Pyramid Purse Complete

I can’t believe I’m finally done, and none too soon. The deadline for the purse competition is the 31st, but the store isn’t open then so it’s really today.

It feels like it’s been forever since I completed something. I even managed to line the purse with fabric covered cardboard. It really was necessary so the purse could stand up and have a definite shape.

I went a little simpler on the closure than I was originally planning because of time constraints. I made bobbles with buttonholes – nothing fancy. No time to make a purse strap either; oh well, I guess it will have to be a clutch. Overall, I’m pleased with the results.

Pyramid Construction Progressing

I love long week-ends. They enable me to do a blog on a Monday. As of the end of the day Friday, I’m officially on vacation for two weeks!

We had a nice picnic in Stratford with some shopping thrown in on Saturday. Next Saturday, we’ll be flying out to Alberta to visit the hubby’s family. We’ll probably end up visiting Banff, the Columbia Icefields, and the zoo, amongst other things.
Now, on to the purse. I have both the front and back done now. I am currently working on creating the bottom and sides. I ran out of the medium shade of blue that I used in the purse and only have the darkest and palest shade left. I have other blues in my bag of blues, but the textures are very different and I didn’t think they would work as well. So I’m trying to make do with what I have. I used an open cast on (a.ka. provisional cast on) with the darkest shade so I could just pick up the stitches on the other side and start knitting again. Instead of using a different yarn to hold the stitches and help me cast on, I used a stitch holder.

I was eventually planning on lining the purse and adding a zipper or two, but I don’t know if I can make it in time now. Oh well.

I have to figure out what knitting I will pack in the suitcase to take with me. Tough one; it has to be small, yet enough to keep me busy. The hubby’s family will probably keep us so busy, I won’t have time to pick up the needles (which is what usually happens on these types of family trips), but a week without yarn – unthinkable!

Knit Purse Progress

I’m happy to say that I have completed the front half of the purse.

Here’s a close-up detailing the brick stitch I used to give dimension to the pyramid.

This was a bit of a crafty week-end; I love those types of week-ends. The kids and I were playing with modelling clay and water paints. My son is becoming quite the artist. He made an impressive pirate ship, canons, and pirate hats. The tea obsessed person that I am made tea bag/spoon rest. I can’t do just decorative; everything always has to have some utilitarian purpose. I don’t think I’ll have time to paint it today so I think I’ll post pictures on that next week.

Pyramid Purse Continued

This was nothing short of a miracle. It was the week-end in I don’t know how long that my hubby and I didn’t have to work, we didn’t have to go anywhere, and we didn’t have anyone coming over. Translation: we had a week-end to ourselves where we could actually relax and do what we wanted.

Saturday, we went to Medieval Times for the first time. They’re having a special promotion on now. It’s one kid free per every full priced adult. What a blast! My son and I had our own fun putting on a pre-dinner sword fighting show with strobe lighting swords while my daughter, the princess, did her interpretive dance in between. My hubby very kindly held our drinks and other paraphernalia.

On the knitting side, I received good news from the proprietor of Ruti’s Needlebed. Not only do I not have to keep to a Streetsville history theme, I don’t even have to keep to a history theme. She said that was really more for the quilters. Yeah!!!! So it’s full steam ahead for my pyramid purse. Here’s where I am now.

The New Seven Wonders of the World

In trying to come up with a title for this blog, I solicited my husband’s opinion. He suggested something related to the Seven Wonders of the World. So I did a little digging to make sure the title would be justified. I came across this article dated July 9, 2007 at the National Geographic website. Apparently, a phone and internet vote was conducted to pick the new human-made Seven Wonders of the World. The results of the vote were released on July 7, 2007 (07-07-07; coincidence, I think not).

The winners are (in no particular order):

1. The 105-foot-tall (38-meter-tall) "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2. The Colosseum in Rome
3. India's Taj Mahal
4. The Great Wall of China
5. Jordan's ancient city of Petra
6. The Inca ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru
7. The ancient Maya city of Chichén Itzá in Mexico

To my chagrin, The Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, was not in this list. There was some kafuffle with the Egyptians who were insulted that there was even a contest over this. So, competition organizers withdrew the Pyramids and granted them "honorary wonder" status. As far as I’m concerned, it is still a wonder of the world; seven is too small a number. What about Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The list goes on and is too lengthy to discuss here.

Believe it or not, this is all related to my current knitting project. A while ago, I mentioned that Ruti’s Needlebed is having a knit or crochet purse contest where the theme is “History Lives” in honour of Streetsville’s 150th anniversary. It is interesting to note that of all the items on the original list of ancient wonders, The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only remaining survivor. I would call that “History Lives”. And hence the idea for my purse; pictures to follow next week.