Bags & Nauties

Got excited about Farmer's Market season, made a new bag to pick up yummy veggies with:



It's the first time I've knit with cotton, and it was a little surprising how little it stretched while working with it. Kinda tricky picking up the stitches after I made the base, but once that was done it moved along pretty quickly. My biggest problem was that it was such a simple pattern repeat, that I wasn't paying as much attention as I should have been & had to tink back several times. I also had to add a second ball, and thought it would be a good idea to knit with the two stands together for five stitches. I was concerned about weaving in the ends in open lace, and wasn't sure how it would work out, especially with something that had to support weight. Unfortunately, I forgot that I had doubled up on those stitches, and knit a couple rounds before I realized my mistake. That was a lot of tinking back, but I'm glad I did it.
The color is beautiful, now I just need to find the right ribbon for the straps. I was just going to knit them, but I ran short of yarn after buying two skeins, and actually had to stop a few rows short of the top. I think it looks alright, tho.



Oh, and then I started my second toy, a Nautie from Knitty for Ma:



I'm lagging a little on it, but that's alright. My wrist is a little jacked up, so I'm trying to take it easy.



I was completely convinced that the pattern called for two colors, and a third was some sort of option...So I bought two pretty colors that I think will look nice in my mom's "Hawaii Room," whatever that is. They're totally her:




Then I realized that I need to make the body with two colors, so I pulled some light-cream colored wool out of the stash (yay stash!). It's a much lighter weight, so I'm knitting with it with two stands held together, one from the inside of the ball & one from the outside, so it's a bit tangely, but it's working.
Made some more progress today. It was nice to sit & knit for a bit, as it always is.
Next is baby blankets, lots of babies on my plate, suddenly! Need to secure vital color info on the M's nursery, then, progress...