B Is For Bag

This is NOT the bag for the Australian Knitters group’s Bag Swap (on Ravelry).

But as I hadn’t knitted a bag before, I thought I should at least try one before choosing a pattern for the swap. Neither the colours nor the style are what I think my swapee would like (but I could be wrong)

I started this on Boxing Day and finished on 3^rd Jan.

This IS my first ever bit of (deliberate) felting.

The yarn is Cleckheaton Vintage Hues.

The base was knitted in the round on circular needles; I used two circs when the centre diameter was small. An increase of 8 stitches every second row makes a flat circular base.

I made a welt of three rows of reverse stocking stitch, for the turn for the side.

I then knitted the side, and the second-last row has eyelets. I threaded a non-felting nylon cord through the eyelets before felting, to preserve the holes.
The unfelted diameter was 27 cm (10.5 inches) before felting, and 22 cm (8.5 inches) after felting. The height was 18 cm (7 inches) and shrank to 11.5 cm (4.25 inches).

I gave the bag a very light rinse before felting, checking for colour run. It didn’t seem too bad – a slight red tinge in the water. I have a front-loader washing machine, so it really was a case of "chuck it in and hope for the best”. I was pleased with how it felted.

I popped it on the open-mouth end of a bucket to dry it.

While it was drying, I knit the top part longways like a scarf.

I was going to pick up stitches and knit upwards, but decided against that. The felted part was a bit heavy and bulky, especially for the hot weather we've been having.

It is kind of like a sampler; I was experimenting with different stitch patterns and tried to make the panel lengths match the colour changes. I only had to undo one panel to get the colour right, and one other because I didn’t like how the stitches looked.

I joined the "scarf" with a three needle bind-off, seam to the back. Then I sewed the top to the felted side. The finished height of the bag is 25.5 cm (10 inches)

I didn’t felt the top part. I wanted it to stay soft and flexible for ease of opening. Both edges had a row (column) of eyelets. One row was to make it easier to sew the top to the bottom, the other became the casing for the drawstring cords.

Each drawstring cord has two wooden beads – different colours on each cord. These make it easy to close, and easier to open. Instead of having to push or pull apart the top to open it, a gentle pull on the beads will loosen the top enough for an easy opening. A pull on the opposite beads will close it again.

One thing I didn’t take into account was the height or width needed for stowing straight needles. You see, I usually use circs, even when doing straight knitting. Doh. Currently a pair of straights is poking out the top – dangerous! The bag is big enough for one project, because I usually knit smaller items, or part of a jumper project.

The design of the bag is my own, although I’m sure you knitters out there will see similarities with other bags out there. I thought it looked a bit like a circus tent, but Mr M called it a yurt as soon as he saw it, so Yurt Bag it is!

B Is For Brunswigia

This beauty flowers in mid-March, but the letter “B” is now, so these are from last year.

The Brunswigia (often spelt Brunsvigia) is originally from South Africa. A mature bulb can be as big as a football. They can be quite expensive – I’ve seen prices up to $100 for one bulb.

You can find out more about Brunwigias over here. I'd love to know if anyone else is growing them.

They can take up to 14 years to flower from seed, and can sulk for seven years after being moved or transplanted.

It’s worth the wait.

This one flowered for us for the first time last year. It was a gift from a mad keen fellow gardener. RIP Alan D, one of Nature’s true gentlemen. You are remembered, especially when the Brunswigias flower.

B is also for Baby Brunswigias.

These seedlings are from seeds I collected from a different flower from the pink one above. Yes, we have two. I harvested twenty seeds, and nineteen germinated. That’s a pretty good strike rate. Now, if I can just keep them alive (and myself!) for the next fourteen years, to see them flower.

Gardeners have to be long-lived, to see what comes up!

B Is For Booties

These are, of course, the famous Saartje’s booties.

How could anyone look at these and not want to knit them? 1221 projects, in 1868 queues of Ravelry knitters would agree with me, and that doesn’t count the non-Ravelry knitters who have knitted them. It was quite rightly voted a “Bobby” for best free pattern.

I knit these because I just had to. They’re not for a grandchild, not yet anyway.

Mr M & I are a ‘blended family’ with three boys, a ‘his’, a ‘hers’ and an ‘ours’. The ‘his’ is married, divorced and two school-aged children. The ‘hers’ is married with no signs of imminent children, but that may happen once they return from five years overseas. The ‘ours’ doesn’t have a girlfriend (or a boyfriend). So, no grandchildren to knit for. But when they come, I’ll be ready!

The yarn I used is Cleckheaton Merino Bambino.

