPox.com

Attempt number 2 at posting my weekend

*the internet ate my post*...doh! So this version is shorter!

Ah the lovely Easter weekend that was had...

First the magic ball came, full of little treasures... (check out the little egg cover top left)

Then I went to see the flower fields and the Keukenhof gardens

The magic ball will be a little bag, with a wave pattern..and i think it will be my first official pattern on the blog! All made by MEEEEEEEE !!

Today I am loving...

moldy cupcakes!

Make you own with Glee's *FREE* pattern: http://www.gleefulthings.com/patterns/moldycupcake.html

Soooo cute!

More Karmic post...

Also known as why-oh-why...

Dear Cosmic postman,
Thank you for delivering my eyes yesterday (yes, you read that correctly...more of that later) but I could have done without the extra ex-housemate aggro. Let it be known to the Universe that B. is not a nice individual (he is taking out a bit chunk of my deposit for no other than 'he can') and i really hope you have some Karma to give him soon. Please help me find a new job somewhere nice with nice people.
Thank you!

Now the state of affairs is this: I want a new job but I don't know what...but there are worst ways to spend the Easter weekend.

Now if only i could crochet/knit full time for a living... mmh, note to self...must get notebook...

But this all thing is making me realise good things about other people...including BF...who is turning out to be a lot more supportive than I was expecting...and it makes me more grateful for the decent people in my life. so good Karma all round!!

So turns out the glass is half-full...who would have thought... ;-)

Blisters....

Today I have woken to find blisters under my feet...

The walking at the weekend has taken its toll on my skin. Well, after all we did go all the way from Delfthaven to Blaak, then to CS, then to Kralingen BY FOOT...

The many snacks on the way did help (Dad wanted to try EV-E-RY-THING) but ... still...

No knitting, no crochet for the whole weekend ... I am BEHIND schedule...and still the magicball to to put together...

Dear Spoilee, please forgive me for being so disorganised that I have not even started putting the ball together. In fact I realised yesterday that I purchased yarn in the UK that does NOT have instruction on the tag as far as gauge, yardage etc... I will have to beg the knitting community to help me on that one! So for now dear spoilee, be patient...I will come up with the goods...and pretty stuff too...and YUMMY stuff too. But this instant my feet demand rest, and the shopping will wait until Saturday.
Bestest fuzziest regards, Adeline

Lovely yarn, that I can't show, lots of ideas, that I can't sound-board here...doh!