well then…

So many possible topics for a Monday morning: the snooze fest that was the Grammy's; the pattern for that bag; what color shirt I am wearing; and the list goes on…

First things first: this morning, Dan comes downstairs, wearing the same shirt and pants he wore to Sunday School yesterday (no,  he is not a student, rather, a teacher...to clarify) and he looked quite handsome, so I said, "Hey…you look nice. Didn't you wear that yesterday to church?" To which he replied:

Yes, I workshopped it over the weekend.

Second things: already this morning (and its only 8:25) Cole has had a few issues that have involved whining and general anger directed at, well, me. He said he was cold and needed pants. I told him to go get pants. He whined, "Couldn't yoooouuuuuu?" I said, no, and then asked him how come when daddy asks him to do things, he pretty much does them without a trace of whine. He said, "Because Dad makes me lists."

So i made a two-item list with a check box that said, "Go get pants" and "Don't whine."

Third things: the Grammys.

So guess what time i turned it on? 7:10 p.m. Which means the only REAL thing worth seeing, the Police reunion, was done and done. I'm sure it will show up on Youtube in the next half and hour or so. But still. It would've been nice.

When i was 17, the Police were my favorite band, following my three-year obsession with Journey. I LOVED that band. Categorically. And not just Stingy. All of 'em. Stewart. Andy. LOVED them. But that's fodder for another day.

My main problem with last night's show (and I do think Mary J. deserved her moment in the spotlight, no disrespect) was that it was…how does one say, boring? Boring. Zzzzzzzz. Shhhhhh. I'm asleep! I'm sure I could be really clever and witty if I thought harder about it, but that's all  i can say.

Except for the Dixie Chicks. Now…i have that album. I bought it because i like them. But honestly? I've hardly listened to it. I like the first half, and then it feels like it fades towards the end. I'm happy for them and all, winning what they did, but I have one BIG issue.

So…they're up there....thanking the songwriters....you know, giving a nice shout out to Minnesota song smithers, Dan Wilson, and Gary Louris....and then they added "...the rest of the songwriters...."

Hello? Would it have killed you to mention who wrote track 8?

I'm sure Neil won't be offended. It's fine. And it'll sound WAY better when his version comes out on the new Crowded House album. Right.

Okay…moving on to....knitting!

Here is the pattern, minus the felting instructions, but i figure that's easy: throw  it in the washer, with soap, and hot water. Repeat until you achieve desired effect. Fill bag with plastic bags to shape until dry.Yes? For to understand? (And  I have an ethics question: someone gave me this pattern. Is it wrong to share it here? What's the scoop on that? Because i'll gladly pull it down. Anyone?)

But I have a request of you: anyone who has a good pattern for making cute little felted flowers (which would be so for cute on this purse, yes?) please for to share with me?

Little Felted Bag
you need:

1 skein of chunky wool (140 yds)
16- to 24-inch size 11 circular needles
4 markers
yard needle

Guage: in stockinette, roughly 12 inches and 18 rounds, four inches

Finished measurements: after felting, purse is roughly 6.5 to 8.5 wide by 6.5 to 7.5 tall, depending on how long you felt.

To make bottom of purse: loosely cast on 13 stitches and work back and forth in garter stitch (knit every row) for 38 rows (19 ridges). Do not turn.

Begin main part of bag: Without turning, knit 13 stitches on needle, place marker and pick up 19 stitches along the long edge  (1 stitch for each ridge), place a marker and pick up 13 stitches along cast on edge, place marker, and pick up 19 stitches along second long edge, place a fourth marker to mark the beginning of the round; 64 stitches total.

Note: you will be working in rounds from now on. Be sure to keep moving markers as your work.

Begin knitting every round (stockinette stitch) until purse measures 10.5 inches, measuring from pick-p round, ending at beginning of round marker. (Mine was 9.5 inches. I was running low on the yarn!)

Begin handles: On next round, k13, slip marker off, k3, bind off next 13 stitches, k3, slip marker off, repeat to once more, leaving only beginning round marker.

On next round, k16, cast on 25 stitches, k19, cast on 25 stitches, knit to end of round.

Work 4 more rounds, bind off all stitches. Work in ends.

Felt.

Done.

EDITED TO ADD:

And one more thing: happy birthday to Angela Beltakis, who lives in Mt Gambier - South Australia. (She knows someone who apparently is a second cousin of some sort to Mr. Neil Finn. And that makes her SPECIAL!)

HAPPY DAY!

Comments

[Sheryl]

1.

Adorable bag - thanks for sharing the pattern! I wish I could help with the felt flowers but I've only recently entered the knitting game, myself (my DD is the proud new recipient of a new pair of mittens, as of this weekend). How was your class yesterday?

[Angie Grimm]

2.

Hi Cathy,

The felted bag is adorable. These aren't felted flowers but still darn cute and they might do the trick!
http://www.geocities.com/ctpatterns/zinnias.html
I started my knitting project (summer swing top) over five times last night - BIG SIGH!
Have fun at class!

[Jennifer Kolakowski]

3.

Cathy,

There are a couple of cute flower patterns at Knitty.com/issuesspring05/PATTpetals.html. If that doesn't work, go to Knitty.com and search knit felted flowers. Also, you might want to sign up for their newsletter, it's loaded with cool stuff and patterns. If those don't do it for you, there is a great book called Nicky Epstein's Knitted Flowers which has tons of sweet flower patterns. It's available at Amazon. Good luck. SO very, very, glad you're back in blog land.
Jen K.

[Tam]

4.

Way adorable felted bag Cathy! In love with the color! So yummy like a granny smith apple.

We caught the Grammy's too.
Even though I am not a Mary J. fan I did also think she deserved some respect and I have to say I was rather impressed. Is it just me or were the Chili Peppers rather subdued? Maybe I am just use to that "Give it Away...Give it Away...Give it Away Now..." tune. Christina was well...in all her glory with that red lipstick, the girl has lungs though. My teenage daughter was IN LOVE with Chris Brown and his run it. Gotta admit tht trampoline flip rocked. Ah to be young and ever so flexible.

As for the Dixie Chicks... I guess I have mixed feelings. I did listen to their album after so many people started talking about it and I thought it was "ok". Some songs I liked but I am not the hugest fan of country music but you like what you like no matter what genre it is. I just thought the whole thing seemed to politically hokey to me. I sure hope most of the academy voted based on their music and not making some big statement. And even if they did, it would have been nice had they given respect to the people behind the scenes who make it possible for them to do what they do instead of quirky jabs at Bush. Not that I am a supporter of him either.

BTW, I got a trend watch from Old Navy today and one of things on it was a super hip little crocheted shirt. So get your needles on girl and you'll be knitting a trendy little spring outty for you before long. Wish I could knit but I am a self-taught crocheter...

Peace

[kp]

5.

Here is a free pattern website that has every possible flower you could want: http://www.knittingpatterncentral.com/directory/flowers.php. Love the bag! Thanks for the pattern!

[Vicki Jackson]

6.

the bag is too darn cute to ignore... I can knit-- straight kniting... which from your directions it looks like thats what you did... but I don't understand the whole marker thing... any chance you will share the directions in simple english for those of us who are knitting direction impaired??? lol

[notchincorporated]

7.

Awesome monday morning blog

[suetreiber]

8.

There are tons of flower patterns on the web, but none compare to Nicky Epstein's book, really. Check it out on Amazon-you won't be sorry!!!
It's also fun to knit a swatch, felt it, and free form cut flowers.
The Police rocked. They sounded just like they did 20 years ago.I didn;t dig Sting's haircut, but loved his little vest. Yowza!

[Jen G]

9.

Thank you so much for sharing the pattern!!! I can hardly wait to start.

[Jen G]

10.

Thank you so much for sharing the pattern!!! I can hardly wait to start.

[Erin B]

11.

I loved the show last night, but maybe that's because I love pop music. I loved John Legend. He's dreamy.

I also love the Dixie Chicks CD, and I think it actually gets better toward the end. I did not know that Silent House was a Neif Finn song. It is my favorite on the album. Would love to hear a version sung by him.

THanks for sharing your pattern. I may have to pick up my knitting needles again.

[Crys]

12.

http://nonipatterns.com/collections.php
This site has beautiful patterns for gorgeous knit flowers. Maybe one of your local yarn stores carry her patterns. I crochet my flowers. For me, crochet is just simpler and faster. But that's me. The bag looks lovely!

[Nancy]

13.

I don't know about the knitting ethics thing. Certainly copying pages from copyrighted material and then giving them away would be "wrong". But knitting patterns seem to pass from hand to hand to hand on little slips of paper and recipe cards and church bulletins and...

[susan]

14.

LOVE that Cole and the list!!

and yes, Sting remained HOT last night! sheesh! I think he looks better now than he did in the previous Police days...does that mean I am getting older?!?!? and personal sense or irony when Joan Baez came on to introduce the Dixie Chicks. I ran into her at the concert the last time Sting toured! I turned the Grammys off after she talked and the Chicks started to sing.

[Nichole]

15.

ITA about the Dixie Chicks CD. I was obsessed with it for weeks when it first came out. But I agree that it fades at the end (AFTER the Neil Finn number, of course. *wink*) And we missed The Police, too. DH was sooooo pissed that the DVR picked that particular moment to freak out. Thanks for reminding me to send him a YouTube link.

[Lori C]

16.

Love the little felted bag!!! I have been making felted bags for about a year and I am additcted. As for the felted flowers I would encourage you to take a look at "Knitted Flowers" by Nicky Epstein. There are patterns for both regualar and felted flowers. Hope you find one you like. I actually made several Angel Roses and made lapel pins out of them for friends....very cute!!

[Ann]

17.

Don't know if you any connections with a company that makes stamps, but I'd suggest that your morning list for your son would be a good stamp.

1. Go get pants
2. Don't whine

I'd buy it!

[Chan]

18.

THE POLICE WILL MAKE A CONCERT STOP IN SEATTLE ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 6th AT KEY ARENA

Sounds like a great reason to hit the Pac NW!

[Bubby]

19.

The Grammys were lame as always, yet for some reason I watched the whole thing. Mary J. Blige may be the most overrated singer of the past 10 years. That god-awful catterwauling is about as appealing as fingernails on a chalkboard. I'll never forgive her for butchering U2's "One."

[Trish]

20.

Cathy, do you have any interest in learning crochet? I've been knitting, felting, and crocheting (you can felt crocheted items, too) since I was 9 ~ I was so glad to see them come back into style (you can imagine how dorky it was when I was 16 (in 1984) to tell my friends I liked to knit and crochet!) I have about 20 knitting and crochet students right now (ages 12-50); we have a blast ~ we may just give your Little Felted Bag a try as one of our projects. Happy knitting!

[Nicole]

21.

Okay, 1st, you need to issue warnings before you blog - because the list thing nearly caused me to have an 'accident.' I don't think I've laughed that hard in a while!

Now, for the Grammys...yes, the Dixies were the feel good story, same with Ms. Blige. I don't begrudge that. BUT, the Raconteurs and Gnarls Barkley (that boy is smmmmmooooooth!!!) were totally robbed. That is what is frustrating - brilliant albums, GB at least won 2 out of the 4, but for poor Brendan Benson (my lust muffin) and Jack White 0 for 2. Phooey.

Justin Timberlake is smokin' - he was among the few highlights. He's got charisma to spare.

Hmmm...the exchange between Common and Kanye West was priceless!!! That gave me the laugh of the night.

And, as an alterna-kid back in the grunge haydays, when did the Red Hot Chili Peppers start to suck so badly? Wow. I think it has to have been at least 15 years...right? Eesh. I feel old.

Finally - why did they put the Police on the first 1 minute of the show??? Seriously. I turned it on at 7:15, only to find out they were the first out of the gates. Thank goodness for YouTube. I spent the rest of the night more bitter about this than anything else :)

Alright, enough, enough....!!!

[Korey Lindberg]

22.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the knitting instructions...YOU ROCK!

[Katie]

23.

There is a cute felted flower pattern in the book One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant.
I just started this knitting thing in November - it is so addicting!

[BonnieRose]

24.

we all don't hve to agree.. that's for sure, I for one loved the grammys.. loved all the performances... that's why we're all unique and special i guess huh?

[Danielle Casello]

25.

Hi Cathy! I thought the Grammy's were a big bore as well. I just wanted to tell you that you have inspired me to start knitting! I think I am going to take a class at the knit shop you referred to in a previous post. I am so excited!Thanks!!!

[kelly]

26.

Cathy, I love the felted purse and I have the most perfect flower made of wool or felt. I am in the middle of moving and I haven't unpacked the one I would really like to show you, but if you go to my blog and go to October archives and click on "a fair pumpkin" you can kind of see what the flower looks like. I love it because it is so easy and you can make it simple or really embellish it.
www.kellygoldsworthy.typepad.com

[Katy]

27.

Cathy,

I have to say that I've truly loved reading your blog, and I'm SO going to make that cute little felted purse. I've only knitted two other things, a scarf and a hat that's so big Dan (my Dan) and I can both wear it at the same time. I am anxious to try this! Thank you for sharing.

[cydh]

28.

Cute bag, thank for sharing the pattern. There are some cute little flowers on the Knitscene.com website. This is a knitting magazine and there are free patterns on the web for a few projects. Find them here: http://www.knitscene.com/2006/web_projects.asp. Happy knitting!

[Maricar]

29.

Hi Cathy,
You're inspiring me to take up knitting, and add it to my myriad list of things to do. :D

As for the ethics question... as far as I know, it's OK to share such things as long as the source is credited. You can either link to it if it's online or just put the name somewhere.

[Alexandra]

30.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv5XBENPzf8
This is when I fell in love with Neil Finn. I saw him in 1982 (I was the ripe age of 16). still love seeing this clip too.
You brought it all back to life in your blog. I had lost touch with CH over the years...but he's back in my life..and my two toddlers who ROCK to CH and SE! CLASSIC CIRLCLE OF LIFE!!

Now, back to daily life. Maybe I should dedicate a page to him...hmmm

thanks Cathy.
Alexandra (Canada)

[natalia dexter]

31.

Hi Cathy
I found this tribute to Paul Hester (drummer of CH) who committed suicide in 2005 by Neil Finn. Neil is just amazing and so courageous to sing at the ARIAs (Australian Recording Industry Awards. Have tissues ready!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD8pMIH1puw

[Alison]

32.

Lol, that's so bizarre to see someone's name on a blog of someone on the other side of the world, from the place I live too, whom I know of and the shop she works at (and BTW, I have a friend who knows Neil and the boys and does some work for the Aussie fan club, the first person I've met who loves the Crowdies more than I do!!! Ahh, the band of my blossoming adolescence, who couldn't love them!!). And Neil's tribute to Paul at the ARIA's? I didn't know it was possible for my heart to break and sing at the same time.

[Lisa]

33.

Here's a link to an absolutely adorable outfit (love me some color) and it has a link to another felted flower pin: http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/heather_bailey/2007/01/index.html
Enjoy!

[susan opel]

34.

Cole makes me laugh, and your list that you created for him? Perfect - genius. I like lists, too.

The Police weren't THAT great. You didn't really miss anything. :)

[Jenn L]

35.

Unrelated to today's post...

Just wanted to say that I was sad when you stopped blogging, and happy when you came back. Now I see that the deliciously Very Zen Amanda has decided to withdraw from blogging life. I found her because of your link, Cathy, and I thank you for that. But now that she is bowing out, I am sad all over again. Gonna miss that girl.

[Amy Callahan]

36.

LOL "Second things: already this morning (and its only 8:25) Cole has had a few issues that have involved whining and general anger directed at, well, me. He said he was cold and needed pants. I told him to go get pants. He whined, "Couldn't yoooouuuuuu?" I said, no, and then asked him how come when daddy asks him to do things, he pretty much does them without a trace of whine. He said, "Because Dad makes me lists."
Nicky is the total same way. I am stealing this idea. Thanks for always making me laugh!!!

[Tara (AbbysMomma)]

37.

Thanks for the felted bag pattern...felting ROCKS!

Okay..on the felted flowers...I don't have a pattern, but have you thought of doing a lazy daisy stitch on them? I'm knitting a hat know that calls for lazy daisy stitched flowers...of course, the darn pattern skips how to do it, but I'm gonna google it...lol

[Kathie]

38.

Recently renewing my addiction to knitting, and had never felted before. I have made serious cable knit sweaters and lots of complicated stuff, but the felting process is so much fun! Have to agree on the knitting a swatch and cutting it into the shape you want for a flower. The pattern I started felting with called for buttonholes and to just cut into the bag! I was in shock, expecting a knit object to just unravel...and stopped by a yarn shop to be sure, and the gal just cut a swatch for me to see. Wow! Go for it! Create! And share. As to the pattern, I would say there are enough freebies of the same type bag out there that it will be fine. Am attaching one I have from hello yarn that the knit shop I was at was handing out. Looks the same as yours, but sounds larger in size. Have fun.

http://www.helloyarn.com/lopitote.htm

[Yvonne]

39.

Oh, I need to learn to do this!!!