Not a total loss

Super-secret project revealed:

The plan was to make a smallish sort of bag out of the lattice cable pattern that I liked so much. It was supposed to be a somewhat slim and rectangular bag--sort of a mini-messenger style. Well, here is the somewhat finished object.







While I'm not entirely satisfied with the results, I don't think it's terrible for a first-time venture into the realm of design.

What I dislike about it:
1. It's much bigger than the envisioned finished product was supposed to be. For the sake of picture taking, I've stuffed an empty baby wipes container in it! What I really wanted was something that would simply hold a wallet, a set of keys, and maybe a small notebook. I could use this as Jonas's diaper bag and still have room for other stuff.
2. It lacks detail. If I were to do this again, I'd add some sort of border around the lattice panels.
3. It lacks shape. Seriously, unless you wanted to carry around a cinderblock, this bag is seriously fugly. I'm hoping that once I sew a lining in, it'll help give it some structure.

The not-so-bad:
1. It was a good learning experience. For instance, I learned just how stretchy garter stitch can be! Shocking, I know, but I've never really used it in any of my previous knitting because it just looks so bland and boring, and while I knew it was stretchy, I never dreamed that a 20 stitch width could roughly equal the size of my hard-bound medical dictionary! I think that if I were going to do this again, I'd probably only make it about half as wide.
2. I used up some crappy yarn that was taking up space in my closet.
3. It occupied about a week's worth of knitting time while no other yarn was available.
4. It gave me the courage to try something new.

So, all in all, it wasn't a total waste of time. I can't guarantee that it'll get a lot of use, but it'll be that one project that I look back on and smile about- kind of like the macaroni necklaces of kindergarten fame. It's ugly, but it's mine, dammit!

The 2006 Florida Fiber-In is this weekend in Orlando. My step-mom has graciously offered to watch the munchkin if I decide I want to go-- and DO I! But, with the fact that we can't even pay the mortgage this month without dipping into savings, and the fact that there are more practical things I need to buy, like groceries, I'm thinking a trip to knitty-porn land would just be way too tempting. Besides, I don't know if I'm up for a solo road-trip in a car that has me chanting magical incantations just to get it to start. But, I haven't totally written off the idea.