stop and smell the roses

Or, in some cases, sew them.

When Cat and I went on our field trip to Lowell, I mentioned that I picked up a couple of pretties at the Quilt Museum that you might see later. Well, later is now, since I finally sat down with my sewing machine and turned them into a finished something.



My Mackintosh rose bag! The outside fabric is a Japanese fabric fat quarter that I got at the Museum, which is where I also found the pink polka dotted purse handles.



I've been a big fan of Charles Rennie Mackintosh ever since I went to Glasgow, about six years ago, so I couldn't resist the rose fabric.



And the purse handles were just too cute.



The lining fabric is just a small pink print that I found at Winmill Fabrics; I wanted something that wouldn't take away too much from the outside.



I based the shape and measurements for the bag on this One Hour Bag pattern. I'm so pleased with how the whole thing turned out!

Shaun meets the knit-o-matic

It's been almost two years since I was in London, and that Shaun the Sheep kit I picked up as a souvenir has gone unknit all of that time. Until now, that is.

Shaun explored the local flora. He was disappointed to find that the pumpkins were glass.



Pattern: Shaun the Sheep kit, from Patons UK
Yarn: Patons UK Fab DK in black (1 skein) and Patons UK Fairytale Velvet DK in white (about 6/10 of the skein) on US 2.5 needles

Shaun was more pleased with the orchid.



Shaun explored further.



Shaun is a lovely little souvenir, he is.

field trip

Last weekend Cat and I took a little trip up to Lowell. Our main stop was the American Textile History Museum. We had never been there before, but the museum is great. Lots of hands on stuff, lots of scenes you can actually walk into, and lots of neat stuff to look at.

A general store of old.



Reels from an old cotton mill



Fashion history



A cabinet of dyes



And a close up of a few of the jars inside the cabinet--I liked how it had the chemical composition drawn on the label.



From the knitting display



And some old and modern machinery



Afterward we also went to the gift shop at the New England Quilt Museum, which had lots of pretties to ponder, some of which you might see later if I ever get back to my sewing machine. :) And then we found the Classic Elite Yarn store, but somehow both of us managed to leave without buying any yarn! Miraculous.

what would I do?

So, when Knitpicks started listing a yarn with the colorway "Time Traveler", that was described as not creating "socks that are larger on the inside than they appear on the outside" and that were very similar to the the colors in a Fourth Doctor scarf, what would I do?

Smart people. Order some, of course. Here are Madame Nostradamus's Fourth Doctor Scarfy Socks.



Pattern: Basic stockinette sock with short row heel, improvised
Yarn: Knitpicks Felici in Time Traveler (1.5 skeins) on US 1.5 needles



They're particularly appropriate right now, as I'm on the Fourth Doctor in my Doctor Who watching.



Now if only walking in them would lead me to a TARDIS...