bags, of the carrying kind

Two more bits of de-stashing evidence for your waiting eyes!
The first one is made from the Po-Boy pattern, found at the Berroco site. Well it's mostly from that pattern. I didn't like the outside pocket, so I ommitted that and put a cell phone pocket on the inside instead. I also went ahead and crochet-ed the strap, instead of using their strap suggestion. The yarn in question is Lily's Sugar 'n Cream (worsted weight), and I did use the suggested hook. I liked the way it turned out, and I'm looking forward to debut-ing it sometime soon. Green, or Hot Green to be exact, is a lovely color.

The next bit was made from a Bernat pattern. I'd link the location, but I don't know where to find it exactly, plus I think you'd have to register to access the free pattern, and that kind of thing doesn't really appeal to me. The black yarn is Caron Simply Soft, and the red yarn is Red Heart; both are worsted weight. The pattern here called for a chunky weight yarn, but that was not in my stash so it did not get used. Also, there were additional rows of increasing that I did not want, so I ommitted those. Furthermore, I didn't want handles of only one color, so there were modifications with them. However, I did use the recommended hook. All in all, it turned out well. It's not really my style, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it, but it is pretty cute. I'm proud of it.

Both bags are about 8x9 inches or thereabouts. So you could fit a wallet, keys, a pen, and even a paperback book in there without bulging the sides. I like that size. Smallish, yet useful.

cotton blend yarn

I was browsing through Joanns Fabrics and saw their cotton/wool/acrylic blend (I think it's called Dolcetto? I'll check on that) and decided that I'd pick up a ball and give it a try. It was a pretty light green color and it called my name. And then once I got home, it stopped calling my name and thus began its residence in my yarn closet.

But under the influence of the urge to de-stash, I picked up the yarn and made a scarf. It turned out lovely and light. I have yet to wash it, so I have no idea how it will do in the machine (on gentle of course).

The pattern was simply rows of (dc then ch 1) interspersed with (sc then ch 1). The yarn was a worsted weight and the hook was an I (~5.5mm), if I remember aright.

toe socks

I like wearing my flip-flops to work, but I don't like the fact that my feet are freezing cold in my office. Here is one solution: split toe socks. These babies were done in a sport weight yarn, with an f-hook. I'm pretty sure the yarn is out of the Bernat 100% acrylic line.

 

The socks worked up pretty easily, except that I'm used to not having to worry about right vs left feet, and with these puppies, I had to worry about not making two of the same feet.

 

And if you were wondering, yes this is part of my de-stashing effort. This type of yarn usually goes towards my Stitches From the Heart work, but [whisper] I was getting burned out doing the hats and needed a change of pace[/whisper].

 

I do have a pattern written up for this, but it needs some work before I pronounce it good. If you're interested, let me know.

fingering scarf

For a scarf swap that I took part in a while back, I made up my own pattern for the scarf. It was a simple repeat of triple crochets and a fan-type stitch (part of the mat stitch, if I remember correctly). Anyway, I thought I'd post a bit of it. The scarf worked up much quicker than I thought it would, I used an f-hook and the Bernat Baby yarn, and once I washed it, it was extremely soft. One of these days maybe I'll make one for myself.