Gift Bags

First of all, Happy New Year to you all, and I hope Santa was good to you!

With the aim of using up some of my hand spun stash, a few more crocheted bags happened recently.

One of my friends in the UK usually sends me something that she's hand made, so she was the first one to cater for.  I used the same pattern as I used previously for my sister - the English Garden Reversible Tote - a lovely, easy, crocheted bag which I suspect will be used a lot in the future.

The first was made from hand-spun and mostly hand-dyed yarn.  The brown is the only natural colour  - this is a blend of Jorrocks' baby alpaca and some charcoal bamboo.  The pink was raspberry acid dyed Falkland/Silk, the orangey one was all naturally dyed Falkland and the blue actually wasn't dyed or prepped by me - it was an unknown blend that I bought here in France.  The bobbles were made using a bobble making frame sent by my friend last year (the same one who'll receive the bag).

I've not been very organised about taking photos recently, so this (plus the next one, shown inside out) is it!

Incidentally, the fabric used for the inside of the bag was a hand-made dress I made years ago.  It was never worn because I realised after I'd cut it out and started to sew it, that the pattern was turning out a really peculiar shape.  I don't think it would have fit anyone!  I put it in a box with other fabrics and left it there to fester in disgrace.

The second one (same pattern) is for my next door neighbour, Tammy, who's birthday in on Saturday 6th January.  I finished this one this morning so for once, I'm not chasing my tail trying to finish something in time.

Again, I forgot to take photos of the yarns before I started, but this is what was left after I'd finished it:-

The main colour is a real mix - merino, alpaca, silk, soy, silk oil, nettle and a bit of sparkle plied with black alpaca.  The one at the bottom left was, I think, mixed fibres from a World of Wool Botany Lap Waste bag with some merino and Falkland mixed in, the top left was the remains of the pink from the other two bags - Falkland/Silk, and the blue was left over from the first bag I made.  Bit by bit I'm ending up with quite a little stash of small balls of yarn, which I have no clue what to do with (except there is that bobble making frame sent by my friend - maybe they'll all become bobbles)

Anyway, here's the finished bag :-

I think, out of all of them, this one is my favourite, but then they're all my favourites while I'm making them!  I don't know what I'll do when that raspberry pink Falkland/Silk runs out - I've used it on all of them so far.

Here's the bag showing the inside :-

The fabric was reclaimed again from a hand made item which was never worn - can't remember why!  A skirt this time.  

I'm looking forward to making one for me before too long, but I've a few more projects to do first, so, as usual, I'll have to wait.  I'm currently working on a baby blanket for a friend's impending arrival, so hopefully I'll be able to show you that soon.