Summer Love Bag

How's your weekend been? I've basically watched Glastonbury as much as possible. Radiohead on Friday night and Foo Fighters last night were both incredibly good and I found myself wishing I was there like I never had before. Those bands are my vintage, the music of my student days. Funny how it stays with you so. Bella has also been watching it - she's becoming more musically aware all the time, asking when I can take her to a concert - and asked if we could go to Glastonbury next year. Oh, if only getting tickets was that easy. There's also the camping part. 

When I haven't been watching Glastonbury I've been pottering around the house and enjoying a pretty quiet weekend. Plant shopping, food shopping, cooking, gardening, sanding and painting a wooden chair, ironing. The usual. I like the usual. I think a pottering weekend at home is pretty much my favourite way to spend time. 

I also finished my Wool and the Gang Summer Love bag. I started this about a month ago and almost finished it over half term, but I realised I'd made a big mistake with the increases. There was nothing for it but to unravel almost the whole thing and start again, which I did, but then it took me another three weeks to finish it. But I'm so very glad I did as I absolutely love it.

I'm particularly happy with the colours. I wanted the bottom half to be a fairly forgiving colour, thinking it would be placed on the ground a lot, so chose grey. The peachy pink isn't something I'd normally go for but I love it's summery warmth and how it contrasts with the grey.

I'd intended to use this as a bag for towel, book, sun cream for the beach or pool when we go to France for a fortnight in August. But it's already become my handbag. It's too nice to only use now and then.

The yarn is pretty special, I need to tell you about that. It's called Tina Tape and it's made from the eucalytpus tree. This makes it vegan and environmentally friendly in it's production, if such things are important to you, and non-scratchy for those who find they can't wear wool against their skin. It is a tape, thin and wide, which takes a bit of getting used to on the hook but after a few rows I had the hang of it. It has the soft sheen of mercerised cotton yarn when it's worked up, but it doesn't split on the hook like cotton sometimes can, and it's silky soft. It's also durable and washable so a good choice for a bag, or any garment that's going to get some wear. I'm quite won over by it.

So, tomorrow I'll be swinging my new bag on my arm, telling anyone who'll listen that yes, I made this, thank you very much. I'm also wishing summer would come back. The last four days have been grey, humid and yet also extremely windy. That's got to be the three worst weather conditions all in one go. Come back blue skies and balmy nights, you were lovely. 

(Ever so slightly blurry photos of me taken, begrudgingly, by Bella.)