Debbie Bliss Pencil Case FO

Pattern: Pencil Case from Premier Issue - Debbie Bliss Knits Magazine

Yarn: Remnants Debbie Bliss Cotton DK

Colours: Duck Egg, Stone, White

Start: October 20, 2008 Finish: February 3, 2009

I stitched this pattern from the Premier issue of the D.B. Knit Magazine back in the fall using Debbie Bliss Cotton DK remnants. Not having a lot of call for pencil cases around here these days I'm going to use it to house my knitting notions. 

I knit on this until I ran out of yarn, modifying the pattern's alternating colour instructions to add a solid colour section that better utilized the unequal amounts of yarn I had to play with. After blocking with steam I left the little rectangle and bit of a cotton remnant from my fabric stash that I thought would make a nice lining in the mending pile awaiting the next time I wrangled the sewing machine out into the light of day.

I sewed in the lining and attached the zipper to the sides on the weekend during my Saturday mend-a-thon.

 'Basted in the zipper last night. The zipper work is really the challenge of this little piece. Garter stitch is particularly stretchy of course and that makes it tricky to attach to the zipper that is free of all stretch. The last zipper I installed was along  a moss stitch edging - much less stretchy, much easier installation. As with any zipper, careful pinning and basting is the key - oh and ripping it out and redoing it a couple of times helps too. Anyone who saw yesterday's post and went to the VK 360 site saw the Fair Isle Cardigan I'm about to start has a major zipper aspect to it. This was good practice in anticipation of that exercise. With the work now done on this little piece, this morning I'll spray it with Scotch Guard inside and out to prevent it from getting grotty.

Tonight I'll enjoy having it out of the UFO pile, once again among my WIP's - this time as a working FO!