Thursday, July 21, 2005

What I Did on my Summer Vacation

My vacation from work, blogging, and "real life" will end in about an hour. (Ok, technically, my vacation from blogging is ending right now.)

When Mom and I were at a local yarn store, I picked up some Koigu with which to make sachets. Mom was so intrigued with the yarn and the pattern that she insisted that I make a sachet while she was here so that she could see how it fit together. Like a good daughter, I obliged.

Be still my heart!

Pattern: Heart Sachet from Interweave Knits (clicking on link opens a PDF)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM dye code P211, 100% Merino wool
Needles: US size 1
Cat: Cleo (one of the rare pictures in which she wasn't grabbing the heart)
Filling: Nothing yet--I'd like some advice on how to stuff this thing. I'm afraid that if I just put dried flowers in it, little bits of dried flowers will leak out over time. Should I put the flowers in some pantyhose before putting it in? Should I supplement the dried flower stuffing with polyfil stuffing? Do I need to worry about oils from the flowers damaging the yarn? Help!
Notes: This yarn is perfect for the project! The variegation helps highlight the mitered squares. Weaving in ends as you go is essential--unless you want to have 28 strands of yarn hanging out of your project.
Additional photos: Close up with less dramatic lighting: one side and the other. The top of the heart isn't sewn up completely and you can see a stitch marker/holder peeking out in these photos.

I also worked on Peacock Feathers. I'm now nearing the middle of chart 7, which means that I'm on the big feathers at bottom third of the shawl. Most of the time, the shawl just looks like a green blob. I attempted to stretch out a portion of the shawl to show off.

Strutting my stuff

7 comments:

amylovie said...

Having never made a sachet, I can't help much. I would think that you would want to contain the potporri in something so as to not have it poking out.

I hope you enjoyed your vacation with your mother.

Amy

Jennifer said...

Well, my idea will require a bit more work. You could take some cotton fabric and make a little pouch. Fill the pouch with your potpourri and sew closed, then put in the sachet. On the plus side, you could switch out the pouch as needed.

Pumpkinmama said...

No idea about the stuffing, but the sachet is very pretty and shawl is looking divine as well. Welcome back!

Pumpkinmama said...

No idea about the stuffing, but the sachet is very pretty and shawl is looking divine as well. Welcome back!

Anonymous said...

Incredibly cute! The heart that is! The cat is cute, too :). Shawl looks great so far, too.

Anonymous said...

What a pretty sachet! I second the idea of an inner cotton pouch; are there any potpourris that aren't composed of small bits? (I can't think of any, and it almost sounds like an oxymoron.)
I love the shawl. I covet one. Thanks for spreading it out for us!
I hope you had a great time with your mom!

Laura Neal said...

I have just the place for you to check out. www.norfolklavender.com, they have lavender by the pound. I was making the same sachet and I stuffed mine with the lavender seed heads. Nothing leaked out so far and my cats have been batting the thing around. It is pretty tough stuff.