Wednesday 6 February 2008

Apples and pears with a disaster thrown in...

You know when you see something in a magazine and you think 'I could make that' well this is what happened to me this week... I saw this picture in a magazine and as you may be aware I do love apples and pairs, I am sure you are familar with my much loved Treefall pair cushion. Also pre sewing days when I used to sell cards one of my most popular cards was a pair design...I made so many of these and they would go within days...So when I see anything in a pair or apple design I am drawn to it. I thought this would be a nice easy project with a lot fun thrown in...
The thing is I have enough cushions so with the bulbs popping up in the snow, a sure sign that eventually spring will be with us I thought I would make a bag using the design...it is a gift for a friend many miles away from here and when its spring here its not in the place she lives...Australia. I think I am safe posting this as she does not read my blog often...So I went to town selectiong the fabrics and drawing up the design...
I got busy with the bonaweb and iron on wadding (never used iron on before and I will not be in a rush to buy it again) I put my little belated birthday gift together...I just sort of 'did it' I went with what felt right...I like the contrast in the lining and I made ipod size and maybe a mobile phone or a collection of pens size pockets. A magnetic glasp...if you have your ipod in there you want it to be safe...
I even played about with the staps to get them just right, to fit comfortably over your shoulder, not to long and not to short...I am happy with the outcome of the bag and I might even make myself one...I was worried about the linen, but with the iron on wadding it seems to be maintaining a lived in look rather than creased look...so good all round...Yikes!!! I hope the receiver likes it!
Now for the disaster...I am actually shaking as I type this...what a BAD evening I have had. Whilst knitting this weekend I have been so proud of my swing coat and encouraged the children to make all the right Oh and Ahs 'look at how much knitting Mommmy has done...its so big...all that knitting' well tonight as I sat and worked on my knitting I got to thinking that it was big...no real BIG!!! So with only another inch to go before the back is finished I lay it on the floor and measured it all...its about four inches to wide, the lengeth is OK but it is so wide, well its a swing coat...do I carry on or do I chance it? I think I found out the problem...my needles are 4.5 and not 4mm. For me to get the size of needles wrong I must have done it for a reason...but I can not remeber doing a tension square...although I am sure for the cost of the yarn I would have and that would make sence for having the larger needles, it would also explain the largeness of the coat....WHAT DO I DO NOW? I feel sick, yer I know there are worse things in life and it sounds daft but I really could cry...Frog it or carry on???

Spell Check...still not working, you may have guessed that...is anyone else having this problem?

13 comments:

weirdbunny said...

I'd carry on, but there again I'm not the one knitting it !

I was wondering if you wanted to do a n Easter/Spring swap with me. Don't worry if you've got a lot on, and don't want too.

My email is
weird.bunny@virgin.net

Julia x

Sarah and Jack said...

Blogger still says they are working on our spelling problem, lol.

Sorry, I am of NO help whatsoever about the knitting. I can only poke my eyes out with the needles.

Sarah said...

Are you knitting top down or bottom up - can you get it off the needles to try on in any way?

If not how close are you to the end - may be worth pushing to the end to try it - I just measured a regular jumper and my Flair swing type cardi (buttoned shut) for comparison. The Flair is a good 4 - 5 inches wider across the front.

However if you ever saw the length of the stashbustrophe I made know that I can be in denial about how big something is!

Unknown said...

Lovely bag Suzie - I'm very fond of apple and pear designs too

Kitty said...

That bag is so sweet Suzie - well done. As for the swing coat ... hmmmm, I've been known to frog that much knitting before, I must admit. It is soul destroying, but I know what I'm like (if it's not 'right' then it's not 'right'). It's your call hun ... I don't envy you. x

French Knots said...

As a novice knitter i can only sympathise rather than offer an opinon, what a pain! It's a lovely colour though. x

paper-and-string said...

The pear bag is lovely :-)
but I can't knit so I don't know!! spell check isn't working here either, never mind, what's a few wonky letters between friends!! LOL

Ragged Roses said...

I love that bag, it is beautiful. Sorry to hear about your knitting, I can offer no help as I am a complete knitting non-starter! My feeling is just to keep going with it, that colour is just so beautiful
Kimx

bettyninja said...

Your designs on the bag came out great. I tend to be drawn towards juicy fruit too!

Anonymous said...

Definately keep going coz if you have to start again you'll never do it (it'll be one of those "one day" projects which just fester in the bottom of the cupboard!). If it is really too big when all sewed up, you could always line it(and possibly pad it) to make a super warm winter coat. DO NOT unpick it!!! I can so sympathise with you, but at least it's coming up too big which you can deal with rather than too small which would be a real disaster! The only thing is to make sure that you have enough wool - get on with ASAP in case you need to get some more before it gets discontinued!
By the way - love the bag!

Heather said...

Oh - my stomach turned as I read our post. I am so sorry. It sounds like something I would have done!
Heather

laura capello said...

eeeeeeekkk! so cute! love the pears!

Anonymous said...

I would complete the back, and then try to make the front/sides a tad narrower to compensate. Also, you might be able to shrink the garment a little after it is complete. A little extra room in a coat is not all bad. It is too much work to tear out.

from A regular reader of your blog