Anyone For A Tarot Reading?

Finished my Tarot bag. It was a fun and fast knit, once I got the hang of the pattern. I like the two colors together better than the original colors shown on the pattern itself. But of course that's totally a matter of choice.

I had a little difficulty finding beads with large enough holes to go through the braided drawstring, and ended up cutting away some of the threads and just leaving a couple. If I make it again, I'll shop for the right beads instead of just raiding my bead stash, as it wasn't really acquired with beading on yarn in mind.

The seed stitch top came out significantly wider than the two-color bag, so if I make it again, I might try a size smaller needles for the top. That said, having the top a little larger is good as it allows you to slip the cards in more easily. Here's a picture of the bag with the deck (still in its box) protruding, so you can see how much ease there is.

I don't use the Goddess deck much. I have a collection of perhaps twenty decks, of which I only use 3 or 4 regularly. But since the original pattern (which you can find here) was designed with the Goddess deck in mind, I figured that was the deck it belonged to. I can almost hear the waves of smugness coming from my bedroom: "I have a nice knitted tarot bag. You just have a cardboard box."

If it becomes too much, I may have to launch onto a lifetime project of knitting enough bags for all...

Breezy Breeze Jacket Done

Ta da! My Breeze jacket, from Cathy Carron's book "Knitting Sweaters From the Top Down," is done. I used Plymouth Encore DK yarn, so I can machine wash it with impunity when needed. I love the top-down method, very little seaming to be done...just two tiny seams where the sleeves join the body. And I also like being able to try it on as I go, once the sleeves are done...that way I can customize the length, which I did. I made it several inches longer than the pattern called for.

Here are a couple of photos of the sleeve and neckline details:





I also chose to do something different with the closure. The pattern called for a simple tie at the neckline and that's it. Well, since I left out the wooden beads decorating the yoke and cuffs that the pattern called for, I decided a tie at the top was too boring. (Yeah, it looks like I changed almost everything, didn't I? Hah.) So I decided to do buttons. But the question was, one button at the top, in place of the tie? One button at waist level, as my younger daughter suggested? Or several buttons from the bottom up several inches, as my husband suggested? I held buttons up to the sweater in different spots, frowned and pouted at the mirror, and eventually decided on hubby's suggestion, figuring it would make my central portions appear smaller by virtue of the open "V" of the sweater above the waist. Or so I tell myself, anyway! So here is a closeup of the fabulous buttons I found at my LYS:



Cool, huh? Perfect for the spring weather that's *finally* arriving here. The crocuses are blooming, that's a sure sign!