Yes, I sew too

I used to sew, before I played with beads, or before I took up knitting. In middle school and high school, I sometimes made my own clothes because I couldn't find anything I liked in the stores. I've done pillows. The curtains currently in my bedroom I made. But I haven't done much of it in a long time. And all of a sudden, the urge to sew is back. So yesterday, I made this:






This is the u-handbag Hex Open Frame tutorial/Knitting bag. The bag turned out bigger than I anticipated and I'll be using it this week to test drive this one. I did have a few thoughts about the bag and the construction as I worked my way through it:
- Basting is a wonderful wonder thing! It's how I held the bag bottom in place because I wasn't able to find feet.
- The bottom...well, I top stitched both sides along the bottom of the bag and that sort of holds the bottom in place but I'm not very happy with it. If I had feet for the bag, this would not have been a problem
- The bag lining is a little too big. Next time, I would probably take about a centimeter off the bottom of the lining and then continue with the rest of the instructions. As it is, it's kinda bunchy at the bottom.
- If I didn't have feet and needed to secure the bottom, I would do that first before I sewed the open hole in the lining used to flip the bag right side out.
- Pliers came in handy to hold the frame together as I attempted to shove the screw into the hex frame.
- I would make a wider bottom.

Before it all

Before the beading and the knitting and the fiber, I sewed. My mom started sewing because it was cheaper to make our own curtains than it was to buy them. It was cheaper sometimes to make your own clothes than to go out and buy them. I watched her, and thought it was fun and I learned. In high school, after I learned to drive, I spent a lot of time at the local JoAnn's. It's a little different now but it's still a familiar place.

I kinda want to do some sewing and make some bags.

The saga of the Ivel continues

Finally, after about 2.5 months, I received the updated version for Ivel. There have been some major changes.

- There are now more than the original 3 sizes
- I had cast on for either the medium or large before with 50 stitches. Now the small starts at a cast on of 64 stitches for the sleeve. Yup, definitely have to rip that out.
- The sleeve was knit flat, joined to the body, and seamed before you did the cuff. Now the sleeve is knit in the round. Well, I added 2 selvedge stitches to each sleeve so that I can knit both at the same time flat. I want the seams. The cashmere needs the support. Also, with the seams, it's easier for me to get measurements to use for the lining.

So yeah. There are also somethings about the pattern that annoy me. I guess I'm a language purist. If I'm reading English, I expect it to be written in English without a heavy use of abbreviations. You want me to repeat something 5 times, please write out "5 times" instead of "5X". Or, please write out "On the next round begin" instead of "On the next rnd beg". Every time I read that, I do a double take and go "WTF does that mean? Oh, next round begin..." I'm sure most of us native English speakers who deal with American knitting instructions can translate this, but think of those whose English skills are not so good. Also, is it really that much more effort to write out the word in the paragraph than to use an abbreviation. Yes, I do rant against using internet abbreviations when writing in a proper setting as well. Does that bother anyone else?

I know this sweater will turn out amazing. It just seems the ordeal with the instructions have made things a tad bit annoying. Plus, I'm also working with the endless supply of cashmere. I just keep telling myself, "It will turn out beautiful."

If you want to increase some stitches evenly...

I declared my undying love to a fellow raveler for showing me this link. It divided 38 stitches evenly into 207 stitches for me. I love this link. It's amazing.