Oops......

............forgot to show you I have been busy finishing a new batch of knitted and felted bags and glasses cases for the local general store. I delivered them on Saturday and a red bag sold over the long weekend and then this week I remembered I had neglected to photograph them for my records so here are the remaining items insitu with flash photography..........not good.

Nesting and a little knitting

No blogging lately, I think I must be pregnant.............nah, not really but I have been seriously decluttering and cleaning this house of ours................reminds me of the nesting that went on before Surfer Boy and Darling Daughter arrived. We have lived here for so long and all the cupboards are bulging with stuff so the local charity shops will have a delivery later in the week and I have a tiny bit more space in my wardrobe only until the ironing mountain is tackled. Also moved all the large appliances and dusted and cleaned behind and under, what a huge effort that job is. I have really sore dry hands from all the cleaning so not much craftiness going on in the evenings but I am working on a new bag using stripes to create a nice diagonal blended look with two colours, just about up to the handle section which I have planned in my head.

Princess Pia is nesting in a little cane basket she found this morning so I place her in the trug and she's sleeping like a baby. Notice the healed wound on her tail, a bite mark probably, she really has overcome some terrible injuries. She's doing so well and making small improvements everyday which is so good to see. Click on the photo for a really closeup look at the little cutey with her hands clasped under her chin.

Thanks for all my readers who keep visiting and are not finding a new post to read, I will try harder to post more often..........I promise!

Finishing lineup

First up is my new 'Winter Shopper' all felted and ready to go to town tomorrow! This bag had been sitting around for quite some time strapless as I couldn't quite decide what to do and this is very different from my first drawing in my knitting journal. I think this big bag is going to become a favourite of mine, feels real comfy already. This bag felted so well, beautiful NZ wool, really sturdy and not too fluffy, it shrunk 5" in width and 9" in length. Second finished is the bag I said I was making for a jet setting friend, she's picking it up Friday and heading off on Tuesday. Hope she likes the finished result of a Japanese bag kit she bought about 3 years ago at a quilt show, very weird instructions which were inconveniently all in metric...........not great when all your quilting equipment is imperial. Finally in third place a trio of bright felted glasses cases ready for the local general store. Also will have a couple of bags for them later in the week.

Now after all that effort aren't you impressed and I even pulled out my refrigerator and TV cabinet today and cleaned under and behind them thoroughly! It's feeling like spring rather than late autumn around here, lovely sunny warm days, my house is wide open today soaking up the rays, no heater tonight the slate floor will provide us with enough warmth.

Good knitting weather

One new design in the wash while I type, it is made from a lovely New Zealand wool made by Naturally which is 50% NZ wool and 50% NZ mohair and feels wonderful, it does felt up beautifully and finishes with a soft hairy texture. If you look carefully you will see I have some extra pieces in the machine to felt up that will be used to embellish this bag post felting, more of that later. Another design on the needles at the moment, so much fun watching this one evolve, you never really know what you will get with a hand painted wool. This JJ's Montage 8ply 100% New Zealand wool I bought when we visited Melbourne last November and I have been very eager to see it knit, the colours are much better than when it was in the skein and so much better than when it was balled up. As you might have worked out we have had some cool drizzly weather which was just so perfect for knitting over the Easter break but today has returned to blue skies and heat which is needed for the 5 loads of washing I have done this morning.

Knitted and felted bag patterns

Handbag #1

Handbag #2

Small Handbag #3

Shoulder Bag #4

Striped Flap Bag #5

Tote Bag #7

Opera Bag #8

Swing Bag #9

Finally I can offer to my Australian readers my eight current knitted and felted bag patterns for purchase. For my overseas readers I will sort something out very soon so you too can buy my patterns. I teach and sell my bag patterns locally at Steph’s Patchwork Fabrics & Stitching Supplies in Moruya, NSW and I am pleased to say it has been a wonderful time for me, the patterns have been well received and I love seeing the results knitters are producing with my patterns. My bags are all knit with double knit (8 ply) pure wool, I recommend Panda Woolbale for best results. You can use any double knit wool that is not machine washable, super washed or treated to prevent shrinkage. I use very basic equipment for my bags; 5.5mm circular needles (80cm length generally), 5.5mm double point needles if there is Icord detailing and straps, stitch markers to mark the beginning/end of a row also to find the corners of the bag where simple increasing or decreasing is used for the bag shaping, 4mm crochet hook for closing the bottom seam of the flat bags and a large darning needle to sew in tails before felting. I have designed my bags so there is the most minimal amount of finishing, I really dislike sewing up knits so have worked hard to develop these easy knit patterns. I felt all my bags in the washing machine, both top and front loaders work well if you have hot water hooked up to your machine. Each pattern has a colour photo on the front cover, list of requirements on the back and up to 6 pages of detailed instruction on the knitting and then felting process including many black and white photos and stitch diagrams. You will notice that bag #6 is missing, this is the Spring Green Bag that was in issue 8 of Yarn magazine and I am unable to publish this pattern currently. If anyone in Australia would like to purchase a pattern they are $16AUD including postage, just email me and it can be arranged, payment method preferred is a deposit into my bank account as I don't have EFTPOS facilities at this stage of 'Plain Jane Creations' which is a registered Australian Business with a current ABN. If there are any business owners interested in stocking my patterns then just ask away.

