A weekend of knitting with Lily Chin.

It's taking me days to try and absorb all the information I learned during the 2 day seminar with Lily Chin. My oh my she has a lot of energy and a wealth of knowledge. I attended a very unique workshop at Newton's Yarn Country last weekend. It was two eight hour days chuck full of knitting information. Lily was teaching, hand knitting, crochet and machine knitting all at the same time! As far as I know I've never heard of any classes in all three at the same time.

It is so logical because many of us practice all three and personally I think of each skill as a tool to get the job done. I've heard remarks like if you machine knit you are cheating or chrocheters are not quite in the same league as hand knitters etc. All silly because I love it all and was grateful to receive instructions in each. I feel I really learned a lot and it's taking me days to think about how to apply all this to my projects.

Here are some links:
http://www.knitonthenet.com/designchart/
http://www.theknittingsite.com/graph.htm?ref=1
Some shows Lily did for DIY "Knitty Gritty":
http://www.diynetwork.com/videos/secrets-of-stitching/5860.html
http://www.diynetwork.com/videos/stitching-with-beads/7776.html
http://www.diynetwork.com/videos/decorative-stitches/7985.html

Another day Another bag.

I love combining felted (shrunk) knitting with regular knitting. The felted area gives the project more body because it's thicker. I've been designing these little project bags and have made several. The bottom is felted so it stands up and the top is knitted. The decoration "curly cues" are needle felted on the bottom, to add a bit of pizazz.

Because I name most of my projects I named this bag Arizona. It just has that South Western flavor to it. Made of wool and the bottom has a bit of detail about 3" of a Moebious then decreases to make the narrow part. When I want it to sit on it's bottom the point tucks in and it sits flat. Perfect for a little sock project on the go. Just the right size to hold a ball of yarn.

My xxx zig zag stitch is added for holding the needles and keeping the stitches safe. (I made a little video demonstrating how to do this stitch here.) The bag is attractive and practical, it turned out well.