Shapeshifter Shrug - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of the Shapeshifter Shrug.  I am almost done I can almost feel how cozy this will be.  I have completed both parts of the shrug, the left and the right. (In case you missed it, here is Part 1).

The next step is to connect these two halves with a knit stitch called the Kitchener stitch.  There is no way to easily explain how this stitch is done, but I can tell you that the blog The Purl Bee does it with some great instructions.  Basically, you are taking a blunt needle and the same yarn and weaving in the stitches that are on the needle and holder (those are called "live" stitches) to create a stitch that looks like the knit side of your work.  This creates a seamless join.

I had to have the instructions up on the screen the entire time I did this and had the computer cursor on the step I was doing each time.  This took concentration and a quiet house. (Sorry Vince, no TV and no talking!)

Here is the work-in-progress from last week.  Once this was complete I weaved in the loose ends and took a break for about a week.  Ha, the next step I wanted daylight and plenty of time so I waited until the following weekend (this weekend) to block.

Blocking is something that you do at the end of a project to make all the hard work you just put into knitting look fabulous.  This means that all the stitches that puckered and all the curling get smoothed out for a professional look.  I did this step when I knitted the Lace-Up Fingerless Gloves for Christmas last year.

I start out by laying out a towel on the floor.  I measure and arrange (by stretching, if necessary) my shrug to the dimensions that look good to me.  I chose 23" wide.  I took safety pins and stuck them through the edge and into the rug. 

I then used a spray bottle to generously mist the fabric.  I used my fingertips to massage the mist into the fabric and to ensure it is evenly wetted.

I then stretched it to my measurements and pinned all the way around the shrug.

Next, I covered it with a second towel and placed books on top of the entire surface area of the shrug.  I up-ended two TV snack trays and placed those on top of the books along with a box and a bin.  I used whatever would evenly press down on the fabric.  I will come back and check on this in a few days.  It is ready when the fabric is fully dry.

Last week I went button shopping.  I changed the pattern a bit and did not make it as long as the pattern was originally written.  As a result, I did not need as many buttonholes as planned.  Instead of 20 buttonholes, I only needed to make 18.  That being said, I needed 18 buttons.  I thought Joann's would have just what I needed, so I headed there and I discovered two things:

1. That Joann's did not even have 18 of the same button (unless I bought two bags of the bag-o-buttons and those are plastic and are not going anywhere near the shrug that took me a month to knit).  Yeah, I'm snubbing the bag-o buttons.
2. That even if Joann's did have that many buttons in a button I liked, it would've cost me a fortune.  That is even taking into account using coupons.  Nice buttons were priced anywhere between $2.99 to $8.99.  Some had only one to a card and some had up to four on a card.  

So, I went looking on the internet and there are several online stores that had some great buttons that you could buy in bulk, but they were still too expensive.  I then got a Eureka! moment and went to eBay.  

I found a lot of 50 flower-shaped white mother-of-pearl shell buttons for a total of $7.05.  That is with shipping.  The only thing is, is that it's coming from Hong Kong and will take 4-6 weeks.  Hey, I don't care, it is still in the 90's here in Florida, I can live a bit longer without the shrug. 

I love eBay!  

Sweatshirt Bag

I bought this sweatshirt at a yard sale awhile ago.  I bought it with the intention of cutting it up, but was not sure how just yet.  Since I just finished the Aloha Maddie Baby Blanket, I found myself with nothing to do.  :-)

I am figuring out what to do about my Glace Shrug, so not to worry.  I do not think I have enough yarn to complete it, so I am trying a mixed media project with it.  It'll be ready soon, promise!

So, back to the project at hand.  I figured I needed a new project bag [insert hearty laugh here] so I wanted to do that with the material.  I've worked with sweatshirt material before, so a couple of traits of this material are that it won't fray when you cut it and the cut edges will curl.  That can be a good thing or a bad thing.  Knowing these things, I am going to play off them.

First, I cut the sleeves and hood off and trimmed it so it's boxy.

Then I placed the right-sides together and pinned them to sew the side seams.

I started the stitching about a half inch from the top and bottom.  This will help the material curl when washed.

I turned it right-side out and sewed the bottom ribbed edge together.  I then took one of the sleeves and cut it up the seam to "butterfly" it.  I trimmed the seam stitching off so that the material could lay flat.  I cut the sleeve into 2" strips.

I evened out the ends so they were straight with a rotary cutter.  I did not worry that they were not the same length.  I then sewed three strips to each other, end-to-end, twice.  These will be used as the handles.

I then folded each one the long way, wrong-sides together, and sewed each handle strip.

I positioned the handles on the inside of the top edge of the bag and arranged them so that they were long enough to be shoulder straps.  I did some measuring to ensure that there was a bit of a margin at the top edge to allow for the curling.  I sewed them in place with gray thread in a box with an X in the middle.  During this, I was coming dangerously close to running out of thread.

The bobbin had about a few inches on it so I had to wind some more of this onto the bobbin.  I was keeping my fingers crossed during this period!

Hold your breath...yes, I was able to finish with enough thread.  Phew!  (I even attached a few buttons on a pair a pants that had recently fell off with the remaining thread).  Here is an inside view of the bag with all the handles attached.

Once this was done, I was pretty much done with the bag!  I threw it in the wash so that you could see the rolling edge and broken-in look it had.  I could even use this bag as a hand warmer using the kangaroo pouch!

I pulled a ball of yarn out of the closet and gave it a new home.  I think of each project of yarn and a project bag as a hermit crab.  Each set of yarn is like the crab and the bag is it's shell.

Awe, look at how cute this hermit crab is!  The shell - fabulous!