I made this and I love it!

Thanks to some re-inspiring from John (HAI JOHN!), I decided to try out the pattern I bought over a month ago (link above). Thanks to the always supportive and encouraging knitter girls, I now love it even with the terribad mistakes that I am always prompt to point out to everyone. So yeah, thanks lovely knitter friends! :) Oh yeah, here:



One of my favorite things about it, the lining:



Side view so you can better see my other favorite thing about it, the handle:



and as you can sort of see from the above picture



Kitteh helped!

Just some side notes for anyone that might be interested in the pattern, it is intended to be quilted, as is apparent in the link. I do love this aspect of it, but as an overzealous beginner, I really just didn't want to yet, so I instead opted for some fusible fleece (thanks, Carolyn!) and I'm very pleased with the result, although I forgot I had bought a yard of fusible batting from Stitchcraft (formerly known as Three Crafty Quilters) in Boca, so next time, assuming I skip the quilting again, I am going to give that a shot, although no complaints on the fusible fleece at all, just want to use up the stash. I also sort of forgot the lovely ribbon accent, which gives it a nicer finished look, imo, but will catch that next time also! While I'd say these bags require a fair amount of work (maybe not if I wasn't so remedial) the pattern was really well written and I'm very happy with it!!!! Oh and this was the "as is" size in the pattern, requiring a fat quarter of each fabric, which worked for me since I'm a FQ whore. Fabrics are Robert Kaufman Ready Set Go in Bermuda (which I didn't even realize was organic, score!) and Michael Miller Dino Dudes, both purchased at the aforementioned Stitchcraft, which I mad heart, btw.

Oh, yeah, knitting and stuff! The item receiving the most attention on the needles is my second Hemlock Ring Blanket. Here's an atrocious picture of it!



I'm actually pretty close to done aside from the fact the last dozen rounds ahead of me are the biggest and most time-consuming. :P After that, I think I'm ripping my very-near-complete Earnshaw from last "winter" and redoing it in my actual size but on needles 2 sizes smaller instead of the intended needles and 3 sizes too small just to get it to fit. :P I just don't like the sleeves. Oh, all this because I super epic failed at Tour de Sock On the other hand, I made two donations to Doctors Without Borders and I'm pleased about that! And at least one person on our team has been successful! teehee. (don't be menaceful!)

And that's that. I just wanted to blog really because it's been a terribly long time. And truly, there are many things I love about having a local knitting group. Aside from the obvious things like inspiration, camaraderie, not having to KIP in solitude, and an excuse to drink frappuccinos, the people I am so fortunate to know (including you guys out there in blog land!) are consistently the most supportive when it comes to all avenues of crafting, and it's something I am deeply grateful for. While there is always room for growth in my skills and I still have so much to learn, I sometimes need to be reminded that my hands and brain aren't computerized and perfection really isn't what crafting is all about. If it were, we could all just go buy $1 socks and $10 sweaters and call it a day, amirite? :P So, I *will* be proud of my accomplishments, thanks to some special people. Love your fellow crafters! I love mine!

P.S. I BLOGGED!

P.S.P.S. I FREAKIN LOVE these stitch markers from AG mode!!!!!!!! If not for the atrocious pic, you'd see that I'm tickled to be using this very set to mark the lace patterns. LOVE! They're my #1 favoritest markers ever! (I added some pics because I love them that much!)



And look, a contrasting, yet coordinating beginning-of-round marker! /love