One FO and Some Tropical Punch

Which would you like to see first? The finished object or the Tropical Punch cardi?

Let's start with the finished object. We got a bunch of Fibertrends patterns in at the store and among them was this little bag. I fell in love with the colours, and since I love lime green, that's the one I HAD to make.

The first picture shows the colour pretty much as it is. The bag has, obviously, been felted already and is stuffed with plastic bags to hold the shape as it dries. The second picture is meant to show you the actual size of the bag. I'm assuming most of you know the average size of a geranium plant. When knitted, the bag was approximately 13" tall. Now, it's about 6-7". As I said, it's a Fibertrends pattern, the Gelato bag, designed by Bev Galeskas. The yarn I used is Malabrigo in Green Apple. It's the first time I've knitted with that yarn and I must say it's really, really nice! So soft and cozy. John said it was a shame to felt it. Even felted, though, it's still nice and soft. Touchably so.

I'm tempted to make a couple more of these bags in different kinds of yarn. The pattern was/is easy to follow, well explained and the bag is cute. I'll be putting on a magnetic closure and a button on the tab; not sure what kind of button yet. I'm even thinking this would be a fun bag to decorate with beads, embroidery, whatever.

Ok, on to some Tropical Punch, as my daughter named it because it looks like lemons, limes and pink grapefruit.

This is the cardigan I originally drew up. The yarn is Mandarin Petit, 100% Egyptian Cotton, knitted on a 3 mm needle. It's being worked from the hem up to the armholes in one piece. The cast on for the ruffle? 542 stitches, thank you very much. It took almost an hour just to do the cast on. (Ok, that could be a bit of an exaggeration, but it did take a long time.) The ruffle, incidentally, is the Petite Dinner Bell ruffle from "Knitting on the Edge" by Nicky Epstein.

I think that's it for today. It's a lovely summer day (finally!) and I want to catch some rays. I know they say that no tan is a healthy tan, but I do like the look of a bit of colour and my tan is coming along nicely. I'm not a sun worshipper, but I like being outdoors when it's nice. I intend to enjoy it while we have it.