Way out in the Middle of Nowhere

The official date for closing the Etsy shop is Aug. 31.  I'm done, spent out, fizzled. It's been a strange, odd, goofy ride.  I started selling bags to help out with the budget while staying home to make sure Alex stayed out of trouble. I was going to Blackhawk Tech at the time and was going to become a Physical Therapist Assistant. Did you ever start something and somewhere along the line get a real nagging feeling that this was not for you? Yeah, that was the PTA thing.  Somewhere along the time when they started admonishing us to be careful when transferring patients because their skin could be so thin it could tear...well that's when I got nervous.  Could I do that? How would I feel if I inadvertently hurt someone? Maybe this is not the path for me. I washed out of the program about a week later.  No amount of coercion could make me go back.  I will always be just so nervous that I'd hurt someone just by moving them. EH The knitting bags are ...

Messenger bag Originally uploaded by ruddawg This bag is actually a prototype that I made for the store. It was for sale, but no one bought it. I love it! I'm not sure why it didn't sell, but perhaps it was just destined to be mine. This one carries the sweaters that I make. It also is my go-to bag when I have to travel. Inside the bag is all white lining with a small patch pocket near the top. The trim on this one this fabric called Zen Charmer by Alexander Henry.  It gives a great feel to decor fabric. I've been reconsidering my decision to drop this style of bag in my shop as it is just too useful to not  sell it. On the homefront, it is Snowpocoalypse #2 for the year. It seems as though God has remembered that Wisconsin is a northern state and we are expecting about 12" of snow with this storm.  We're all stocked and ready for the snowfall, and I'm working on cleaning up and organizing my areas around the house.  It's not an easy task...

A nice bag is it not? The fabric was given to me by a woman who commissioned a number of bags with  licensed fabric. Legally, I'm not allowed to sell bags made with licensed fabric, but I can make bags for someone who provided the fabric.  Yeah, it's a bit complicated.   So I made this one for myself. It's a bit larger than a small KIP; not as big as a medium.  The size does help me keep larger in-progress items stashed.  This one is holding my sweater.  The interior got a custom look to it too, as I did dig through my stash to find some great almost  coordinating fabrics.    That white thing in the pocket is my pattern -actually just a chart, but it helps me remember where I am in the pattern.  Now there is no real written pattern to this sweater. I'm taking the process from the ever-useful " The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns"  The cable pattern is from a more obscure book, " The ...

Ok, so I had a bit of a familial meltdown earlier. It was over 2 weeks overdue. Now I am back to my old self, working and reading odd stuff on the 'net. I have to share though, my time-consuming project. Over the last few months I've been slowly working on a custom-order for 60 bags. They are all the same fabric, all small KIPs and all going to one very lucky group going to Maryland Sheep & Wool festival from Pennsyvania. They will be enjoying these! I've been keeping them secret so that the knitters will be surprised when they get them. I have to do my touchdown dance, though. I am finished sewing them! Now they all get their strings and the final check before shipping. But I'm done sewing!!! And..I'll be getting more of this fabric for regular customers to the shop. It's just too cool not to!

Remember the pyramid bag? Yep. It's cool all right. But I found a flaw. The yarn can get stuck around the zipper pull. I was using it at my Wednesday class last week. It's handy to secretly slip your hat-in-progress out and start knitting during class. I am pretty sure that the teachers wouldn't have a big fit about me knitting, as I was paying close attention to what they were saying. BUT, I am thinking that some of the other students may be either bothered by it or fascinated by watching a woman knit without looking. So I kept it pretty much hidden on my lap under the table. The next day, I pull out the hat and yarn and it was stuck in the zipper pull! I had to break my yarn to get it out of there. I KNEW there was a reason that the KIP bag doesn't have a zipper!

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...

I'm working on some new pocket designs: One for crocheters with shorter, slimmer slots for crochet hooks and one bag with pockets inside for those who have yarns that like to tangle. I'm almost done and will post pictures!

