Little Tote Bag

My 7 year old niece Peyton asked me if I could teach her how to knit. Well, of course I can! But a girl can't knit without her own knitting bag, am I right? :o) I found this tutorial from The Longest Year (which, by the way, is an excellent blog) earlier this morning and I whipped one up in under 2 hours. I used my stash, which makes it even better. But, of course, I couldn't leave it plain. I added some applique designs to the front. I just printed off a "P" from Microsoft Word in a fun font and used that to trace onto some fusible web. I found the flower applique pattern here. Can you tell what her favorite color is? :o) I'm going over to her house this Sunday to start teaching her. Wish me luck!

I even put a pocket on the inside. I love pockets!

Secret Pal 13 Finale

I got my final package from my secret pal, Jane Schumacher. Here is what she sent me:

I got 5 skeins of yarn, some crochet pattern books, and a fabric covered journal. Thank you!

I had a lot of fun doing this exchange. I can't wait to sign up again. :o)

felting in a front loading washer

It works! It really works! I have always liked felted bags but I never thought I could do them since I have a front loading washing machine. But something got into me a few days ago. While I was on ravelry, I found this really cute pattern for a little purse with beads and I just had to make it. I made it for someone, but I can't say who yet because it's not time to give it to them yet! :o) I used some cascade 220 and my 10 1/2 dpns. It knit up really fast. I have never knit or crocheted with beads before. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Here's how it turned out:

Pretty cute, huh? Now I wanna find a pattern for a bag for myself, maybe to use for my knitting. Do you know of a good pattern? If you do, lemme know!