Rushing along.

   I need to get a rush on with weaving the clothespin peg bag. I got very little done yesterday but did manage to move the piece along the loom so that I have extra space to weave and make the front longer, the loom I'm using isn't really designed for this though. I had to take the sides off and everything sort of fell apart from there but I did manage to get it all back together with no harm done. I'm not going to do that again though.

  I've sort of lost focus on the design as well and am now unsure about the button holes, I'll have a better idea once the front is finished but it might be a little late to sort out by then. I hate rushing but it has to be done by the 9th. I figure another 4 to 5 inches and the front will be done, the back will only be about 4 inches long so should go quickly. I hope.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Started the 2nd peg bag.

   I've made a good start on my moms clothespin peg bag, I weaved about 9 inches of the front of the bag yesterday. I'm not sure how much I can do today but I will try and get at least a two inches more finished. Hope I can do more but don't think I will have the time today.

  The bag is being woven with cotton yarns, I was going to do it all in one colour but am worried I might run out of yarn so have added another colour. I started the weft with a single strand then a double strand of the same colour then to change over colours I doubled stranded the weft in two colours before moving back to a single strand of the second colour only.

  Thats all for today, busy, busy, busy. Hope you all had a good weekend. Have a great day and take care folks.

Misshapen

   I've nearly finished weaving the back of the clothespin peg bag. I'd of finished it by now but have been busy the last couple of days with other stuff. I think I've managed to misshape the back piece to match the front piece but have realised the overall shape is way wrong unless I stitch it together so that the slit runs vertical and not horizontal. It will look ok that way whereas if I had the slit run horizontal the bag would look like a triangle on its side. Half kidding, its not that bad.

  I'll be making another clothespin peg bag a soon as this one is finished for my moms birthday next week. Not a great gift I'll admit but it will be hand made and useful. I'm not sure if I'll try and weave the bag the same way or try the other way, I think I'll have a go at weaving it the other way and see how it turns out.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

ETA. The dogs fine, he has to go back next month for blood work.

Weaving the clothespin peg bag.

   Started to weave the clothespin peg bag on Saturday. I wasn't sure on how I wanted to do the piece so decided to do it in two pieces, the front and back. The other way would of been back, bottom front as one piece folded and top front as the second piece. Both ways so that I can have a hole in the middle of the front to get the clothespins pegs out.

   The way I'm weaving the front at the moment the split I've put in runs vertical, I'm not sure of any other way to do a split. I'll turn the front around once done so the split will run horizontal. This is the first time I've woven a split so its a little untidy. All part of learning.

   If I had woven the other way with the back and bottom front piece folded over then sewn the top front piece it would of made a nicer hole to get the pegs out. Hope all this is making sense, think a couple of drawings might of helped.

  The finished clothespin peg bag will have a hole at the top to put a coat hanger in so it can be hung from the washing line. Whilst planing what to do I hadn't thought this through but once I started weaving I decided to leave one half of the top open and use two buttons to close it. Other wise I don't think you could get the coat hanger in and out, it will also make it easier to fill with pegs than using the hole in the middle. For this I'm going to extend the back on one side for the buttons so that the cloth folds over, so that the coat hanger isn't resting on the button yarn. I think it will be stronger this way.

  I've almost finished the front of the bag, the hole is done just need to weave a couple more inches then I can start the back.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.
ETA I just did a couple of drawings but can't work out the format so can't post them. I'll post pictures once I've finished the bag and might have a go at weaving the bag again the second way.

Clothespin peg bag update.

    The clothespin peg bag is coming along but I'm not liking the cables, because I'm knitting with cotton theres no elasticity to the yarn and knitting so many stitches in the round is causing me problems. The purl stitches between the cable panels look like there laddering and because the bags going to get a lot of heavy use I think this will become a bigger problem. At the moment I'm seriously thinking of frogging the whole thing again.
    
      If I do frog the clothespin peg bag I'm not sure what to do, I need a peg bag but don't want a plain knit one. I could do one with slip stitch colour work that would look interesting or I could have a go at weaving one. 
    Right now I'm leaning towards having a go at weaving a peg bag, I've weaved a lot but never made anything out of it so this would be a good first project. Ok then thats my mind made up, one of the good things about blogging and writing stuff down helps clarify the mind. Now to decide whether to do it in inkle bands, frame loom or both.

   I unwound the drop spindle at the weekend and wrapped it around a tupperware box until I get the rest spun up. The last time I did some spinning I was getting approx. 150yrds before I had to unwind the spindle, this time I've gotten 379 yards. Not sure if I've suddenly gotten good or if its the blend I've made but increasing the amount by more than double is pretty good either way. I think this yarn will make a nice 3 ply yarn for my aran sweater.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Dull days

   Its dull again, hope its not going to be dull all year like last year. My plants want sunshine. I haven't done anything else to the garden this weekend. Keeping an eye on my tobacco seedlings, there extremely tiny things and I'm not sure about transplanting them.

   This weekend I pretty much got everything done that I was planning to do. Saturday I did some blending, knitting and some work on the inkle loom. Sunday I did some spinning, knitting and some more work on the inkle loom.

   I'm starting to think about frogging the clothespin peg bag and starting from scratch, its too wide I think. I could decrease some stitches and see how that looks and redesign the cables I wanted to use. But at the moment I'm really thinking frog it and start again.

  Busy day today so this is all I'm posting, hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

Clothespin / peg bag.

    Made a start knitting the clothespin/peg* bag(from here on out it will be called a peg bag) last night, twice as I messed up my counting the first time by nearly 20 stitches. No idea how I over counted 20 stitches. I haven't written a pattern out but did a couple of drawings and made some notes, I did write out the cable panels I'll be using.

  Decided the peg bag will be knitted in the round using magic loop starting at the bottom with an inch or two of moss/seed stitch then a couple of rows of reverse stocking stitch then I'll knit the cable panels with a couple of stocking stitches inbetween. The back is going to be the same moss/seed stitch then just plain stocking stitch.

   The cables I'm using are 6 stitch rope cable (back), simple plait cable, 5 fold aran braid, simple plait cable and another 6 stitch rope cable (front). I'm going to put the slit to get the pegs/clothespins out in the middle ish somewhere, sort of doing that part on the fly at the moment until I come up with an idea. Not sure if the 5 fold aran braid panel will be wide enough but if it is I'll stop the braid and do a reverse stocking stitch row there then pick up a second yarn to knit with then do another reverse stocking stitch row for the top of the slit and carry on to the top.

  Finishing off the peg bag I'll probably put half the stitches on a bit of string and knit another inch, cast/bind off the front then knit the back an inch and sew the top together with a gap to slip a coat hanger in and leaving the side inch open to allow a coat hanger to pass through the sides.

  I'm knitting the peg bag in a blueish steel colour cotton yarn(dk), the same as used in the bookmark and bib patterns. Using a long cable with 4mm or 4.5mm needles, I forget the size at the moment. Hows all that sound? I'm open to any ideas or comments. Once its finished I'll take pictures and write up the pattern.

  Hope you all have a great day, take care folks.

*In the Uk most folks call clothes pins pegs.