Cephalopods: Love 'em or Leave 'em? Discuss!

I just wanted to do a quick "drive by" blogging, to show you something I just finished that I am really pleased with! A lovely local knitting pal and I pooled our resources to create a donation for a very worthy endeavor. We picked out some of Spoonflower's wonderful custom-printed fabrics -- www.spoonflower.com/ -- and I made a piecework project tote bag. The finished bag is about 11.5" x 11.5" measured flat, plus a 4" base. It's ample for a large shawl project, or many other kinds of WIPs (translated for non-knitters: "work in progress").

We loved the inky cuttlefish cyanotype-style fabric, which I used on both the front and back of the bag, combining it with a variety of water-inspired prints.

On one side, and the handle, there's also a fabric called "Face Off," by Donna Kallner, which I love. (It's on the upper left section of the bag above at right.) It is reminiscent of the textile art of a dear friend's mum, we'll just call her "Mother-of-Cynthia."

Here's a peek at the inside, just for fun. The lasso is handy for guiding yarn, or can be used as a keyfob or to hook a pair of scissors or phone onto.

So, yes indeedy, it's been a productive Sunday here! Now, I'm off to try a new recipe for Bourbon Corn Pudding (Well, maybe it's actually more like "Corn Pudding with a little bourbon in it," but doesn't it sound better my way?)


And after dinner? Time to kick back and do a little knitting! I'm still hard at work on my Catkin Shawl by Carina Spencer of Sweet Mama - Small Sugar. You can see her patterns on Ravelry at: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/catkin. Or check out her website: http://www.sweetmamasmallsugar.com/.

Here's a peek at my progress thus far, just a few rows away from finishing Chart #1. And yes, that IS Madelinetosh merino light -- again! (I love it. I use it. Simple, right?)