Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Work In Progress Wednesday (WIPW) - BAG!!!

Happy Wednesday all,
And Happy New Year - I can't believe it's 2011 already, it's set to be a busy year but hopefully *fingers crossed*, a good one.

I've taken up knitting this year, so I've decided as part of a new hobby (well relatively anyway), I would take part in Work In Progress Wednesday with Tami over on her blog. All you have to do is share you work in progress each week - or each week you can anyway!!!

Anyway here is a little bit of knitting bio and my WIP for this week:
I have knitted, on and off, since I was about 21, but I never really made anything solid - just squares and the odd straight scarf. This year I am determined to try some new things and, at the end of 2010, I had made a handwarmer - just one tho because I hadn't learned about wool vs needle sizes etc - now I have I have a nice new pattern and some wool - so I'm going to try again once I get 10mm needles. I actually enjoyed making the handwarmer, although it was a bit big.... and I don't have tiny hands!!!!
So last week when I went sale shopping with my MIL I picked up a gorgeous pattern book, and decided I wanted to try a garter stitch bag (there is a version using moss stitch, but I've not tried purling yet - any tips would be fab):
I bought some wool in the right tension - not realising that this is the 2nd wool mentioned in the pattern!!! It is Sirdar Denim Ultra - and it is so beautiful to work with. Then I realised I didnt' have 8mm needles (I seem to have all the sizes except 8mm and 10mm!!!), so I went shopping and found some bamboo needles:
I've started knitting with the 2 and I'm loving it - I've still got a long way to go as it needs to be 10.5inches...... but I'm excited to get the pieces done and buy some lovely fabric for the inside. Here is my little bit of knitting:
I know alot of people who knit, and I know that they tend to work on more than one project at any time - but I'm a little nervous to do that until I've at least finished a couple of projects.
Right I'm going to go catch up on some TV that I recorded over the festive season, do some knitting, make dinner and maybe make time to play with our sewing machine later.
Love, V xxx

13 comments:

Twiglet said...

Lovely muted colours in your wool - good luck with the knitting!

Paula said...

Pretty yarn! I've not seen that before. Purling isn't bad at all, and you can find lots of good video tutorials at knittinghelp.com. It will seem like it takes f o r e v e r at first, but keep at it -- it gets lots better! Oh, and welcome to WIPW!

Chrissy said...

Sirdar Denim Ultra is a lovely yarn that softens even more when it is washed. It's the cotton content.

I think you are right to stick with one project at a time until you have the hang of things. You are learning new skills and you don't need to be distracted.

I can highly recommend www.knittinghelp.com for people learning to knit. There are all sorts of videos that show lots of different tips and tricks and explain techniques that more experienced knitters like to toss around to show off LOL.

Good luck with the bag, I think it will be very pretty and you will be purling in next to no time.

Christy said...

It's knitting up very pretty. My current obsession with knitting started with making a small purse. Soon I was taking a sock class and it just kind of went downhill from there.

Hope your purse turns out nice.

Kirsty.A said...

Enjoy your new hoby in this new year

Tami Klockau said...

Welcome to WIPW! Thanks for joining us! I've been crocheting for about a year, but just started knitting in the last two months. I'd say finish your first project before starting something else, then once you get that done, you can have two at a time, etc. Purling isn't bad at all, but does feel awkward at first. It took me about a week to get over it. As Paula mentioned above, there are great videos on how to purl. Good luck!

SillyLittleLady said...

good luck with the knitting! I know you'll love it :D can't wait to see what the bag looks like when its finished ;)

Rachel said...

great to pick this hobby up its great fun and very practical too, good luck with the bag, cant wait to see how it progresses

So Very Domestic said...

Yay a new knitter!! Good luck! I hope you come to love it. Knitting is one of those odd addictions lol.

autumngeisha said...

Your stitches are looking really even and that is such pretty yarn...the bag will be great! There's a lot of great videos on YouTube. You can narrow the search by typing in what method you use (continental, english, etc.). I, too, would recommend sticking to one project and finishing it. After that first finished object, you will gain confidence and can move on to multiple projects. Good luck and looking forward to your progress!

Maggi said...

Knitting is one thing I'd love to learn this year, have fun!

Unknown said...

Enjoy you new hobby. It's looking really good so far.

Purling isn't hard at all. I agree with the others that knittinghelp.com is a great resource.

Anonymous said...

I love bamboo needles!!