booga 2: electric boogaloo

Anyone else remember this movie from the 80s? It was absolutely terrible. You can tell this by just a quick plot synopsis: local teens breakdance to save the community center from a local developer who wants to build a mall. Further evidence of its crappiness is that I misremembered the teens as breakdancing to save the mall. Wow...

Anyhoo, here's Booga 2. Please forgive the less-than-stellar photograph, but it's pitch black by 5 PM here these days.

Pattern: Booga Bag, by Julie Anderson
Yarn: Noro Kureyon (#164?), 3 skeins
Needles: Clover US 10.5 16" circs and DPNs

Notes:
Next time I'd use Chris's great idea and braid 3 i-cords together to make sturdier handles. I didn't have any extra Kureyon, though, so no dice this time. This would make a very cute and handy project bag to take to knitting night. I'm still not entirely sure about felted bags, but there are a couple more patterns that are intriguing:

- Felted Tote with Kureyon Scraps, by Janet D. Russell (AKA Twisted Knitter)
- Ashling Tote, by Heidi Hirtle (Lilibeth's Garden) ~ rav

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Mia, being the ever-awesome and thoughtful person that she is, sent me the nicest parcel. This super-soft merino, in the perfect shade of dark plum, is destined to be a Damson shawlette.
Handspun yarn + a book about Charlotte Bronte + a very cute cable-knit mug = a heavenly combination! Thanks so much, Mia.

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Speaking of the Brontes...
One of my favorite moments in Cold Comfort Farm comes when Stephen Fry, in the role of Bloomsbury-type intellectual (and doubtless D. H. Lawrence enthusiast) Mr. Mybug, poses the question to Flora Poste, "Do you believe that women have souls?" He later contends that Branwell Bronte wrote Wuthering Heights. ;-) Both the book and film are fantastic.

My little bookworm, curled up with The Mountains of California:
I think she was inspired by the all the bits about John Muir in the first episode of Ken Burns' National Parks PBS miniseries. Apparently Muir used to bend over and look through his knees to contemplate the "upness" of mountains:

Come to the woods, for here is rest. There is no repose like that of the green deep woods. Here grow the wallflower and the violet. The squirrel will come and sit upon your knee, the logcock will wake you in the morning. Sleep in forgetfulness of all ill. Of all the upness accessible to mortals, there is no upness comparable to the mountains.

P.S. John Muir is a fellow UW Badger. :-)

nothing says fall like...

a wool handbag?

Pattern: Booga Bag, by Julie Anderson

Yarn: Noro Kureyon, #170, 3.5 skeins
Needles: US 10.5 16" circs and DPNs

Notes:
Easy pattern, and it's fun to watch the Noro knit up, but the handles seem a little insubstantial. Fulling took a few rounds through the washer and created tons of fuzzies in the washer even though I used a zippered washing bag. I'm always afraid of destroying the washing machine with felted knits (NB the Yarn Harlot's warning).

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My parents (in Minneapolis) actually had snow yesterday, and already I have busted out scarves, mittens, sweaters, and wool socks for the season. Paul and I still ate brunch outside today at Milk & Honey Cafe despite the cool breeze, as it's probably our last chance this year.

We also tried O'Fallon Pumpkin Ale - pumpkin-y and spicy, but not nearly as good as the pumpkin whiskey from last weekend.

land of WIPs

ETA: This agreement between VCU and Philip Morris is very, very sketchy. It goes against the entire ethos of the research university, especially the public research university.

Last weekend I headed out with some friends to the Indiana Sand Dunes along Lake Michigan. The lake was the most beautiful shade of aqua. Surprisingly, I saw quite a few butterflies!
This one was determined to be underfoot and nearly got stepped on.

The knitting is almost done for the Brea Bag -- just a few rows left on the gusset.
The finishing's going to be finicky. I had no idea purse straps were so expensive and hard to find (not to mention that most are bizarre looking)! If I had done my homework, I would have realized how pricey these were and bought enough yarn that I could knit the strap, too. Alas, it's not in the cards this time. On the flip side, I'm looking forward to picking out some cute fabric for the lining!

Speaking of fabric, have you seen Amy Butler's new Birdie Sling bag pattern? Very cute!

Bianca's Jacket is underway, in some good ol' Cascade 220:
The cats are having a wonderfully lazy morning. Lucky girls...

FO: Kanoko Pants

Done and dusted! A very fun knit, but the finished project is a little bit odd. All the Ravelry pictures that show them in use are very cute, though.

Project Details

Pattern: Kanoko Pants, by Yumiko Sakurai
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, Terra Cotta, 1.25 skeins
Needles: US 5 bamboo 16" circs and DPNs

Notes:
I forgot to bring the pattern to knitting night on Wednesday, so I decided just to wing the stitch pattern on the legs. My memory is better than I thought, as they turned out pretty close to the pattern!

I knit an i-cord instead of a crochet chain for the drawstring (crochet's not my strong suit, even just a chain). A cute ribbon might be a better way to go, or just inserting an elastic waistband.

The top half of the pants could maybe use a few more rows for length. I have trouble seeing a diapered baby bottom fitting in there!

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Here's a shot of a Brea Bag in progress. That Norah Gaughan is a genius! I'm using Cascade 220 doubled, and it's so nice to knit with good old-fashioned sticky wool again, rather than all the somewhat yucky superwash and cotton blends I've been knitting of late.

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The Colin Meloy show was great! We managed to get very close to the stage. :-) For me the highlight was "The Engine Driver." He played "O Valencia!" as if he were tiring of it (alas... star-crossed lovers are always my favorite). The tour CD ("Colin Meloy Sings Live") is nicely done; I was not impressed with his Sam Cook covers EP, though. The Park West is a marvelous place to see a show -- good acoustics, climate-controlled, very civilized.

in spring a young woman's fancy...

Argh! Blogger ate my photos. Edited to add the photos again.

As spring finally arrives in the chilly Upper Midwest, my "fancy" is turning to spring flowers, bunnies, and farmer's markets. Madison's fabulous, down-to earth farmer's market has spoiled me forever, I'm afraid, but I still enjoy Chicago's Green City Market. It's less genuine and hippie and far more yuppie, and the prices are high, but at least it's organic and mostly local (unlike the other markets in Chicago, which sometimes sell bananas -- the horror!).

I'm knitting up some Saturday Market Bags with stash yarn.

Pattern: Saturday Market Bag, by Jodie Danenberg

Source: formerly Magknits, now available here
Yarn: Cotton-Ease, "lake," less than 1 skein
Needles: US 13 and US 9 straights

Notes: Inspired by Amy's recent Saturday Market Bag over at Good to Be Girl, I followed Disdressed's modifications for making 2 handles. Worked like a charm! Unfortunately, I did not follow Rhonda's mods for knitting it in the round. If you make one, knit it in the round!!! Seaming up the lacy sides is a huge pain. There's no real border, so it's hard to do it neatly. Like Disdressed, I knit the body of the bag in one piece, folding it in half. I thought it would be stronger not to have a big sewn seam across the bottom; however, a nice cast-on or bound-off edge would make one seam across the bottom quite easy and sturdy.

Here's an action shot:
Spring has also put me in the mood for all things twee. I'm in love with the pink, pompom-bedecked slippers I found on clearance at Target:
They're completely over the top. It's hard to find slippers/shoes that fit my ski-like feet. I think I'll go back and pick up a couple more pairs "to spare." Invariably I step in cat barf or spill coffee on my slippers -- they don't last long here. In fact, Kylie puked in my favorite Puma sneakers last week -- now I need to go shoe shopping.

I also picked up buttons for the little green baby sweater: