What I made, by Sharon

 In July 2021 I bought a camo envelope bag from Joji and Co. I loved that bag and used it all the time. It's the perfect size for most projects, it goes well in other bags, it's easy to carry, either over the shoulder or using the top handle. At some point one of the side clips broke, and I replaced it with a split ring.  Then Tarragon peed on it . I bought a new one in a lovely shade of pinky red, but I kept using this one - it was ideal for storing a projects worth of yarn, or using when the blue and the pink all become a little too much. I was knitting the bathmat out of it, when the front closure popped right off. So now I am officially getting rid of it. I thank you for your service, camo envelope bag.

 I bought a new Joji Envelope bag.  Why? you may well ask Just over two years ago I bought a camo print envelope bag . I have a weird obsession with camo print. I loved that bag. It's the perfect size for most projects, it goes well in other bags, it's easy to carry, either over the shoulder or using the top handle. At some point one of the side clips broke, and I replaced it with a split ring.  Then, in July Tarragon had surgery and afterwards came home with a Fentanyl patch. He was so drugged up that he was sleeping on the couch on bag and didn't even wake up to pee. Pee all over the bag, all over himself. Ugg. I put the bag in the washing machine and it came out clean, but rather faded. I wanted something bright and lively.  When I saw this lipstick pink bag I had to have it. It's so soft, and smells like fresh leather and I love it. It's actually nice to have one thing that isn't teal, sage or turquoise! I also bough a giant tote - not from Joji this time. ...

I finished the Old romance Cardigan, except the button band, on Wednesday. I soaked it, spun in out in the washing machine and on Thursday I picked up and knit the button band. In between these two events our the door on our frequently repaired 15 year old washing machine broke. While I know it's possible to block without spinning out the water, it never ends up nearly as drained. When I spin a light cardigan like this will dry overnight, which is useful, because I have limited space to block. I fixed the machine well enough to spin out the water, and we ordered a new machine which is coming on Monday. Very exciting.  Meanwhile, I'm wearing the cardigan. It's very light and warm. I wanted a plainish cardigan to wear over the leaf and plant print dresses that are my current favourite, and i think this fulfills that purpose nicely. There is some weirdness with the sizing. Despite me shortening the arms by  10 centimetres, they were the perfect length without cuffs, so I sew...

In 2018 I knit Joji's Boxy jumper.  Then in 2021 I frogged it, because it was grey, and looking tired. Last year I saw her Lace and Fade Boxy pattern. I realised I could knit it from stash and then I got obsessed with knitting it. I cast on on Christmas eve, and finished on the second of January - the fact that I knit this giant jumper in ten days is testament to what a fun knit it is. Also, that it was four full days of cricket this year!  I love it. I love that it is light and just a little bit warm, perfect for a Melbourne summer night.  I love how it looks different depending whats underneath - some of these photos have a black dress under, and some a pink t-shirt and it looks totally different.  I loved knitting it - 10 rows of easy lace, lots of stocking stitch, so fun. The only thing I changed from the pattern is I brought the neckline up a bit and used ribbing rather than a curled edge, because I thought the original was a bit sloppy. I also knit the s...

I don't know what's going on around here. Normally I knit a big thing and then some smaller projects and then another big project, but for the last bit I have been leaping from giant project to giant project. I spent July knitting a brioche cardigan, September knitting a brioche jumper, October knitting a giant shawl and now I'm knitting a man's hooded jumper that will probably take me until December. In between finishing the brioche jumper and starting the shawl (which was the Twists and Turn MKAL ) I knit one sneaker liner. This took me two days. Then I set it aside, thinking I would finish it in the breaks in the MKAL, but, unlike in previous years, I had no breaks in the MKAL. So last weekend in Marysville I knit the second sock. These are Joji's Flores s ocks. It's the second time I've knit them and I adore them. They just fit so well. Add to that that the multi-colour is my own hand-dyed and this project removed two separate yarns from my stash and  ...

After I wrote about my Joji bags  I realised quite how much I dislike the flesh pink of my box bag, so I decided to colour it. I used Angelus acrylic paint, which is apparently good for painting sneakers. I knew  there was a risk that it would end up streaky, or splotchy or that I would get turquoise all over the vachetta handle and tag, but I decided it was worth the risk. i taped everything I didn't want to risk getting turquoise on and set to work. It was so much fun. I haven't painted anything in the longest time, and it came out the prettiest colour. The cleanup was simple and this really wan't messy at all. I'm curious to see if it will crack or peel over time, but right now I am so pleased with the colour and texture and how much fun this project was.

 I bought a shopping bag from Lululemon the other day. I thought it would be good for knitting large jumpers. I love the bag, and it's huge, but it doesn't quite work as a knitting bag. It doesn't sit quite right, and it's a bit too big. Also, the yarn gets caught on the snap that closes the bag. It will be useful for shopping and travelling though, so it is still a good purchase. For my recent large jumper project I pulled out the large Joji  Amba bag that I bought in November 2020. I'd barely used it - since I have a bag that is slightly smaller and perfect for fingering weight jumpers. But this jumper is massive. I found I really liked it. It fits in my panniers, it's got a handle for taking to the pub and I love the way it's a bigger version of my beloved BA bag. So, will I be using it for everything now? No way. I'll be using my Envelope bag for my next Joji jumper, and my (underused) Shawl bag for the Stephen West MKAL.  But I'm done with bu...

I was about to cast on a Baby Surprise Jacket for charity, when someone pointed out Joji Locatelli's first published pattern, a free baby cardigan .    Not gonna lie, mine does not look great - in fact, I would say it's downright amateurish. It looks like I tried hard, and it's definitly a wearable garment, but the neckline is weird and pulls i, and I think the striping would have looked better on a BSJ. Still, it's done - now onwards to better things. 

I finished everything from last week, and got to start new things! In knitting I started a new jumper, the Diaphanous Raglan by Jessie Mead. It's holding mohair together with a 4ply. I love knitting fluffy fluff! It's growing remarkably fast. I cast it on on Sunday, and joined for the body on Wednesday. In the background of that shot you can see the Joji bag I ummed and ahhed about. i'm so glad I bought it - it turns into a yarn bucket that I can knit straight out of. I think it's my favourite bag so far, and that's really saying something.  I'm reading The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi. It's another book set in India, but this time in the 1950s. I'm coming across some words and themes that were present in The Far Pavilions, but this is a more modern and snappy book. I'm enjoying it, but don't feel compelled to read all the time. Which is good, because I do feel the need to spin all the time! I also got a review copy of Dan Savage's Savage L...

A few months ago Joji released the Envelope Bag. There were many things that I loved about this bag, but I had decided not to buy any more suede bags. It's OK in dark colours, but I do not live a suede friendly life-style. I liked that it can be worn as a shoulder bag, or take the strap off and shove it into another bag . Three weeks ago she released it in camo. I cannot explain why, but I love camo. Which is strange, because I'm anti war and violence and colonialism. I didn't buy the bag, because I was trying to be a better minimalist, and I have lots of Joji bags. I adore my latest - the Hobo with the story . This one looked to be a similar size. I didn't buy it for three weeks. And then Bendigo got cancelled, I had a couple of drinks, and home it came. It got here from Argentina in 5 days, quicker than any of my purchases from much closer to home, and I love it. It's super soft, but still stands up, and you can turn it into a yarn bucket. And its a bit bigger tha...

Yes, I'm talking about knitting bags again. I spend a surprising amount of time looking for the perfect bag. I have bags I LOVE for smaller projects ( Joji & Co 's Box bag for single skein projects, the Hobo for two to three skein projects). But I keep searching for the perfect bag for larger projects. While knitting my Winter's Beach cardigan I kept the project in a heavy drawstring bag from Joji and Co.  When I go to work I shove it in my panniers.  When I'm around the house or walking down to the pub  or going away for the weekend this went tidily into my Pampa Bucket or  Box Slingback .  So you would think I'm done  with buying bags, right? Well, no. Joji put out a collaboration with Stephen West. They called it the Shawl Bag and it's designed for four to five skeins of 4 ply yarn, which is Stephen west shawl, or a jumper for me. It came in such pretty colours  that I couldn't resist... It's quite compact, but has giant gussets. I'm looking...

Or longtime cardigan , as I like to call it. I didn't really enjoy the knitting that much. It starts with a provisional cast on for the back neck, and because of the way these things work, it will always be offset by half a stitch. Did not stop me trying to make it match up though. Then I had to alternate skeins because the dyer (that would be me) didn't quite get the same colour in each skein. In the end it looks like a really subtle fade, but alternating while using a mohair carry along was annoying. It wasn't until after I'd finished that I realised I could have just plied it and saved myself  the grief.  It took me a month to finish this, and I was kind of bored and over it by the end. And then I finished it, blocked it, put it on and won't take it off. It's warm, and snuggle and a delightful colour. Sometimes I use a pin (or DPN) to hold the front closed, sometimes I let it fly free. So a win, in the end, even though it took a bit to get there.