A prospective buyer asked; are the bags I make and sell stiffened with anything? How do they stand up like that? You know, I never really thought about it. They DO stand up don't they?! I'm guessing it's the double layering on the inside and bottom that does it. Just to make sure they stand up, I took a skein (my trekking yarn skein) and stuck the project in a bag at my feet. 20 minutes later, it's still standing up. I never noticed that, but they do! Now since I don't add any stiffener to them, they will still stand up by themselves after being washed. In a stiff wind, they do fall down. There were a few of the earlier bags made with thin fabric that won't stand up for long. I started backing them with fusible interfacing to make them stiffer.

I have a domain, http://www.ruddawg.com For now, it's tied in with Auctiva. I'm working on the whole create-an-online-store thing. It's confusing, time-consuming and frustrating. But I wanted my own domain name, I wanted my nickname.com.....oh that's sooo cool!

Dragon Bag Originally uploaded by ruddawg Ok, last one for today: this is the cooles fabric I've found so far (Well, in town anyways) for the bags. I'm in love with the design on the fabric!

I think I've made the perfect sized medium bag. What you see, is the big bag I made last week on the bottom and KIP's sister on the top. I LOVE this batik! The size is about 16" wide by 14" tall. The pockets are big enough for lots of stuff and I've snuck in a hidden scissors pocket between the outside and inside. It's got a snap closure and will keep those pesky scissors (or cell phone for that matter) in reach. And just because I wanted to see it; I dug up some really cool designer fabric in my stash for this one: They're available on ebay. ETA: Removal of photbucket pics that were deleted years ago 11/17/11

What is this; # 8 or 9 in prototypes? Eh, who's counting. Anyways, it's too big to be called a bag for medium projects. I had some insomnia early this morning and came up with the smaller pocket between the inside and outside. I like it and will be using it again, but with a smaller bag. Pefycfyccrhaps about 1/3 smaller...........

During the past few weeks I've been tinkering with a larger bag for knitting. Tinkering because they've all just been a bit not right. The first one: bad in all kinds of ways. The second: another drawstring bag, made out of a recycled sweater, is so-so. (See Pic) It's about 5" taller than the usual bag, and a bit wider; which makes it 14" tall and about 10" wide. I'm still thinking of the best way to make it close. The one that sticks out is to use grommets and make it close like one of those lunch bags. It would still be washable/dryable, but it would make a racket in the dryer. Prototype # 2 is more like a tote bag, but will have the usual pockets in it. This one was a pattern out of a packet, something I got from the fabric store when I was working there. As something to sell, I can't. It's copyrighted. But I cut them out, sew them and get ideas of what I want MY bag to have. I make up my mind on what is good and what isn't working that wa...

Click on picture to see them bigger. They are all the same size: 8 1/2" tall and about 7 1/2" wide, with the two pockets you see on the bottom. One pocket has 5 slots in it for dpns, and the other is small, but can hold a pair of small scissors. All are drawstring: Simply pull on the strings and it will close and stay closed. I carry one with me all the time to keep whatever knitting project I have clean, and keep the ball of yarn from wandering away.

My First Post! Well let me say that I've had a blog elsewhere ~cough~ livejournal ~cough~ but I think that many of my friends have no real wish to hear about my inane trials of trying to knit stuff. They think it's 'old fashioned' and 'quaint'. Well I like old fashioned! My current projects are the knitting bags, 7 pairs of black socks as a commission, and a Knit-Along for a stole. I've been working on improving upon a design that came to me after using a small drawstring bag that a parafoil kite came in. It was handy. I could put the string over my wrist and leave the yarn in the bag knitting while I walked. Working in a fabric store, I got a LOT of fabric at a discount. So here is what I've come up with: Made from a bit of fabric, it is reversible and looks better than the kite bag. This one is holding my kip...the sock. It's oh, about 6 1/2" tall and about 4" in diameter. Not too big to throw into my bigger knitting bag. Today I gave thi...