Now it can be told, Part II

A special, cousins-themed issue of the winter holiday gift wrap-up!

In this post:

• Buddy Bag
• Truffles Purse
• Little Girl’s Bolero
• Gnoming Around Pouches

Buddy Bag – For a little cousin, or S

Pattern: Buddy Bags, by annypurls

This was a nice little pattern.  After meditating on her post about the subject for a little while, I decided to try TechKnitter’s Traveling Jogless Stripes technique.  It turned out alright, though the anti-jog action was somewhat apparent in the fabric, which could be very much the fault of my knitting and not of the technique.  All the same, I might stick with the stationary jogless stripe for the next project or two, because if an alteration is to be even a little visible, why not have it be even, in line?

S is at this point around 5 or so, so I thought the finished bag size of the original pattern might be too small.  I cast on 100 stitches instead of 80, and worked 8 rows in each color, instead of 6.  I lined the bag with (what I have, upon research, discovered to be) some Heather Ross Mendocino Seahorses fabric that was originally destined to become a tie.

Yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted, 2 skeins

Colorways: Golden Heather and Wave Heather

Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy Worsted, small amounts

Colorways: Doe, Fedora, and Ivory

I was pleasantly surprised by the yarn.  The cottons I’ve worked with previously have tended to be rather drying on the hands, while the Simply Cotton was quite gentle and smooth.  It did fuzz a little more than those other yarns, though, so durability may, in time, be revealed to have been sacrificed for softness.

Truffle Purse – For a little cousin, another S

Pattern: Waves of Ruffles Purse, by Bella McBride

This was a fun and simple little purse.  Most people think it looks like a skirt, while I can’t help but think of chocolates with delicious fillings.  I’m realizing lately that I tend to love knitting above all, but I would like to do more crochet in the future.  Who knows?  Maybe the winds of my hands will change–but probably not.

I lined the purse with some double gauze that was rejected from my plans for the Elizabeth quilt.

Yarn: Fibranatura Links, 2.5, 2, and 1 skeins

Colorways: Joanne, Paulina, Barbara

This is a sturdy little yarn, consisting of fine cotton threads knit together to form a tube (as far as I can tell).  As a cotton, I found it a bit dry and unforgiving on the hands, but that was probably also a product of the kind of fabric that crochet tends toward–thick and stout.  I could see Links making quite a nice and enjoyable knit fabric; not having actually tested the theory, though, I’ll withhold final judgment on that.

Little Girl’s Bolero – For another little cousin, another S

Pattern: Flower Girls’ Knitted Bolero – Snowdrops, by Cotton and Cloud

Size: 5-6

I saw this pattern some months ago on ravelry, and knew, eventually, that I would have to make it.  Because, well, it’s darling.  I thought it would look very nice on S, and the rest is history.

The garment came out a little bit big for S.  For children, though–and indeed, everyone really–too big really is better than too small.  I don’t know how well this was finally received by the recipient since, at 5, don’t we all become more particular about our habillement?  And no matter how you fold it, it never really looks like a Pillow Pet.  Oh, well.  I’d make this again.

Yarn: madelinetosh tosh dk, 1 skein

Colorway: Calligraphy

I bought more skeins of yarn than necessary for this project.  I began with some Berroco Pure Pima, thinking that washability should be the priority; then, anxious, I decided that the pattern really needed a much springier sort of yarn–something with a memory.  So I went for Lion’s LB Collection Superwash Merino.  With this, I came in far below gauge while swatching, despite my relatively average tension; moving up needle sizes wasn’t going to give me the fabric that I wanted (read: not loose and holey), so that was ousted with much regret.

Concurrent to this, I had bought 6 skeins of madelinetosh tosh dk for a sweater I was planning to make for myself.  Suddenly–though it happens frequently enough to remove any element of surprise–I decided that the yarn was All Wrong for that sweater, and would instead be perfect for the Sage Remedy Top.  This left me with some extra skeins of the tosh dk, and I decided that–what the heck?–it could be great for the Flower Girls’ Bolero.  Thus.

My photos were hastily taken, so they do no justice to the color of the yarn.  Trust me, it is very beautiful.  I would use madelinetosh for a great many things, if not everything.

Gnoming Around Pouches – For less little–indeed, rather grown–cousins, D and J

Pattern: Cash and Carry by Atkinson Designs

Fabric: Gnoming Around by Michael Miller, among others

I acquired both the pattern and the kit at the Edgerton Quilt Show a few months ago.  The kit actually contained enough to make three purses; I made one first, as practice, and then these two.  Practicing was a wise decision.  Though I’ve technically been sewing longer than I’ve been knitting, I’m rather much worse at sewing, having for so long been of the “if it isn’t falling apart, then it’s perfect”–otherwise known as the “pattern, shmattern”–camp.