Knitting purses

This is Gail Lambert’s “She Sells Seashells Bag.” I’ve had the pattern in my paper pattern stash almost since when it was first published in 1997. I’d link to the pattern on Ravelry, where it’s not downloadable, except that there’s only a pattern photo and one project shown there. And this Rav orphan’s pattern photo is, well, yours truly’s. Oh heck. Here’s the link.

Of course the purse’s name is a play on the old childish tongue twister: “Sally sells seashells by the seashore.” While researching how long those six words have been twisting tongues I discovered that “it is often said” (and it’s wrong) that the British songwriter Terry Sullivan first wrote the words in a song he dedicated to the British paleontologist Mary Anning. Wrong in a few different ways.

Anning was an early nineteenth century paleontologist whose work was highly underrated. I suppose her reputation might not have been much enhanced by being one of the discoverers of coprolite. Coprolite is fossilized animal poop. Anyway, it’s not at all clear that Sullivan had Anning in mind when he wrote his song. Plus he definitely didn’t think up the tongue twister. This great Library of Congress article by Stephen Winick traces the twister and recounts several versions of it that pre-date Sullivan’s song. But I digress.

Digressing a bit more, here’s a copy (in the public domain) of a portrait of Anning pointing at what appears to be an ammonite fossil, definitely not coprolite. Although, possibly, Anning is pointing at her similarly shaped sleeping pup.

You have been tolerant. Back to knitting.

The Seashells purse is knit in doubled worsted weight cotton. Now that I think about it that’s possibly why I took so long to knit the pattern. Apparently one evening I wanted some hand-strengthening exercises. It’s knit flat, from the top down. Each side of the purse is knit separately using slipped stitches and short rows to form the bottom section of the shell. And the I-cord is knit separately and sewn on. I used Knit Picks Dishie. It was a fun, though painful, knit. And my granddaughter liked it. She’d asked if I could knit her a purse.

I sometimes try not to put all my grandkids’ knit eggs in one basket. So I knit Evelyn a second purse around the same time.

This is Susan Dittrich’s Flapper Purse. It’s a freebie downloadable via Ravelry. This cutie was totally fun to knit. Possibly except for a little more than nine feet of 4-stitch I-Cord. One of those mechanical I-Cord makers would have come in handy. But heck, I like knitting even when it’s a tad boring. You knit 3 lengths of I-cord and then braid them together. It worked well as a purse strap. I used Plymouth Encore and knit at a tight gauge on US size 5 needles.

Once the knitting is complete, you learn that Dittrich is definitely correct that the purse needs a sewn-in lining to stabilize it. So check this out:

Lordy. A lining. This horribly sewing impaired knitter sewed a lining. Um. No. My good knit buddy Marty, informed of my plight, sewed me a selection of pouches–for this project and a few others. I am carefully guarding those others because someday I’ll use them all. The floral print Marty selected was perfect for Evelyn’s sunny yellow purse. I managed to sew the pouch in place. And I even found a great vintage button.

Success!

More doubles

Maybe, possibly, well likely not, you remember that Nate the kindly rural mail carrier so loved his first set of these mittens that he asked if I could make him another pair. His special request was to ask if I could knit him a camo-colored pair. Nate is not a knitter and had no idea how difficult it would be to find a worsted weight yarn (or any weight yarn, actually) in a decent camouflage colorway. These mittens, knit in Patons Classic Wool Worsted in “Forest” (#77014), came as close as I could find in a wool yarn.

I don’t know whether or not this colorway’s been discontinued. But it was extremely difficult to find. I couldn’t find it on-line. I finally located one skein in the back of a bin in a shop near me. It was just barely enough yarn to complete the mittens. Shopping in person was more fun than I anticipated:

Me: I’m looking for some camo-colored worsted weight yarn. I really like Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride but I don’t think it comes in any colorway that would work.

Dorinda: How about this, wouldn’t this work…(bringing me to a dark taupe shade of Lamb’s Pride)?

Me: (Puzzled.) No, I really want it to be camo-colored. It’s a special request.

Dorinda: Did you see this color…(bringing me to a darker shade of brown Lamb’s Pride)?

Me: (Even more puzzled). No, that’s all one shade.

Dorinda: What kind of camel are you knitting?

Me: Camo as in camouflage, Dorinda, not as in Bactrian.

Much laughter ensued. And then Dorinda found the one skein in the shop that worked out well.

This mitten pattern is Mittens From the Top, by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Nate thinks his new mittens are the cat’s meow.

But I wasn’t completely satisfied that Paton’s Classic Wool was going to give Nate the warmth of Lamb’s Pride. So I doubled up and knit him another pair, this time in the Lamb’s Pride Old Sage (M-69) colorway. Khaki, the green shade, is sort of in the same aesthetic as camo. There’s nothing much warmer than the Lamb’s Pride mix of wool and mohair.

Next up is a freebie slipper pattern that I’ve knit so many times it’s embarrassing. Nola’s slippers, by Nola Miller. This time I used King Cole Big Value Chunky. It’s a good non-pretentious 100% acrylic that will wear well and wash up easily

One modification to the pattern that I make is to use chunky or bulky yarn rather than knitting worsted weight doubled. I feel that worsted doubled produces such a stiff fabric that feet don’t so much get cuddled as manhandled. Plus, speaking of hands, mine don’t do well knitting worsted with doubled strands.

My other main modification of Nola’s pattern is that I extend the ribbing to form a nice deep cuff. Knit on US size 10 needles, following the pattern yields a slipper that fits a woman’s US size 8-10 foot.

Here’s another Nola’s, this time knit in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Superwash Bulky. I love the name of the colorway: Explosive Berry. I haven’t used this yarn very often. Good yarn.

