A Little Discovery

So I was "strolling" around Ravelry a while ago looking at projects, and I came across this fabulous bag:

I just think she did a great job. (Click on the picture to go to her blog post about it.) But of course, when I saw what she did, I thought maybe I can do that...to David Bowie.

Around the same time as seeing this bag which is done in Tunisian crochet, I read about a technique of pixelating a photograph to convert it to a knitting pattern. Seeing the method laid out convinced me that I could maybe get this to work.

My first thought was to use an image from this Bowie poster that I have:

But I thought it might be a little too detailed to capture in a two-toned image. Plus, Bowie is completely over that Ziggy stage (he was over it for most of the time that he was doing the tour, actually) so why should I keep  him in it?

I started looking on the web and settled on this pic:

I know, I know he's smoking. But let's be honest, smoking is cool...when you do it right. (If only it weren't so expensive and didn't kill you...big sigh...) I find the image very appealing, it's at a good age, it's not too stagey and shows Bowie, I think, not one of his many characters.

Now imagine, I am looking through a knitting book in the store and I come across a project where the author has an image of a "poster boy" on the side of a bag. I look at the image:

I am completely bowled over. That is the picture of David Bowie. Really...look again:

It's reversed, but it's the same image. I find it interesting that the author never identifies it as Bowie. But it's got to be, don't you think?

I am writing about all this now because I just got the book the pattern is in Stitch 'N Bitch Nation from the library. I've been stalking it at my LYS and Hobby Lobby and finally clued in that I could request it from the state library network and peruse it for a while before buying. I've been enjoying it, even though a lot of the patterns are a little too "slap dash" for me.

Now to decide if I have time to make this bag or if I have to just dream about it. Looking through the book in more detail now, I see that the bag is not felted (which I thought it was) and that makes it somewhat flimsy and floppy. I'm considering redoing the design so I can felt it, but then I get tired out just thinking about it. I may just knit it as is, but with nice leather handles instead of the knit ones.

Meanwhile I had fun looking at Bowie images. I thought this one might be a good one:

I could do just his right eye in the bright blue. (His other eye is darker...they don't match.)

This is another nice one:

Much younger one there! So fresh.

Alright, I'm going to go back to looking through my pattern book...

Beyond Plarn

Any guess what this is?

About half the people who've seen it have known right off the bat: it's VHS tape.

I've been wanting a new lunch bag, so I started knitting with an old movie no one had ever watched (and never was going to watch!).

One old movie and a garbage bag lining plus some creative work yielded this result:

Now I'm thinking it's too nice for a lunch bag and may claim it as a purse. Decisions...decisions...

First step in making the purse was to take apart the cassette tape to get at the video tape.

Then I knit a large rectangle of mesh. Not having a pair of super-large needles, I just wrapped the tape around my needle twice while knitting each stitch. Then when I came back to knit them, I knit one loop and let the second one drop. This is an easy way to fake a large needle. (Stitch size is related only to loop size.)

It was also a way to make the tape slide over the needles a little easier. The tape stuck to the needles like crazy. It wasn't pleasant. And while I'm complaining I'll add that the tape was very noisy! Crinkling and squeaking. I couldn't knit while watching TV! Ha ha, but somehow I made it through:

Once it was knit, I slip stitched down each side with a crochet hook to make it the right shape. Project Stats
Started: 22 May '10
Finished: 09 Jun '10
Pattern: I made it up!
Materials: one reel VHS tape, one purple garbage bag, $0
It was very amusing at this stage because it would stretch every which way and not hold any particular shape.

The next question was what to line it with. I've been thinking quite a while about doing some plastic fusing and yesterday decided to try it out. My mother-in-law sent me a couple of big garbage bags that were a beautiful colour of purple. It would set off the black beautifully.

First step was to cut off the bottom and fold it into thirds.

This gave me six layers which I thought was a good thickness to try, and also gave me the right width for the pieces I would need for the purse.

To protect my iron, I laid the plastic between two layers of an old poster. (Parchment paper works too, but I didn't have any.)

And then ironed away. Not too hot, keep the iron moving. Flip it over and do it on the other side:

Eventually you have a sheet of fused plastic. My sheet did not come out as smooth as some I've seen in pictures. Apparently it depends on the plastic composition (which varies widely in plastic bags) but I was pretty content with how it came out.

