Saturday Market Bag Complete

It rained all weekend so pretty much all I did was knit the Saturday Market Bag and hang out on Ravelry.

I made several modifications to the bag. I knitted it in the round, I made 2 handles, and I added an inside pocket.

Here is a summary of what I did:

I started at the top, cast on 81 stitches and knitted in the round instead of casting on 47 each for two sides. I'm also used a size 11 needle instead of 15.

To knit in the round I used the following modified stitch pattern:

Round 1 – (RS) – k1 yo, sl 1, k1, yo, psso the knit st and the following yo; repeat from

Round 2 – p1 drop the yo from the proceeding row, P2 ; repeat from

Round 3 – K2, yo, sl 1, k1, yo, psso the knit st and the following yo; repeat from, k1.

Round 4 – *P2, drop the yo from the proceeding row,; repeat from *, P3

See this blog entry for handle alterations to pattern: http://disdressed.blogspot.com/2006/08/string-bag.html

I used size 11 for main body of bag, size 8 for garter stitch at top of bag, and size 6 for handles.

I decreased to 64 stitches on the 5th garter stitch row. I had a total of 8 garter stitch rows. And each handle was 60 rows of garter stitch.

Handles were 6 stitches each. There was 16 stitches between each handle. There was 4 stitches between each pair of handles.


Pattern: Saturday Market Bag by Jodie Danenberg
Yarn: Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton
Needles: Size 11 circular, size 8 circular, and size 6

Saturday Market Bag

Last night I was adding the few balls of yarn I brought with me from Texas to my stash on Ravelry when I ran across the pattern for Saturday Market Bag.

I have some Lion Brand Kitchen Cotton yarn and I was wondering what other people had made out of it. There were a lot of dishclothes but there were also several of these bags.

I'm just through the first pattern repeat. Several of the people who made the bag knit it in the round and one person posted about changing the straps to a set of two shorter ones rather then on long one.

So I've cast on 70 stitches to knit in the round rather then 47 for each side. I didn't do 90 because I don't want a bag as wide as the original. I'll probably make mine shorter too. And I'm going with the two shorter straps rather then the one long one.

On Your Toes Socks

So I've really gotten into Ravelry, a new online knitting and crotchet community. Call it the MySpace for knitters! It is in beta right now so you have to get on a waiting list in order to join. I signed up in July and got my invitation last week. So it was about a two 2 month wait.

My user name is RhondaB, so if you are already on, you could add me as a friend ;)
My designer page is http://www.ravelry.com/designers/rhonda-bell. All I have up on my designer page is the Wrist Warmer Generator I created. But now that I have a place to publish patterns to, I may get motivated to try out some designs I've been thinking about.

Anyway, one of the things you do is post all your projects to a notebook to keep track of them. You include the pattern source, yarn used, needle used, and comments. There are then links to other people who made the same pattern or used the same yarn.

You can also associate blog entries with each project. So that is the motivation for this post.

This is a first of a pair of socks I started in July. They are toe up socks from a pattern in the Summer 2007 issue of Interweave. The pattern is "On Your Toes Socks" by Ann Budd. I've started the second pair but I'm just past the toes.

I got distracted from them when the yarn for my Josephine Top came and I started knitting on that project.

I think they will be a great project to take to my knitting group meetings because they are small and a rather easy knit. I'll just have to work on the heel section at home because I need to concentrate when I do that part. But the rest of the sock is ribbing or stockinette, so I should be able to chat without messing up.

I can't remember the name of the yarn I'm using. I bought it at the Artisian store in Burnet before I left Texas. I'm hoping I'll see the same yarn at a store here so I can put it in my Ravelry notebook.

The thing about Ravelry though, is that I spend time on there when I could be knitting!

Transition Sweater

I finished my Transition Sweater last night after getting most of it done at the West Seattle Stitch and Bitch knitting group.

I started the sweater the night before we left Texas to fly here to Seattle. I worked on it on both flights and in the Denver airport. I've been knitting on it occasionally since then.

I don't know that my transition to Seattle will actually be complete until Amy, the pets, our furniture, and all our belongings arrive next month.

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft, Dark Country Blue, 2.5 skeins
Needle: Size 7
Gauge: 4.5/inch
Pattern: Top-Down Raglan, 3/4 length sleeves, seed stitch collar, cuffs, and bottom

Seattle - Day One

Today we went over to the canal locks where they let boats in and out of Lake Washington to Puget Sound near Ballard.

The salmon are swimming upstream right now and we got to see them through an observation window as they worked themselves up a "fish ladder".

We also got to watch several boats get lowered to go out to sea at the locks. And then we watched several others get raised to get into Lake Washington. It is a production. If I was a boat owner it would seem like a hassle. But if I was a salmon, I'd be grateful for the locks.

The weather was perfect: sunny and in the high 60's/lower 70's. I'm glad to be away from the heat back in Texas.

We looked at one house today but we didn't like it. We are going to drive by some others tomorrow. I'm thinking it may take longer to find a house then I expected. But we'll see. I'm sure the right house will show up at the right time!

Baby Alpaca Bejeweled Scarf and Knitting Carrier

Yet another Bejeweled scarf. This is the third one. It is such an easy knit once you get the stitch pattern done.

This one is done with Misti Alpaca Sport, color MC-1026 Fiesta. I purchased the yarn at Knit and Pearl in Santa Barbara. It only took 2 skeins so I have an extra one left. I'm thinking I'll make a hat or wrist warmers with it.

The Misti Alpaca yarn feels heavenly. It is so soft. It was a joy to knit with. I'd love a sweater made from it but at $7.25 a ball for 146 yards it would cost much more then I'd like to spend.

But that is the great thing about scarves. You can use expensive yarn but not to many ball so you don't spend as much!


Look what Susan from the Marble Falls Knitting Group gave me! It is a wonderful knitting tote with lots of pockets and spaces for yarn and accessories.

There is even a pocket for your cell phone!
I can't wait to use it to take my projects to knitting groups in Seattle. It also fits in a large zipper bag I have with a flat bottom so I can shut it closed and not worry about stuff falling out when I'm in transit.
Tomorrow is the big day! We leave for Seattle. I start work on Monday. We are going to try to find a place to live before Amy leaves next Wednesday but if we don't it will be up to me while she gets everything ready for the move.

Now I've got to go and do last minute packing!