project: logan square market bag

It's finally Sunday Market season! Oh how I miss those lazy Sundays in Ballard, when there was nothing better to do than to take the puppy on a lovely stroll down to the Sunday Market. The flowers were always the highlight of the trip (and maybe a cupcake from Cupcake Royale). There were a few Sundays when I would decided to get an impromptu haircut from Loufel at Rudy's as well. Ahh...those were the days!

Now that it's summer in Chicago, it's also market time! The Logan Square Farmer's Market just started last Sunday, and I am more than excited to take my bike down to the square every Sunday until October to gather my weekly produce and enjoy some fresh [city] air!

How ready am I? So ready, in fact, I even knit a market bag for the occasion!
Let's be honest. That's a total lie for two reasons: a) I purchased this yarn back in 2007 while vacationing in Key West. b) I started this bag on a trip to Portland in 2009. And here we are in June, 2010.

The yarn is awesome (and expensive) Euroflax Originals. It's 100% linen, machine washable and dryable, and also discontinued. The fact it's now discontinued proposed a slight problem when it came down to me deciding what to do with it. I original purchased 3 skeins of it at Knit Wits: 2 in a green colorway and 1 in a yellow colorway. I figured the easiest and safest thing to do was to pick a smaller project and have left overs. A market bag was the most logical project.


I used a combination of two bag patterns: the Everlasting Bagstopper from Knitty and then the Ilene Bag by Hannah Ingalls. A majority of the bag was following the Ilene pattern. I did a smaller cast on and other variations along the way, but the lace repeat was the same. I do feel like I might have made the strap too long, but we'll see how it goes when I actually take it to the market and fill it up.

I am very excited about this bag, and am hoping that the linen fibers hold up well. The lace repeat is super stretchy, so it should be able to hold many delicious items of produce!

Now I need to figure out what to do with the other 1.5 skeins I have left. I thought about knitting some dishcloths (with the fiber content being linen) but the yarn was so damn expensive. Any suggestions on what to do with some Euroflax leftovers?

playlist: logan square market bag

"bang bang" - nancy sinatra
"louisiana" - the walkmen
"percussion gun" - white rabbits
"i want you back" - the jackson 5
"julie" - jens lekman
"trying my best to love you" - jenny lewis
"myriad harbor" - the new pornographers
"starting over" - the black lips
"i know what i am" - band of skulls

This is a playlist I originally made for Summer 09, and it - hands down- is one of the best playlists I've ever made. This is only half of it; I'll save the other half for a rainy blogging day. Enjoy it and the sunshine for the time being!

project: nikki's birthday hat

A few years back, I knit my friend Nikki a hat from some lovely Noro yarn. When I moved back to Chicago this past winter, I asked Nikki where the hat I made her was, and why she wasn't wearing it.
Here's the story: apparently it got left outside in the snow, and her (not knowing the properties of wool) put the hat in the dryer to, well, dry it.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

After being slightly heartbroken and then explaining the properties of wool and how they have scales on their fibers so that leads them to felt when being wet and agitated, Nikki got it. And I love Nikki, she's a best friend and a part of the Dream Team, so for this year's birthday gift, I decided to knit her another hat.
This hat is the same pattern as my Mariposa hat, only using Manos del Uruguay yarn. I believe I purchased this yarn at Weaving Works in Seattle a few years back (again- using up the stash!). The colors seemed right for Nikki, and I know she enjoys the variegation of color in hats. While taking a break from my market bag (which I finished last nite, btw), I whipped up this hat.

I finally saw Nikki this past weekend while we were meeting up with the girls and gave her the hat. As the nite went on, we decided to have a photo shoot with the hat:

Here is Kayla wearing the hat

And Carrie wearing the hat

And, finally, Nikki wearing the hat. Can you sense the anticipation for winter to come???

Next post: logan square market bag!


playlist: nikki's birthday hat

"let the cool goddess rust away" - clap your hands say yeah!
"can you tell" - ra ra riot
"lost coastlines" - okkervil river
"heart it races" - architecture in helsinki
"yeah yeah" - matt & kim
"ambling alp" - yeasayer
"let's go surfing" - the drums
"whirring" - the joy formidable
"10:1" - rogue wave