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Free Pattern! Saturday Night Knitted Purse

CogKnition — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:08:25 +0000

Photo by Randall Smith

Pattern: Saturday Night, by Lauren Abrams and ME!
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, Cavern, 2 skeins
Needles: US 6 (4.0mm) and US 7 (4.5mm) Addi Turbos

Saturday Night, aka Mystery Project #3, is the first result of an ongoing collaboration with Lauren Abrams.

Lauren is the woman behind LaBeana Bags. Her designs are beautiful and she is a joy to work with. The look of the bag is all hers, I’m just the one behind the scenes, translating her art into a knitting pattern. Not that knitting can’t be art, but my role in this project is more of an engineer.

I hope you enjoy the pattern as much as I enjoyed helping to create it.

And yes, Mystery Project #4 in the sidebar is also a Lauren collaboration. I’ll be shipping her the finished sample this afternoon.

Other pattern news: I’ve made two small corrections to the Amy Scarf pattern (fixed a typo in row 17 of the pattern, and deleted an erroneous knit stitch in the instructions for KRL). Please download a new copy!

Pencil Bag

CogKnition — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:26:38 +0000

Fabric: Two fat quarters
Pattern: Pencil Bag

When we last left off with the Pencil Bag, I was having issues installing the zipper.

Is it also called frogging if you’re ripping with a seam ripper? Anyways, after lots of that, and re-sewing, I wound up with this:

Acceptably-straight topstitching. Woohoo! I trimmed off the excess at the top and bottom of the zipper, overlocked the edges, and then turned my attention to the binding.

I had started with two fat quarters and so had plenty of fabric left over. I decided to make a single-fold binding out of the lining fabric. After several stages of FAIL:

I had two strips of binding that were the right length. Although the pattern suggests 13″ of binding, I needed nearly 14″ to have enough to fold over the edges.

I tried for a long time to topstitch the binding on, but the corners were too thick to feed easily through my machine. So I used a hand finish instead.

There’s a little puckering, but it’ll do. The other end looks a bit better. Also, note the perils of sewing with flimsy fabric.

I’m supposed to show you the inside too, so:

Ta-da! From this angle it looks like a tissue-paper holder. With a zipper. For a very strange size of tissue paper.

This will probably be my last sewing post for the month. Next week I’ll be heading out to visit my dad, whose health has taken a downturn. For a while we thought he might actually beat this thing against all odds—Tarceva is a wonderful drug—but now things are a bit uncertain.

And after that, my husband and I are moving apartments. I should have a much better workspace in our new place, but I’ll have to pack up the sewing stuff before I go so he can more efficiently clean and pack while I’m away.

Other entries about the Pencil Bag:

Project Problems

Japanese Knot Bag

CogKnition — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 19:08:38 +0000

Fabric: Two fat quarters
Pattern: Japanese Knot Bag

Success! The finished bag is about 5″ in diameter and 7″ high, excluding the handles. It’s the perfect size for two cakes of Cascade 220.

I chose a couple of basic cotton prints that I like, but didn’t love. This was so I wouldn’t cry if I royally screwed it up.

Cutting and pinning went smoothly.

And then I successfully wound a bobbin in not-quite-matching thread.

As I started sewing for real, two things happened:

I got so absorbed in it that I forgot to take more progress photos
It seemed…easier…than I remembered

At some point I realized that this was my first time sewing on a machine with modern accoutrements. Quite possibly my first time sewing on a machine not older than me, actually. I don’t know if things like quick-set bobbins and speed control really make that much of a difference in the ease of sewing or if I’m just Older and Wiser, but straight seams came with very little effort. Unlike my previous sewing projects, which all are covered with meandering top-stitching.

I did hit a few snags due to seams that didn’t line up properly, but I made the seam ripper my friend and it all came out ok. It won’t win any construction awards, but it’s presentable on both sides!

Prentice Yoga Mat Bag

CogKnition — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:57:17 +0000

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 2 skeins #3553, 1 skein #3411, 1 skein #3002
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 4 (3.5mm)

This project really began over a year ago, when I cast on for the original Prentice. I had just gotten back from a research conference and wanted to make a poster tube carrier to make transporting my research posters easier and make it less likely that airport security will accuse me of trying to carry on a pool cue or a battering ram. I have carried the original Prentice to a couple conferences since, and it’s held up pretty well. People always make nice comments on it too.

Then I had the brilliant idea that I would also make a yoga mat bag version—I needed another bag anyways—and write up the pattern for both versions.

Except that the first Prentice wasn’t that fun to knit, and it was a royal pain to put together. The second Prentice, after a few modifications, was a bit easier put together, but was approximately this fun to knit:

Shown here is the graph of my enthusiasm about the project vs. time since cast-on. Key points are annotated.

Now that it’s done, I really like the finished yoga mat bag. It’s just big enough for a standard-size yoga mat and yoga strap. Like the original Prentice, this one has handles made of nylon strapping attached with metal hardware. The length of the main strap is adjustable. I love the bright colors and sheen of the Tahki Cotton Classic. I’m sure I’ll use and love the bag for years, but I’m glad to have this one off my project list.

Other entries about Prentice Yoga Mat Bag:

Prentice Poster Tube Carrier

CogKnition — Mon, 20 Nov 2006 16:32:53 +0000

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Tahki Cotton Classic, 2 skeins #3774, 1 skein #3784, 1 skein #3002
Needles: Addi Turbos, US 4 (3.5mm)

A couple weeks ago, I finally got my act together and seamed this guy together, after claiming I would do so about two months ago. And now, I finally got my act together and took pictures of the finished item.

I have to re-think some bits of the pattern for the yoga mat bag version. I was hoping to make this project beginner-friendly and right now there’s a lot of very fiddly seaming and sewing.

I’m pretty pleased with the finished item, though. I used D-rings and 1″ strapping for more durability, and it’ll make transporting a poster to my next conference a heckuva lot easier.

Other entries about Prentice Poster Tube Carrier:

Slow and Steady

CogKnition — Sat, 06 May 2006 20:16:13 +0000

Quinn is done. I’ve sewn the lining in

and taken her out for a spin.

I’m a poet! (But I know it.)

Continue reading Slow and Steady (438 words) »

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Box, Box, Bag, Bag!

CogKnition — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 21:41:35 +0000

Before I get started telling the story of my latest UFO sighting, I have a few announcements to make.

There is commentary about the latest developments in the stitch and/&/’n bitch saga at girl from auntie.

If you donated to the knitting proposals at Donors Choose after reading my entry–thanks so much! If you haven’t yet, please consider it. One of the proposals is only $165 away from being fully funded. To the donor(s): You rock!

Ok, now that’s out of the way, it’s time to tell the story of the Eggplant Bag.

The Christmas after I learned to knit, my mother gave me a gift certificate to a LYS near my parents’ house called The French Knot II. It’s a little shop with some great stock for its size. I wanted to make Meema’s Felted Marsupial Tote from Stitch ‘N Bitch so I set off for the store in search of some worsted weight wool.

Continue reading Box, Box, Bag, Bag! (1,000 words) »

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CogKnition » Bags

Free Pattern! Saturday Night Knitted Purse

Similar Posts:

Pencil Bag

Similar Posts:

Japanese Knot Bag

Similar Posts:

Prentice Yoga Mat Bag

Similar Posts:

Prentice Poster Tube Carrier

Similar Posts:

Slow and Steady

Box, Box, Bag, Bag!