Just Bamboo project

I've decided (about as well as I can so far) to knit either a tank top or 3/4 sleeve top out of the Just Bamboo. I went back to Twisted (for a MS3 meet-up and that was fun) and while there I purchased enough of the Just Bamboo to do the little top.

So. I've cast on and am knitting away. So far I have about 2" done on what will be the back. I want to get pretty far on it before I go back to the MS3 project, since I'm behind there anyway. Also the Just Bamboo is on size 9s so quite different from the lace knitting! I tried yos in a swatch and they were HUGE .

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Mystery Stole 3 progress

Well, I've finally finished a chart! Chart A of clue 1 is now complete. The lifeline is ravel cord and I keep it together with the bobbin you see in the photo. I put a quarter in so people could see relative size. I think it will be just fine.

I'm using Fino Alpaca with a twist (Alpaca/Silk) and US size 4 needles. The beads don't show up much in this photo. Will have to take a close-up again a bit later.

Lots learned while doing just this little bit. But have to head into the office and so won't be back to posting about it until later.

My son gets back from Germnay tonight, so I may not get back to this for a few days. We will see!

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C'est fini! Stormy Sky bag is done.

Well, it is done. I am really looking forward to using it. I have it loaded up now for the MS3 project and am waiting for lunch time to actually start.

I really like that I used a frame for the interior.... it means you get a really clear view of the pattern from both front and back.

The strap is also continuous, so you can adjust it to be just over one shoulder, or if you want, you can adjust it to fit diagonally across the body. I really like that flexibility.

I also put in what I'm calling a "Pattern holder". See the interior view (with the Aran Golf cap pattern in there). I have had a problem in the past with patterns falling all over inside the knitting tote and then you have to pull it out of the way to get to what you need.

Another side-effect of using the plastic canvas for the interior/frame, is that you can attach D-rings around the sides and then attach things to the D-rings. The detachable bag in the last photo is attached to a D-ring with a crab hook. The scissors are on one of those retractable holders for ID tags (found at Office Depot).

So much fun! but glad its done... itching to get to the Mystery Stole and a new way of attaching beads (for me).

(P.S. The knitting pattern for the bag is for sale now at my website Fiber Rhythm Craft & Design's shopping cart. Which btw has been very easy to add to and maintain so far, thanks Zen Cart!!)

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Lollipop, Lollipop

Working with Bamboo at 22 wpi with two strands can be a challenge. To put it bluntly, it tangles. It jumps out of the ball and tries to attach itself to anything in your knitting bag.

I actually spent pretty much the whole flight to Spain working on untangling my yarn (This was before I read "No Sheep for Ewe" so I was foolishly trying to pull from the center of the ball... which, trickily enough, works great for awhile)

See the photo for my latest solution: Lollipop bags. I got them at Michaels. They are a pretty good size for small balls of yarn. They leave enough room for the ball to unwind (from the outside). And they are inexpensive.

For my next project with this yarn, I think I would try to put the two lollipop bags with the same color together in a larger drawstring bag. Just to make finding your two color ends a bit quicker....

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What fun!

The meetup of the PDX-Knit-Bloggers was a lot of fun. My only regret is that I still have no camera! So I'm depending on others to post their photos. It was great to meet so many like-minded individuals and such an inspiration to see the projects.

I was happy to see that there were several projects in Bamboo! Even a very nice top in the same Bambu 7 I've used for the Stormy Sky sweater and bag (different color). Gotta love it. And also inspired by the several MS3 projects underway.

Good to see Peggy McMullen again, (from the Oregonian knitting blog k2tog) and to meet Mims as well.

We pretty well had the room at capacity and snacks were provided ! My thanks to Knit Purl and the PDX-Knit-blogger (yahoo group) organizers (Bobbie, et al) and hope there are many more meetups in our future-- it will take me awhile to get everyone's names and their associated blogs down.

Well-- back to the "Stormy Sky bag"... just need to finish the strap and the pockets!!

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MS3 and Stormy sky bag update

I realized that the Bambu 7 is about 22 wpi and that I really wanted a lacier look. Checked my stash and I have either some really old acrylic or a couple of half-white/half-brown or half-white/half-blue cotton. Both of which are closer to 30 wpi. I just didn't relish the idea of using either for what I had envisioned was a nice soft dark stole.

So that meant trips to the LYSs. My sis and I went out just before 7pm on Thursday. We went to Yarn Garden first, which is the closest, and they were out of the dark colors in the right weight... too many MS3ers in the area? Then we went on to Twisted (which fortuneatley is open until 8 pm) and found a very nice, very black Alpaca/Silk mix. Fino. Looks like 1 skein will work.

The beads I already have will work with that as well. Then I checked into the crochet hook stash, and the smallest I had was a 10, which is too big for these. I really like the idea of the crochet hook technique (and not stringing them all). So off again Friday night this time to Michaels. They had a single size 12. Looks like that will work for these beads.

So Happy again.. finished up a bit more on the "Stormy Sky" bag (another day? looking good), then up this morning (Saturday) to tackle some more knitting and got COMPLETELY side-tracked with a broken water hose (hot) on the washer (which was running)... so now its a day for cleaning up the basement.

What is that they say about best laid plans???

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Mystery Stole #3

So, not that I don't already have enough to do... but I just heard about the Mystery Stole KAL, this year its #3 and Where have I been??? It sounds like great fun and will be a good project to do when I am tired/frustrated with pulling together my own designs. Not mindless work, but it will just use a different part of the brain.

I've knitted the swatch and am going to block it overnight before I decide if I will use this yarn or not. I can already see that I can go up a needle size as the stockinette portion is a bit too solid looking, I think.

No camera with me today, but I'll post photos later...

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New Bamboo purchase

Ahhh... my latest purchase. Since I enjoyed working with the Bambu 7 (Silk City Fiber http://www.silkcityfibers.com/, available at Woodland Woolworks http://www.woodlandwoolworks.com/) so much, I thought I'd see what some of the other Bamboo yarns are really like.

Of course, I combined this with a visit to our newest LYS, Twisted (http://www.twistedpdx.com/). They just opened Friday! I meant to go opening day (I had heard about it on the SNB-Portland yahoo group) but missed out. So Saturday I drove by later in the day. Seems like a very nice place and lots of yummy yarns. Everyone was very welcoming and it was a fun visit.

This is "Just Bamboo" from Sirdar. Its ribbony and I understand that the swatches will tend to shrink up when wet. So should be interesting. I picked one of the Manilla and one Nutmeg (although it could have been Vanilla and Nutmeg really!) they have a few other colors in pinks, light blues and neutrals. (Not nearly the variety of colors of the Bambu 7).

But I am going to swatch and see what it wants to be!

Still have to finish the "Stormy Sky" bag though... its getting closer!

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