Favourite Quotes

" When I can no longer create anything, I'll be done for"
Coco Chanel



Handbag pattern

Several people love the handbag I made and want the pattern. It is from Knit Today magazine Jan 2010 issue, go here to order a back copy. I adapted the cosmetic purse pattern to be wider for a handbag size and made a strap of a few rows of dc. The basic design is very simple, just dc stripes as the basic bag and then a pretty border in the same colours sewn over the stripes. I would like to experiment with other lacey border designs sometime.
By the way, I was given a set of Provocraft interchangeable crochet hooks and I can't get on with them so they are on ebay at the moment, go and bid here if you want them.

Here is the heel of my socks, I usually prefer bamboo needles for knitting, but I am using Knit Pro double pointed needles for my these, they are fabulous for socks, so smooth and pointy. It took me a while to get the hang of them as it is easy to drop stitches on such a pointy end, but I love them now.


This is my fourth pair of socks and I'm getting better each time, less mistakes and holes! Some of you may be wondering why I need warm wool socks in Spain? Contrary to what many people believe, it gets very cold here on the Costa Blanca in the winter, the temperature doesn't actually go below freezing that often, but the houses here are built to keep the heat out not in, so they are not insulated and the floors are just cold tiles. My old farmhouse walls are made of rock plastered together, lovely and cool right now, but so cold later. I have been colder in this house than I have ever been in the UK! We do have heating, electric radiators and log effect gas fires, but the heat evaporates very quickly, so I love my warm woolly socks and rugs and my electric blanket!
Busy for a couple of days, back soon.xxx

2 comments:

  1. Hi Julia, This is the first time i saw your Blog. Welcome to the knitlist or Knitalk. I like your knitted items on the blog and on flick'r. You do nice work. Sounds like you are having an interesting life. My grandson just came home from Madrid, where he spent his Sophomore year of college, and then the summer as an intern. He is really quite fluent in spanish now, and he also got to travel a lot.WE live in the Boston, MA.USA area. I share your love of crafting and knitting, crochet. I have not had much fun with it lately though, because of problems with my hands. In the last year I have had 3 carpel tunnel surgeries, 2 of them on the right hand, which was botched up the first time, and the second time it became an emergency, because the median nerve was dying, leaving my hand totally useless. With an enormous amount of PT, I have made progreess, it's not perfect yet, but much better. So I can knit for a short time, and I have taken out my sewing machine a couple of weeks ago and started to work on a quilt, it's called a string quilt.Over many years I saved up all the scraps of fabric when I was sewing for my 4 children. It is going to be a Memory Quilt, it's fun but tedious, to cut the material in the right size strips. My hands don't like that very much. So I get impatient.
    Today I deccided that when all the blocks are sewn together, and the backing is in place, I will send it out to be free hand machine quilted, professionally. I could neveer hand quilt each of those seams. so that is going to be wonderful, to allow myself this luxery.
    I used to do a lot of decoupage, I love little boxes, and loved to decorate them. My name is Rita Hartjes, and I am happy that you are on board. I was raised in Switzerland, also lived in England for 2 years to learn english and grow up, and also lived n Brussels to learn french
    Both were the best experiences of my life. Will talk to you again, Stay cool and until later, Rita

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  2. Enjoyed reading your blog, and as a photographer, I especially liked your photos!
    Greet

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