Finished Project - The Beaded Question Bag

I really love the Burien Yarn Stash's Question Bag, by Bonnie Moore (Rav link), so much I had to make another one, but this time I added beads to the pattern design along the edges. I'm very happy with the results:

Made with Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton in Color #3704 (I call it eggplant).
Dimensions: 6.5" w x 7.5" h

Close-up of the bead work

In the pattern there is a yarn over in the center of each of the circles that are created and that is where I placed the beads, so instead of a little hole, there is a bead instead. This one could be used as a an evening bag - the beads give it a little elegance or it could be used as a gift bag - the receiver would get two gifts in one!

Finished Vacation Projects

In a previous post I talked about what projects I was taking with me on my vacation. Well I decided to take two small, simple, easily portable projects with me and I'm really glad I did, they came in handy when we were stuck in the airport waiting for our delayed flight.

The project I chose was The Question Bag from the Burien Yarn Stash. A free pattern given out during the 2011 LYS Tour. It was a really simple design and an easy to follow pattern.  Once I got into the rhythm of the pattern I was able to leave the pattern sheet in my bag and work away at it while announcement after announcement was made on how long our flight was being delayed.

I picked two really great colors to make my bags:

Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton in turquoise and periwinkle

I finished one bag on the last full day of my vacation and I gave it to my son's sister who was celebrating her 17th birthday.  I wanted her to have something to remember us by when we are so far away.

I guess I also got a little too much into the rhythm of the pattern because the first bag came out a little long. As you will see from the picture below:

The pattern didn't indicate how long the bag should be so I just kept knitting thinking that I was supposed to use the whole skein.  Well when I noticed it was looking more like a wine bottle gift bag than an a drawstring purse, I stopped knitting and binded off.

Compared to the picture of the one below that is shown on the Burien Yarn Stash's site as an example of the bag, I think I did go a little too long.

Photo courtesy of the Burien Yarn Stash

But that's okay, because Aiden's sister loved it anyway and with the added length she can stuff more things in it.

The second bag I finished on my first day back from vacation:

And I stopped before it got too long this time and it came out looking more like the example.

Loving my vacation...

I'm having a great time on my vacation.  Loving being home with family and friends. Celebrated my son's 16th birthday here with cousins and siblings!

My son celebrating his 16th with family

Also during my down time I've been working on my Question Bag in the pretty turquoise color that I picked out.  Here it is so far:

Can't wait to hit up some of the local yarn shops.  I checked the Fiber Arts blog to see where the local yarn shops are located.  Want to check out: Trumpet Hill here in Albany, there are a few others in the area, including: BeauKnits and Eastside Weavers that I hope I will be able to visit as well.

Happy Knitting from New York!

Later today:

Bummer, all the yarn shops I visited were closed. Not open on Tuesday's, what is up with that?!  Anyway, I will try to hit-up at least one of them before I leave to head back west!

What project do you take with you on vacation?

So I've been checking the airline sites to see what is allowed and not allowed in my carry-on for my vacation which is coming up really soon.  I'm going for a visit to my hometown in upstate New York and I'd like to take a small project or two with me to work on while sitting on the long six hour flight and layover in New Jersey. I usually bring a book or two with me, but since I'm not checking any bags this time around, I didn't want my carry-on to be too heavy and with the added laptop bag, I'm already at my two bag limit for carry-ons, so I figured I could find some easy, light-weight project(s) to bring on the plane.

I've been reading other blogs looking for ideas, advice, and suggestions and what I've come up with is I'll work on making two small drawstring bags.  I got this really great pattern during the LYS Tour-Puget Sound called The Question Bag that was a free pattern give-away from the Buren Yarn Stash.  I only need to bring a size 4 needle - 16" needle and one skein of the Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton. I think I can only squeeze two skeins into my purse, so I'll be able to make two of them.

I've already picked out the colors that I want to use as you can see from the picture below. These are really great colors for this bag.  When I was at the Burien Yarn Stash, I saw this bag made in the Ultra Pima in a beautiful red and the color made the pattern pop and the stitches really stand out. I fell in love with the design. I only hope that mine come out as good.


Turquoise and Periwinkle Cascade Ultra Pima Cotton
Great colors to use for this project

The Question Bag

Are you going on any vacations this summer?  Where are you going and what kinds of projects do you bring along with you to work on?  Leave me a comment, would love to hear from you.

On a side note:
Just finished a pair of felted slippers for a friend at work. He was very happy with the results.  He wanted a pair of felted slippers in purple and black in size 10.5...so here they are!