Tag Archives: Knitted

“Not too crafty” It bag

17/11/2009 6:40 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Here is another knitted project, a bag that was knitted free-form with no pattern. After casting on I just randomly did a few cables and whatnot and literally knitted until the wool ran out. I popped a vinyl “bag” of the same size (made from padded table protector vinyl sold off a huge roll) inside for strength, and then lined with a blue and white print cotton on the inside of that. The gold chain is attached firmly to the vinyl inner bag so that the bag can take a reasonably heavy weight without sagging unattractively. Closure is by a magnetic snap, and the old diamante brooch is just pinned on the outside flap for looks. I’ve hardly ever used this bag, but after the lovely compliments I got today perhaps I should use it more often. Main problem; you can’t carry an awful lot in it just because of the small size. It’s really just an elegant day bag for a few essentials. (I forgot to put in a pen and had to borrow one; great secretary, huh?)

I wound up my secretarial duties today for the school Auxiliary and handed over my files and notes to next year’s secretary; as my daughter has finished school I will no longer be doing this job. The end of an era, still can’t really comprehend it, I guess it hasn’t really sunk in. I’ve made some great friends through that school so I’ll keep on seeing those friends I’ve made, hopefully. I can’t deny it was a relief to hand over the “secretary” bag, though! We had a lovely lunch after our meeting and I’m now sitting at my desk trying to recall what we discussed at the AGM for the minutes. Post champagne, this could be a problem…

Other details:
Diamante brooch; bought about 20 yrs ago from secondhand store at Fremantle Markets
Top; Tutte, from Mid 70’s, gift from my parents
Camisole; Country Road
Skirt; Rodney Clark; op shop
Sandals; Marco Santini, from Marie Claire

Posted in: Uncategorized \ Tagged: accessories, Knitted, own design, Spotlight

Tea Cosy, specimen 1

15/11/2009 12:55 am \ 3 Comments \ Carolyn

Today I’m not wearing anything particularly exciting, so here instead is the tea cosy I gave my friend J yesterday for a belated birthday present. It is from Loani Prior’s excellent book “Wild Tea Cosies” which I saw in Calico and Ivy and bought for myself as a present. I made quite a few of these tea cosies in various designs and colours and gave them all away as gifts, so a new goal I’ve set for myself is to hunt them down and photograph them in their new natural surroundings for this blog. Be that my friends’ kitchens, or bottom drawers, wherever they now reside. As well as documenting my wardrobe.
Looking back over my blog I can see it’s turned into a bit of a daily outfit post, which wasn’t it’s original intention. Like the authors of books often complain that their lead character won’t behave as planned but develop a mind of their own, this blog is taking on it’s own character. Hmmm. Have to keep on top of this.
I’ve loved this tea cosy book; the only drawback is the abundance of designs that are purely for crochet, which I didn’t notice at first flip-through before whimsically purchasing. I. Don’t. Like. Crochet. I can tolerate it for very short stretches, but it’s really not my cup of tea (ha ha!)
J’s tea cosy here is the Roly Poly one from the book, which has small crocheted balls on the top, a manageable amount of crochet for me. The rest is knitted. It is actually lined! With a whole separate knitted lining! Perhaps to keep that teapot well and truly insulated.
The label (right) sewn inside the cosy is from a rubber stamp given to me by my Monday morning gals several years ago for a birthday gift, which gave me the name for this blog and which I now use for fun labels to attach to the things I make. The silver spoon in the picture above was made by my grandmother, and has my maiden name initials in relief on the handle.