tomashtoATbigpondDOTnetDOTau just remove the capitals and replace with @ and .

Deck the halls with........

...................new red bags, only kidding, but it is very Christmassy. I made this one a while back out of Naturally Luxury Double Knit - 50% NZ Wool and 50% NZ Mohair (can't find it on Naturally's site, maybe discontinued) so it's a little fuzzier than usual but it felted beautifully. Last night I sat down and finally stitched all the rings in place, that's all I had to do! This one is for me to replace my charcoal grey bag which is never at home because it is a pattern sample at the local shop. Not sure whether a felted bag looks too wintery for summer in Australia but the colour looks good to me.

Another day at Jerrabatgulla

How lucky am I? This week I made my return trip to the most wonderful property over the mountains to teach felted bag knitting with a very enthusiastic friendly group of country women. Captain Peacock must have been exhausted after a day of showing off his tails feathers, he was the perfect catwalk model this visit, pivoting and prancing perfectly for the lens. I took so many photos of this bird it was very difficult to choose just one to show you, he was in peak condition and so proud of his lady friend who is sitting on their eggs at the moment.

Now did I mention how well country women can cook.................morning tea in the courtyard when I arrived was just delicious and then lunch, I felt thoroughly spoiled. There is nothing that compares with country hospitality and I have to say thank you to all the women who made me feel so welcome and part of their fabulous group. Kitty's garden is a magical place it was filled with lots of different friendly creatures that make a house a home. One day I hope I find a little shack in this beautiful part of Australia that I can retreat to when I need a sanity break, it brings back very fond memories of my childhood in a similar area in the North East of Victoria.

I spent the afternoon in the laundry felting the wonderful collection of bags that were knit over the two lessons and will do a further post including some before and after photos once I get to the 'Airing of the Quilts' exhibition that is on over the weekend 24th ad 25th of November in Braidwood. The completed bags will be on show at the St. Andrews Anglican Church, also a couple of my quilts will be on show there also at the request of the ministers wife. Braidwood is a very historic town and when you see quilts hanging from all the verandas in the main street on Saturday you are in for a real treat. Make a day of it, take a car load of girlfriends and enjoy all Braidwood has to offer. There will be stalls filled with Christmas baked goodies that I can highly recommend because I have met some of the wonderful cooks and heard whispers of the recipes they are using. You must also buy some tickets in the raffle for a Christmas Quilt made by the Gundillion Women's Craft Group, it is a superb group quilt project. The money's raised are used for the upkeep of their beloved hall which is a great example of traditional Aussie architecture.

A sneak peek....YARN 8

It's official, finally I can tell you a secret I've had to keep for quite some time now. The latest edition of YARN magazine will very soon be in a newsagent near you. The bag on this very beautiful cover is my pattern, some of you might remember my green string bag I knit a while back. Well here it is on the cover of issue 8 re knit in luscious Jo Sharp classic dk colours and the pattern is inside for any of you who are keen to knit a good sized eco friendly felted shopping bag. The original Panda Woolbale version is pictured inside but here it is just in case you have forgotten.

Thank you to Barbara and her team at YARN magazine this big step for me has been made so much easier with their great expertise and care.

Statistics............boring you might say

I am finding it very interesting collecting statistics about you the readers of this blog. I began collecting new data with Statcounter last month and I will share the last month with you. There have been 1392 pageloads and to my amazement 861 unique visitors and 558 of them are new visitors and 303 are then returning for another look! Here is a demo page of what Statcounter can provide for you free.

It is very gratifying to know that my visitors like what they see and return for more. I must say I really do enjoy blogging and would recommend it to anyone who wants motivation that comes from writing down daily events and thoughts. This blog is a Blogger blog and it's also free, take a minute and have a quick tour, you can do this too!

Now most of you know I live in the land downunder but the visitors I've had at this blog are worldwide and from the most obscure places. Click on the map logo at the bottom of my blog page and you can see for yourself.

