Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

A few months ago, one of the ladies in our guild had brought along a nifty bag. It was in the shape of a pyramid. She showed it to me and jokingly said, "I bet you can make that." I boastfully replied. "Yeah." I should learn to shut up once in a while. It's taken me 2 months. I've made 3 prototypes, all disasters. Then one night I could not get back to sleep. That's when it hit me: I was overthinking the design. Yesterday, I picked up a few scraps and tried out the revised design. It worked! Sorry about the craptastic pictures. My cell phone does require a very steady hand. The fabric is upside down, the zipper is too short but it works! The outside is the cows print, with quilt batting middle and an orange fabric on the inside. No pockets. There is a zipper down the middle of the front and a carrying strap. What I like about the design is the fact that there's this small opening above the zipper pull when it's closed. That is handy to pull t...

I was thinking recently about goals for the New Year. Yep, it's January 10 and I'm not really working on goals that are widely accepted: Lose weight or stop smoking. Mine are more along the lines of things I'd like to learn or experience. Knitting-wise, I'm working on a few things that I'd like to finish: A sweater for me, a shawl for the church, and a freaking pair of monkey socks that are celebrating anniversaries on the needles. Other than the projects, I want to try my hand at designing and publishing a few knitting patterns. There are a few patterns I've devised along the way that simply need to be written down: a shawl, a pair of slippers, and a few hats. I've also joined the Rav group 10 shawls in 2010. The goal is to knit 10 shawls in the span of a year. I've gotten one down: That's the Travelling Woman Shawl. I knitted it in worsted-weight Malabrigo so it would keep me warmer. Work-wise: I don't know. I'm torn between learning s...