FAL Finish: Knitting Pouch (AKA Yet Another Lola Pouch!)

I put several Lola pouches on my current FAL list and this is the final one to be made this quarter, unless I perk up and manage to get the sewing machine out to make the final one.  (Find the others here and here.)

At the start of the quarter, the fabric was a crumpled mess, but I'd picked a zip to go with it:

A bit of cutting, fusing, quilting and sewing later and I had a (hard-to-photograph-it-looks-much-better-in-real-life) pouch for my small knitting projects:

I used the subtly variegated (very pale to pale pink) thread I'd used on my niece's fairy quilt to add some interest.  Both sides are the same so it could be that these two photos show different sides, I wouldn't be able to tell!  As I said, the pouch is quite hard for me and my camera (or, more likely, me!) to photograph and get it looking anything like, so here's another attempt, which is a little better but not much:

This is my (I think) third finish this quarter and I have another couple to blog about.  The end of the quarter will be rolling round before we know it (the finishes link opens on 31st March) so it's time to start seeing how many more projects we can finish before the deadline.  Remember that every completely finished project can be linked up and gives you a chance in the prize draw, provided that the project in question was on your list of proposed finishes which you linked up in January.  If you have any questions, just ask!


At the moment, my new knitting pouch is keeping my sock warm and dust-free.  Since I last blogged about it, I've made quite a bit of progress on this, my first sock, and some un-progress and then some progress!

Here's the first (Fleegle) heel I turned:

See those holes down both sides of the decreases?  That's because I didn't pull the yarn tight enough after I turned (to be fair, the pattern didn't say 'pull the yarn as tight as you can get it', but I should have known!)  So out it came (have you spotted the life line I put in before I started the heel shaping, just in case?) and I had another go:

It was better, but I didn't like those stretched stitches at the top, so I had a think about ways to prevent that and pulled it out.  Here's my third heel:

This was the best side and, in the interests of fairness, I should tell you that the other side wasn't quite as good (but I could live with it) and you can see it here, if you like.  I knitted up the leg for about an inch and then thought 'Hmmm, this looks like a very big sock,' so I tried it on.  I was right, it was huge!!  So out came the third heel, all the gusset shaping and fifteen plain rounds.  Never let it be said that I don't get good value for money out of my yarn*!

Since then, I've turned my fourth heel and tried on the sock and it fits!  (I swore that if it didn't I was ripping out the whole thing and starting again, but from the top!)

Here's the better side of the (fourth) heel:

And here's the not-quite-so-good side:

And here's how it looks now:

I have more than enough yarn so I'm going to knit a long cuff  which can be folded down.  These (I hope it's going to become a 'these'!) are going to be house socks (I can't wear wool next to my skin so they're going to go over my normal socks and under my slippers - I have Raynaud's Syndrome so I get very cold feet!) and I thought a doubled-over cuff would be nice and cosy.  I may change my mind if the rib gets too tedious!

*West Yorkshire Spinners Signature 4-ply in, I think, bubble gum.


Archie was very sympathetic to the news of the demise of the third heel:

Aw, you've had to pull it out again?  Come here and tell me all about it, I'm listening...

Thanks for popping in!!