Hand Luggage

After a comment by Tatting Margaret, I thought I'd make some see-through bags for carrying toiletries onto an aeroplane. I assume they would meet the requirements for having one's potions on display. I kept the fabrics vaguely 'masculine' so that with aftershave lotion or something inside, they could make a gift for a man. Gifts suitable for men are not easy to find!

Using Up Handspun

Mid Summer is not the best time to try to sell knitwear, but I thought I would use up the handspun wool I have left to make mittens and headbands. Hopefully some savvy person will grab them when they have the opportunity!

The Beaderie

My brother and sister-in-law made a special trip to take me to The Beaderie in Cambridge. It was the owners' first day in their new, larger shop so they were still getting organised, but oh, what glorious beads. I got a bit carried away. Anyway, these Czech Fire-Polished Beads come from The Beaderie in Cambridge. The pattern is my own.

My computer has died again. My friendly computer man is doubtful that he will be able to revive it. The best I can hope for is that he'll be able to retrieve my documents and pictures. I'm using Jack's computer, which is very up-to-date, so requires a whole lot more learning! Sigh...

Snow Storm

This should be as close as you get to snow at Christmas time in South Africa! The snowflake on the left of the picture is Diane's  Triangular snowflake. I reduced the stitch count a bit to compensate for using size 10 thread, and was very happy with the result. Two of the other patterns come from Burda, and the clover one I just made up as I went along.

Pincushions

 Pincushions, made using a fiberluscious tutorial, will brighten my market stall. I'll put a few pins and a needle in each one, just in case anyone wonders what they are. They're fun to make and a good way to use up fabric scraps.

A Beaded Version

 I'm not sure this was really worth the time and effort involved, especially as my deadline for making things for market is coming up fast. I wasn't helped by the knot in the Cebelia thread that meant I had to restring most of the 120 beads I'd carefully counted onto the ball thread!

This Year's Version

 Well, making the bauble cover smaller turned out to be easier said than done. When I just reduced the number of repeats on the first row from 20 to 16, the resulting 'circle' didn't lie flat against the bauble. Hmmm. The obvious solution would be to shorten the chains, but since they're only 2-2, there wasn't much room for manoeuvre. I shortened them to 1-1, which brought the rings into a circle very quickly (PDQ as my high school Maths teacher would say). Then I did three rows of mignonette stitch rather than two. As before, I did the two ends the same and then laced them together in the middle. I'm not sure I prefer the result, but there you go.

Another solution would be to use a finer thread and the same pattern, but I want the bauble to be bold enough to show up on a Christmas tree.