After a bajillion months of perusing these pages and drooling over everyone's totes, I've finally made 2 myself.

Thank you, Jordy.  Thank you everyone who posted pics of your own fabulous bags.

FYI:  My bags measure 16x14.  The straps are about 41x3.  I cut the body pieces with a 1/2 inch seam allowance; the bottom squares I cut 2 1/4".  For the patches, I used iron-on transfer paper and acrylic felt.  I fused them to the bags for stability, then embroidered around them.  I made these for my teaching assistants at the court reporting/stenography school where I work, so the patches reflect that.

I love the fabric I used to line the black bag.  I've got more of it so it'll be showing up in future projects.  I attempted to line the striped one in a burgundy t-shirt fabric but the stretch was way too much.  I ended up using a black pillowcase instead.

If you're thinking about making one of these bags, do.  You'll be soooo happy you did.

Lately I've been all about the recons.  This is a tote I made to carry my laptop but have ended up using for everything.  I started with this:

http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/43016P1010852.JPG

And with the help of Alterknits -- http://www.alterknits.net/, went here:



http://www.craftster.org/pictures/data/500/43016P1020559.JPG



I used denim left over from my first skirt project to do the lining.  It's sturdy, soft (especially when I'm fishing things out of the pocket), and fun to carry.

Thanks for looking.  

Hi, guys.

I finished this shrug on Thanksgiving and would like to share it.  It's from a pattern I bought at a LYS (but it's so simple that if you can cast on and cast off stitches on a WIP, you can figure it out).  I made it with Karaoke yarn, a new fave, provided it holds up, and size 10 needles.  





I made the skirt, too, but it's strobing so it's hard to tell that it's that coverall denim with the little lines in it.  What's that called?  Anyhow, I'm humbly proud because I finally made an "outfit."  Thanks for looking.

Yep.  It's our friend Clapotis, the pattern that keeps on giving:









Specs are toward the bottom of this page, for anyone who might want to know:  http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=25312.610

Fin!

I'm much too lazy to post stuff on my blog, so I'll give details here (with a couple more pics in Completed Projects).



Specs:
Brooks Farm Fourplay in "Ginger2" colorway -- a lovely, lovely yarn with a sexy sheen and sassy drape.  A joy to work with and so far no pilling.  3 skeins.  http://brooksfarmyarn.com/cart/index.php?cPath=33&osCsid=8b09a9c75676b5018dde373bfc4d32af
Size 9 Denise needles.
Started May 25th, completed June 17th.  Could've finished in two weeks but went on vacation and didn't knit much, plus finished it once and decided the two extra repeats I'd added to section 3 made it way too long.  I had to undo the bind-off and rip it back to where I'd added them -- luckily I'd placed a stitch marker on that row -- and re-knit it without them.  Last photo below shows re-knit in progress.  I didn't block it as I like the way it curls and the way it looks on the "wrong" side.  But is there really a wrong side to this pattern?  I think not.

This pic shows truest color, though it may be a tad bit too blue:


And this is what it looked as I re-knit it:



I have to say I really enjoyed knitting the Clapotis.  I'd definitely do more.  It went much faster than I thought it would and of course, it's a beautiful and useful shawl/scarf.  I guess that's why it's the number 1 knitting pattern of all time.

Thanks for all the tips and inspiration, everyone.

I finished this in April, after about a month of knitting.  Figured I'd post these pics to encourage anyone who might have an unfinished Cozy languishing in the knitting basket.  I wear mine so much it's not even funny.





Happy knitting!

landry, love it!  I ended up getting Rowan 4-ply cotton myself (after much flirtation with the Paton's cotton).  What needle sizes are you using?

i'm getting excited now! i'm in the home stretch, i can see the light~~~!!



http://www.flickr.com/photos/honeypoo/165312215/