Booties with a knitted teddy friend. I didn't knit him - I'm not sure where he came from - maybe my mum knitted him.

This photo shows a bootie I knit more than two decades ago. I don’t know why there’s only one or what happened to the other. I know I didn’t use a pattern, just knit it to the shape I wanted, and sewed it to a sheepskin sole (fluffy side inside of course). The wool has felted a bit, so I know it’s been worn, and washed.

And this photo shows another Saartje’s bootie, this time knitted in a self-striping cotton. For some reason, I really didn’t like how it knitted up. I only knitted one.

It seemed too big, particularly the height. This may be because I had just finished the other ones. I used the same needles and stitch numbers, but it cams up bigger. It may have been all right if I had had a tame baby to try it on and see if it really was too big.

But, I’ve ripped it. I may re-knit it down the track, but next time I would pay more attention to where the colour changes start, and put the dark blue at the sole and the light blue at the top.

B Is For Beaches

Spiky Beach, East Coast, TAS

I love the beach, oceans, water and waves. Just drop me off at a beach in the morning (with some shade and some food, of course) and pick me up at sunset, and I’ll have had a perfect day.

Here is a beach we actually did get to have a swim at

on our generally cold September holiday. Forster, NSW

The eastern-most beach we've been to -
Wategos, just below Byron Bay lighthouse

I can watch the waves all day. Their individuality fascinates me. Their formation, cresting, then tumbling. How each waves is different while still recognisably part of a pattern. How the inner lift of water can show the sea floor. That incredible moment when the water arches over just before gravity wins.

Western-most beach we've been to -

Cape Naturaliste, W.A. Those waves were huge!

I like to watch surfers. I admire their skill. They also give scale to the size of a wave. And they give a legitimate excuse for watching waves. If you just watch waves, well, you’re a bit barmy, right? But if you watch surfers, well, that’s okay because it’s following a sport!

I like to walk along the beach, idly beachcombing, seeing what treasures the waves washes up, and just as quickly reclaims.

I get impatient with sunbathing (besides, I boil like a lobster, and it’s dangerous!) and I don’t always feel the urge for a swim. I love to snorkel, if the opportunity presents itself. My ambition is to snorkel somewhere where the water is warm enough to not wear a wetsuit, but without the dangers of stingers & jellyfish.

Coolangatta Beach, Queensland
While this isn't the most northerly beach I've been to, it's the only photo I had.
It's from our September trip, and the weather was lousy. We still went walking on the beach. Beaches. All of them. Between Brisbane and Sydney. Oi.

I want to live by the beach, on a small cliff (to keep my place safe from rising sea levels from global warming); but the way the property prices are, I don’t think I ever will. So, I visit, and take lots of photos.

One of the most southerly beaches we've been to on mainland Australia
- Castle Beach, near Cape Otway, VIC.
Wilsons Promontory is probably further south. It's on our 'must visit' list.

B Is For Books

I love books. How could ‘B’ go by without mentioning books!

I read prolifically and quickly. A standard novel might take me about three days. I usually have many books stacked around my feet, and I have several on the go at one time (bit like my knitting, come to think of it). *

*This is all pre-knitting. Knitting (and Ravelry!) has severely chomped into my reading time. Except for knitting books – seem to find time for those!

There is no predicting what will take my fancy to read, but it often relates to what’s going on in my head or my hobbies at the time.

The range of subjects is really diverse and wide-ranging. For fiction, I like Science Fiction/Fantasy and speculative fiction, historicals, who-dunnits (how come that ungrammatical phrase is acceptable?) murder mysteries, thrillers and so on.

The non-fiction is harder to categorise. Here’s my own little “ABC-Along” of some of the (mostly non-fiction) topics:

Architecture; & Art Deco

Boat Building; & Bear Making

Calligraphy; & Cooking

Dragons; & Dictionaries

Escher; & Explorers

Floral Art; & Flash Animation

Geography; Geology; & Grammar

Heraldry; & History

Illusions; Imaginary Worlds; & Illustrated Grays Anatomy (the medical text, not the TV series)

Jewellery

Kite Making; & Knitting (of course!)

Leadlight; & Languages

Macrame; & Maps; & Myths and Legends

Nostalgia; & Nursing

Oceans; & Oscar Wilde

Plants; & Photoshop

Quotations Dictionaries

Repairs and Restorations; & Royalty

Shakespeare; & Sewing; & Stanley Gibbons Stamps

Thesaurus; & Travel Guides (Lonely Planet)

Understanding Children; & University Textbooks

Volcanoes

Writing; & World Atlases; & Web Design

Xanth (Piers Anthony series)

Yachting

Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance