the thoroughly modern knitter

i received a kindle for christmas!  what a fun surprise -- i did not expect anything beyond the usual socks and underwear this year.  and guess what the kindle does besides let you read books?  you can transfer pdf's to it and read them!  what kind of pdf might i be talking about?  knitting patterns, of course!  oh how exciting!  and what a savings of paper!

i immediately loaded my advent calendar knitalong pdf (combined, it's 62 pages! think of the paper and just the bulk of carrying all that paper around!), and i'm using the note feature of the kindle to track rows.

i needed a quick gift bag for a bottle of champagne, so loaded that pattern on there as well.  i used this pattern from paton's.  i've used it before, and love how they organize the stripes to be so random and wonderful.  i modified the pattern to use up some lamb's pride bulky yarn in my stash (with one color in worsted weight held double), so cast on 48 stitches and followed pattern C, using a size 9 circular needle.  the wider stripes often called for 6 rounds, but i knit 5 so the bag would not be too tall.  the narrower stripes i knit as written.  it felted down just perfectly, so the top of the champagne bottle is peeking out. 

it's very quick, very easy and really fun to do.  and of course, felting always seems like a miracle to me, and the fabric is quite sturdy enough to support and protect a full bottle of champagne.  and THAT is important! ツ