The plastic shrank quite a bit. (No surprise.) It was no longer wide enough for my original measurements, but turned out to still be wide enough for what I needed. Nice when that works out!

So then I cut out the pieces that I needed. One large rectangle for the front, back and bottom (all in one), and two pieces for the sides. Sew it together, remembering to use your teflon foot because it won't stick to the plastic:

Then cut out narrow strips and sew them on for handles.

The plastic turned out to be perfect for folding into shape. I pressed two creases to shape the bottom, and pressed the seams so it formed a nice "box" with handles to fit into my VHS bag.

Slip it inside and finish by sewing around the top edge.

The finished bag has a great shape

and looks pretty sweet!

I can't wait for the next project that absolutely must have some fused plastic!

One More Tote

I got my red bag done tonight. I just love it. As I've said before, the red looks so rich and deep. Very surprising effect coming from plastic bags, but it works.

My niece came through with the few more bags I needed to finish it up. I ran out on the very last row! So I was frustratingly stopped just as I thought I was finished. I got them in the mail last week I'm embarrassed to admit, but finally tonight took the time to finish the bag while watching a football game I'm not very interested in. (Some also call it the Superbowl.)

I considered a fancy scalloped trim on the top, but in the end decided nice and simple would do the trick. It's a little smaller than the other large totes I've done, and even smaller since the handles are "inside" the bag instead of sewn on the top, but it's nice to have a variety of sizes, right? This one is 12" x 4" and 13" tall.

All for now. I think I will cast on for a hat exchange going on at the Purl Friday the 13th. Everyone brings a hat, and Amy says "lady luck" will determine which hat you go home with. I'll give pictures after the exchange because I wouldn't want to give away any secrets before their time!

-christina

Better Plastic Bags

Last spring my aunt sent me an article about cutting up plastic bags and using them to crochet bags. The idea struck a cord and I went to town. My first bag was a black and white book/magazine tote made completely from WalMart bags for my mom (bottom left). She loved it. From there I made a couple larger totes which my co-workers admired so much that I gave them each one (below right).

The detail pic of the red bag (below left) was actually made from purchased fabric strips with a few stripes of white plastic bags thrown in for interest. That one went to my MIL who likes red almost as much as I do.

And then I did two more for myself: a smaller bag (above right) which I used as a purse for a while and a large yellow and white tote (not pictured). Then I ran out of bags (and wasn't getting any more because I was in the habit of using these better plastic bags when shopping) and ran out of steam as well.

Well once my family saw what was being produced, they started to collect nice or interesting bags for me, especially the red ones available where they are in Canada. After Thanksgiving and Christmas visits when they were able to get the bags to me, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed! I spent a whole evening this week sorting and folding the bags so they wouldn't take over the room. Now I'm feeling pressure to do something with them. At least I have enough red ones now that I am ok with using them. (Scarcity breeds hoarding in me...)

There are, however, a few really pretty ones that I only have one or two bags of:
I will have to think carefully of what to use them for.

After a search through Ravelry for a suitable pattern, I may start with this paperless grocery bag from Coats and Clark. I especially liked this version

by Ravelry user knitgranny. If I can figure out how to do the appliqued leaves in plastic it would be a perfect use for the limited special coloured bags I have.

It takes about 60 bags to do a smaller bag and I'd say up to 100 for the larger totes so if I got going on a couple bags I could use up this supply handily. I also have a store of the new WalMart bags (they switched from the preferred black and white to a funny grey and blue bag) to use as a base colour. I have a strict policy of using only "used" bags (i.e. I will not grab a bunch of new bags at the checkout just to crochet them up). I also have let myself get lazy about having the bags with me when I shop. Perhaps that is partially due to winter weather and the extra trouble it brings.

To make the strips, I fold the bags flat (as pictured above) so I can cut off the bottom seam. Then I cut .5" to 1" strips (depending on the thickness of the bag and what I need) from the bottom to the top. At the top I cut as close to the handles as I can and then discard the handles. You crochet with these loops like you would with a yarn, but when you get to the end of the loop, you slip knot the next loop into it...and repeat...and repeat. One loop makes about 3 dc stitches, so you are adding more loops all the time! But on the other hand, it does break up the crocheting...

I'll let you know how the new bag goes...