fake-a-gamo completo!

it's been a while since i last posted, mostly for lack of anything to post about. i feel like any knitting i've done over the past few weeks has fallen into some mysterious knitting black hole, leaving me nothing to show for my efforts. but finally (and it does feel like ages since i can say this), i have a finished object to show off - fake-a-gamo is finally done!





i got really excited about this project the second i laid eyes on it, way back in october. and i remained excited through the first side of the bag. but when i realized i had to do it all over again, what originally seemed fun and cool and whatnot suddenly seemed...not so much those things. i REALLY struggled to bother finishing the second side. i'm still not exactly sure if it was worth the effort either - i think it looks nice, but i don't really know how much i'll use this bag - i need a BIG purse, and this is not that. it's teeny! at about 11 inches across and five or six inches tall (not including the handle strap parts), this bag basically holds my pretty darn big wallet, and not much else. so i guess it will get use as an occasional bag when i go out, but i don't see me using it as an everyday bag. but i sound so negative! i do like it - i like the triangle patterns, i love the lining, and i think it's a super cute summery bag. so yay- a cute, finished knit!

the details:

pattern: fake-a-gamo (this is a free pattern - i just emailed kate and she sent it right to me)
yarn: lamb's pride cotton fleece, in buttercream - one skein (a sidenote on that...i bought WAY too much of this stuff. i really don't know what i was thinking at the time, but seriously - way too much. after i finished the first half, it looked like i had used less than 1/2 of the first skein, so i took the other skeins back to the yarn store and exchanged it for another color, for another project. of course...i ran out of yarn before i got to the end of the second half of the bag. i felt *this* dumb. luckily, i ran out on the last folded-over handle bit, and luckily, i had a wool yarn that matched almost exactly, but still...silly me.)
needles: denise needles, size 6
modifications: i didn't do the little curlicue thingies at the bottom, and my bag is quite a bit smaller than the dimensions in the pattern, which is because i used a different yarn and didn't bother swatching first...i figured it didn't matter too much since it's just a bag. i'm just lazy like that.

i've decided that for april and may, i'm going to focus on finishing my orangina that i started last july (it's green, for project spectrum!), and also finish up another sweater that i started this week - the popular rusted root. please keep me honest here - i really want some cute summer tops to wear this year, and i'm excited to work on these, but i always lose steam on sweaters. i've actually never finished one (orangina is a good example of my typical sweater experience), though i've started many. i find that really sad, so i'm hoping to change that soon.

oh yeah! last week veronica emailed me to say that i had won some yarn on her blog. we both live in seattle, so last saturday we met up for chai, which was a fun treat, and she gave me this:



that's three skeins of art yarns regal silk, and one of a matching art yarns silk tape. it's gorgeous! i keep petting it. thanks again veronica! i'm not sure what i'm going to do with it yet, but i'm starting to think about making a second, smaller clapotis. any other ideas?