Meanderings of a Mermaid

Okay so here are a few pictures that tell the tale. The mosaic purse has been knit and now it needs to be lined. Here the purse is already sewn together, using the mattress stitch or invisible stitch. You are looking at the inside with all the floats and loose ends. In this next image is the cotton broadcloth lining. I used a frisky remnant of fabric I received from friends in New Zealand. I simply cut three pieces all just a little bigger than the outline of the three knit pieces. Then I sewed the cotton together on a machine. The top edges and strap edges all have a minimal hem folded over just once. And I ran the stitching line as close to the edge as I could. Here is a close up of the corner detail. You may need to lop off a triangle of cotton at each corner just to allow ease for making it around the bend. Drum roll please! Here the lining is going into the knit purse. A sneak peek at the lining before it gets sewn in. Normally I would recommend a plain light coloured lining,...

Somewhere along the line I decided that running a workshop for the area knitters would be a good idea. This, at a time, naturally, when I was quite busy already. Of course . After some careful thought, a list of five or so possible topics, some discussion and rudimentary voting, we settled on a mosaic knitting workshop. It is the simplest of the colourwork techniques and lots of fun. Then I set about to find a stitch pattern that would work. This is what I came up with. Since most of my stitch pattern books are at Home North, I relied on Vogue Stitchionary 3 to come up with the candidates. Pie Crust is the name, and a simple purse is the game. So in preparation for the workshop I am writing up the unique design and blocking the pieces prior to sewing it all up. I will eventually line the purse for added strength. For my version number one I will use crepe myrtle branches that need to be pruned anyways. Many options are possible for the simple handles: chopsticks, drumsticks, thin sp...