Pouch

Here's what it looks like so far:

Pouch Notes

A few weeks ago I decided I'd make a pouch for the county fair. I wanted a pouch a little bit bigger than the felted pouch I normally carry, and I wanted a pretty design on it.

I wanted a sturdy knit, so I grabbed the Jaggerspun Maine Line merino from my cushion project (inspired by Las Huelgas grave finds and I hadn't put quite enough thought into the pattern, so I was disappointed in it) to knit the pouch.

A 5x0 needle gave me a firm, but not stiff fabric, which is just what I wanted.

The bottom is double-thickness with the outside black and inside red. I started with a 4x4 stitch square and increased in the second and second-to-last stitches on the needle until I had 256 stitches.

And then I started looking for pretty patterns. I was thinking of something from Folk Knitting in Estonia by Nancy Bush, and only 2 patterns I like fit in 256 stitch repeat. A lot of the patterns are 10 or 14 stitches instead, and I didn't feel like trying to figure out how to fit those onto my base and I definitely didn't want to go mucking with the bases now that I had them attached to each other.

After joining the two bottoms, I knit a black and red 2-color yarn-over braid, then a few rows of black, then I started the sheep's eye (Lambasilmakiri on the card was the best picture I could find) pattern with a black background, red circles, and yellow grid.

It is beautiful, but still so short it's rolling up all over the place. I am briefly considering switching the red and yellow in the pattern to make it more vibrant, but this way it's less likely to show dirt. I can always make another in different colors some day or maybe pick one of the other patterns from the book if I end up liking this pouch.

Works in Progress

Here is the update to the works in progress list.

• shoes - currently just a taped up foot, might toss and start over - tossed
  
• grey wool legwarmers - need to find - found, and likely to be abandoned as I don't think I need a pair this thick, but currently living in the SCA to-do box
  
• greyish cotton legwarmers - rip and start over wider - ripped and started over wider, but they're now too wide, I'll finish off this skein and try again. currently my on-the-go project
  
• disco kitty - needs to be sewn and stuffed - done
  
• Shimmer - needs to be blocked - done
  
• Jeannette - I think I'm going to rip this one and re-do it narrower - no change in modern to-do box
  
• velvet veil - needs to attach balls - started attaching balls, living in SCA to-do box
  
• red fingerless gloves - first glove, thumb gusset part-way done - done
  
• book - decide whether or not to re-sew it, if not, sand and attach boards - no change
  
• chemises - find out how many and if any of them are likely to fit - there was only one and it was way too small in the arms
  
• tablecloth - hem and embroider - no change
  
• napkins - embroider and hem - no change
  
• Roman socks - working on heel - no change
• Viking dress - need to finish the rest of the seams and sew the hem
• Romney - cleaning and combing

And as always, I don't have nearly enough pictures of my projects.

Works in Progress

Here is my WIP list so that I can figure out how much longer before I can start the crazy idea that a friend of mine put in my head today.

• shoes - currently just a taped up foot, might toss and start over
  
• grey wool legwarmers - need to find
  
• greyish cotton legwarmers - rip and start over wider
  
• disco kitty - needs to be sewn and stuffed
  
• Shimmer - needs to be blocked
  
• Jeannette - I think I'm going to rip this one and re-do it narrower
  
• velvet veil - needs to attach balls
  
• red fingerless gloves - first glove, thumb gusset part-way done
  
• book - decide whether or not to re-sew it, if not, sand and attach boards
  
• chemises - find out how many and if any of them are likely to fit
  
• tablecloth - hem and embroider
  
• napkins - embroider and hem
• Roman socks - working on heel
  

Later, I'll annotate the list with what they are, how much is left to do and maybe even pictures

Current Project List

The active projects:

• Shimmer from Knitty
• Jeanie from Knitty
• turning a batt from String Theory Fiber Arts into string

When Shimmer is finished, I'll go through the WIP bin and see what's hiding in there.