Monday, October 13, 2008

Multi Tasking

It has been one of those days where I can't seem to accomplish the things that I really need to get done. Plus it's been pouring rain all day which made running errands a misery. I was really tempted to take to my bed with a good book this afternoon, but I had yet to do my afternoon exercise. It one of two things that I do every single day without fail. The other thing I try to do every day is to get out of my pajamas. Sometimes the two events happen within minutes of each other. As the weather has been cooling off, my daily exercise of choice has been to hop on my treadmill. Today I discovered that it's possible to knit, sing along to John Hiatt AND walk briskly on the treadmill all at the same time. I was only working on a small garter stitch project so it wasn't too hard, but I did manage to change colors of yarn while maintaining an elevated heart rate. I don't think I'd want to knit an afghan or complicated cables while jogging, but I think I'll tuck an easy knitting project into the handy water bottle/yarn caddy that's on my treadmill. It might be just the thing to keep me motivated.
Here are some pictures of the completed Fair Isle Bag that I was knitting and wrote about a few weeks back. Once the knitting was completed, it was lightly felted in the washing machine. While it was still wet, I slipped it over a cardboard box to give it some shape while it dried. The bag maintains it's boxy shape with the help of the plastic canvas and heavy duty interfacing that's underneath the pretty batik lining. There are four handy pockets on the inside of the bag.The handles are made from rubber tubing from the hardware store. I filled the tubing with an assortment of beads and sewed them to the bag with upholstery thread. I wrapped embroidery thread and a few beads around the tubing to finish it off.I don't know if I'd do another Fair Isle felted project again because the pattern became quite blurry after felting. But it could have been the hand spun yarn that I was using. My friend Sue made this bag using the recommended yarn and her Fair Isle pattern isn't as blurry as mine. I've been using the bag as a small tote to carry my knitting project to and from my Friday afternoon knitting group. I love the pockets, the lining and the color of this bag and it's really sturdy too. It would take a hurricane force wind to topple this baby over with all of the interfacing in it.

3 comments:

Sue Thomas said...

I still can't believe you're knitting while working out! I'd hurt myself if I tried that!!!!!!

Garden Club! said...

I am so impressed, there is no end to your talents!! Cute tote. You inspire me.

Tracey Leeder said...

Hi Pam, i am tagging you as someone i would like to know more about. Please see my blog for the information! Hugs, Tracey