This blog has just passed it's 6 month anniversary and I think that might be cause for some celebration or at least an excuse to show off a knitted and felted champagne tote! Sorry you can't all share the contents with me but thank you to all my readers and commenter's you make my days so much better. Here's to you, cheers.

I'm seeing red...........

and I like it..............a lot! Washed and wet but I wanted you to see it straight away. I can't wait to use this one, now I'm planning the summer wardrobe in my head around a bag??? You have to start somewhere.........might as well be a new bag that begins the ball rolling. Click on the photo for a close up look.......just don't look at the dust on the furniture. You know it's a well known fact that creative right brain people are hopeless at house keeping...........it's true!

Red liner

This light khaki and red bag has turned out just like I wanted, it will be fairly small and easy to throw over your shoulder. It is in the machine now and has so far felted up beautifully. Now I need to make some new a-line skirts ready for summer fun.

All dressed up with no where to go

Finished the beading last night, couldn't photograph this one till I had found some sort of closure embellishment to really set it off. This is a small bag just room for your essentials for a night on the town. The frill remains quite flexible after felting and the holes just add a little bit of texture to the black surface. I really like the row of dots on the handle, I think I will be using this feature more in the future. Would any of you use a bag like this? Is it a bit over the top? I need some opinions girls!

Opera bag

Just finished this off this morning. Added the cream I-cord detail down the centre of the handle which will add strength as this little bag feels weighty because of the three deep frills around the base. Don't worry it isn't heavy by any means, less than 250g of wool! Off to the machine now for a thorough roughing up. Will report in again this evening probably with the finished results.

Little black bag

Now it is said every girl needs a 'little black dress' so why not the 'little black bag' to go with it. I know this looks like a frilly tissue box cover at the moment but be patient and you will see what comes of this girly idea for a special events bag. I started knitting this bag last night with only a vague idea where I was heading but so far I am pleased. Should end up being a lovely girly little tote just perfect for a night out on the town perfect to dress up a plain outfit. I endeavour with all my bag patterns to have the most minimal amount of sewing up so I knit up stitches wherever I want to add details, this time frills.

I must be the only girl on the planet who hadn't watched 'You've Got Mail' till last night that is, I knitted and watched and got annoyed with the ads but now I can say I have seen it. Dear Husband headed off to bed early which is very rare but he looked a wreck after 6 days at work and a few on call and still more to complete. I had the TV remote to myself as the kids also took themselves off to bed early. I am only telling you this because it doesn't happen very often in this house that I get to watch a girly chick flick, I went to bed near midnight feeling good.

Belated birthday bag

I can finally show you my latest bag creation. This one was made for a special friend who had a birthday last week and I managed to get into town today and give it to her although I didn't manage to find wrapping paper but it's the thought that counts isn't it? This was made with Cleckheatons Vintage Hues pure wool that I picked up locally because the colours were just perfect for my friend and I had to hide the wool when she visited last. I did have that naughty little helper in the late stages of the bag, I think it met Miss Puss's approval! It did get a very good washing after she tested it for comfort. I hope you enjoy your bag dear friend and I know you will enjoy "Priscilla" this weekend. We went up to see this show for my 40th birthday, it is a fantastic spectacle and so very entertaining.

Let's go shopping

Still a little damp but maybe tomorrow this new bag will get an outing. I have to say I am pleased with my felted super strong string bag. The size is just right and it can be slung over your shoulder for ease of use and will make environmentally friendly shopping more fashionable than it is with those daggy green bags that most shoppers are in the very good habit of using these days.

Stringing you along........

......not for much longer. Finally got to finish this one off after a busy weekend. It will go into the wash very soon and hopefully will be a felted string bag later today. This bag was fun to work on and is very large at this unfelted stage. I was trying to replicate the shape of an old fashioned string bag that will be easy to carry all your small parcels in when out for the day enjoying some retail therapy.

There's been a mouse in the house............

......not really, Miss Puss would maker sure of that. This is my newest idea, maybe crazy idea! A knitted and felted string bag, what could be more eco friendly than that? I hope this idea of mine comes out of the washer looking something like the picture in my mind. More progress photos over the weekend.

My chocolate coated world

Now this square bottomed tote would carry a few chocolates along with your knitting, ahh, the essentials for a good life! This little tote has turned out well after it's rough treatment in the washing machine this morning and then some lovely sunbeams to dry it off. I like how the colours merge into each other. This idea was suggested to me by a knitting friend a few weeks back, thankyou C. The little side flaps offer some privacy to the contents of your tote and the opening is quite concealed when you are carrying.

Bag of chocolate

I know many of you have been waiting to see the scrumptious little bag and I have even felted it since this photo this morning and it looks really yummy now. Sorry about the teasing but you will just have to wait till it dries!