Another busy month, and only one finished object to show for it...but I am very happy with it!This is the Market Tote, designed by Tanis Gray. It was shown in the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Knit.1 magazine, but it's a free pattern at the Knit.1 website (woohoo!). The original pattern called for a new RYC yarn called Cotton Jeans, but when I saw that it would cost almost $90 to make it in that yarn, I knew I needed to find a substitute! A few weeks ago I noticed a Plymouth yarn on closeout at WEBS called Linen Isle, and I thought it looked perfect. It is a linen/cotton/rayon blend that is exceptionally sturdy and even more so when knit double as with this pattern. I used 8 balls of the yarn and at $2.39 each it cost less than $30 to make (including lining and snap closures).
I like how this bag was designed, it seems to keep its shape really well for a knitted bag. I lined the bag and handles with a woven linen fabric which made it even stronger. I carried a ton of stuff in this all weekend and it still looks good as new!

Pattern: "Market Tote" by Tanis Gray from Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Knit.1
Yarn: Plymouth Linen Isle in color #7471, knit on 5 mm needles, yarn held double
Cute design, the only thing that was horrible was sewing all the pieces together, doing the lining, etc. Ugh! But, I really needed a purse so I pushed through and this one was able to avoid the unfinished purse graveyard that I have going.

The purse photos were taken at a special guest location...Brooklyn! We went to visit G's sister for a long weekend and although we were totally whipped when we got home it was a wonderful time. I think the high point (literally) was when we went to Coney Island and took a trip on the Cyclone. I'm pretty sure this is the most fun roller coaster ever! Maybe it's just 'cause I haven't ridden a roller coaster in 10 years, but it was totally scary--seriously steep drops. We got to ride in the very last car and I thought the cart was popping off the track! When we got off the ride, we could not stop laughing.Here are some more photos of our fun weekend--check out the whole set on Flickr.

The last night there, we went to a local karaoke bar (I somehow blustered my way through "Rock n Roll High School" by the Ramones, but only because G sang it with me. I hate karaoke, lol). The only bad part was the pint glass of evil that was foisted upon us:G preferred to see it as "draining the Yankees", ha ha.