Here’s a look at the soles, showing my final modification. I work a 3-needle bind-off that shows up as the center garter stitch ridge. You could bind off and sew the seam instead. But why bother when the stitches are all live. As I recall, there’s an odd number of stitches so I just knit 2 of the stitches together as I bind-off.

Next up is one of Kris Basta’s freebie dorm boots variations: Better Dorm Boots Deluxe. This first pair is knit in Plymouth Encore Chunky. The XL size, with the body of the slipper knit on US Size 9 and the cuff knit on size 10 ends up fitting a woman’s foot from about a size 8 to a size 10 (US sizing).

That little bit of lacework in the cuff dresses up the slipper quite a bit.

Here’s another pair, this time knit in Hayfield Spirit Chunky, an 80% acrylic, 20% wool. It’s been many decades since I knit with Hayfield yarn. It just hasn’t come up in my knitting world lately. A yarn shop near me stocks the yarn and I was drawn to this appealing colorway (Orange Swirl). It turned out to be wonderful to work with. I’d buy it again in a heartbeat.

And finally, the same pattern in Cascade Yarns Pacific Chunky Multi in their Brights colorway. WEBS had it so seriously discounted that I gave it a try. It’s 60% acrylic, 40% wool. For this type of project, it worked out really well. Oops. Not doubles anymore, triples, I meant triples.

I know. I can get ridiculous with my knitting stutters. Double doubles, this time. Here are Basta’s Better Dorm Boots Deluxes again in Plymouth Yarns Encore Chunky.

My recipients always also receive a warning with my slipper gifts: they are slicker than slick and don’t even think about wearing them on hardscape floors. In fact, I call them bedsocks.

I totally enjoy having 100% confidence that what I’m knitting will work out well. Maybe that’s one reason for all these repeats. Plus, with so many of my knit recipients having chilly feet these grown-up booties get snatched up from my choose-your-knit baskets very quickly.

Doubles

Here’s Barley. It’s part of tincanknits wonderful Simple Collection, a freebie set of patterns aimed at beginning knitters. The patterns work equally well for experienced knitters looking for a relaxing rewarding knit. This is Barley the hat, not to be confused with Grain the shawl, Harvest the cardigan, Maize the fingerless mitts, Rye the socks, Oats the cowl, Flax the pull-over sweater, Malt the blanket, or Wheat the scarf. The patterns come in multiple sizes and are designed for worsted weight. But some of the patterns, including the hat, the pullover and the socks, also have lightweight versions.

It’s such a generous gift to the knitting universe. I knit this Barley in excellent worsted weight with possibly the longest name in the knitting universe: West Yorkshire Spinners Bluefaced Leicester Aran Prints. It’s the Blue Tit colorway.

Aptly named.

Here’s a look at the crown decreases complete with a pompom.

Why knit doubles? It’s a legitimate question for sure. I enjoy seeing how the same pattern knits up in different yarns. And if a pattern reliably produces a good result, I enjoy that predictability. I will especially retreat into that predictability if I’ve just finished a knit that I’m not completely satisfied with.

So, next up is Barley knit again, this time in Dark Pink from Novita 7 Veljesta Solid.

Here’s another look at Barley’s crown, this time not obscured by a pompom.

Neat and organized as any good crown should be. Barley gives a new knitter the chance to practice garter stitch in the round. It also builds skills in terms of learning to read your knitting.

Next up is Nici Griffin’s Escape Beanie. There’s a cowl and fingerless mitts that complete the set if you’re into sets. Personally I’ve always favored a mishmash look in my handknits. But lately this aged hippie is starting to see the value of sets.

This first Escape is knit in Shalimar Yarns Breathless DK. Drat. Yet another wonderful yarn you can’t buy anymore: 75% merino, 15% cashmere, 10% silk. I unraveled a little-used small shawl and knitted up part of the yarn in this Escape.

Here’s another Escape, this time knit in Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 120, another excellent DK weight yarn. This DK is beefier than Breathless. I needed 54 grams of yarn and only had 50 grams of the Royal colorway. You probably spotted right away what my solution was.

Here’s a closer look at its bullseye top.

I’m actually quite satisfied with my solution. Before changing colors, I knit one round so that I’d avoid any of those half-one-color-half-another stitches. That round fades nicely into the pattern. No worries. Embracing one’s lemons can yield good results.

Next up is yet another in a series of Just a Hat‘s I’ve knit. It’s such an excellent unisex hat, a freebie from Galina Shemchuk. Shemchuk’s pattern used to be downloadable on Ravelry and savable to your Rav library. No more. Fairly recently she took the unusual step of photographing the pattern and adding it to the project page in that form. A little odd, but it works.

I knit this Just a Hat, my 5th, in Sugar Bush Yarn’s Bold. This is the Sultry Dusk colorway. Some skeins of this excellent superwash worsted may still be available for purchase, especially in the variegated colorways. But it too is now discontinued.

One more double today. My 6th Just a Hat, this time knit in Viking of Norway Raggen, another superwash worsted. Good news. Raggen isn’t discontinued. When it happens, this knitter won’t mourn its passing though. I found it splitty and sometimes the plies even unraveled as I knit. Maybe I got a defective skein. Two skeins, actually.

Nice hat, though. And in a hat maybe Raggan won’t pill as badly as it’s pilling in a pair of socks I knit with it. Just in case you want to see a solid color crown, have a gander.

Did I really just use the word gander? No, we will not talk about geese, ganders, or goslings on this blog. It’s almost mid March. I’ve already seen Canada Geese overhead no doubt scouting out places to land and nest. “Nothing to see here…move along, move along.”