The internets made me do it.

that's my story, and I'm sticking to it. Those of you who have spent time with me, or have seen me at least on three different occasions, may have noticed that I am a bag ho. I love me my pocketbooks, handbags, totes, school bags, and knitting bags. What's so absolutely fabulous for me, is that in making myself a professional student, I have managed to give myself a rational excuse for why I continue to need more and more bags.

Here's a review of my latest (I would say it was impulsive, but it was rather well researched) catch.

Here's the front of Penelope



Side views. I love the pocket with the webbing. Stuff is very secure in there (good for a water bottle, or maybe a skein of yarn if you're KIPing?). Not sure if you can make out the contrast stitches, but I love it. The other pocket, I'm not in love with... yet. I'm not sure what's supposed to go in there, but it feels like it would fall out fairly easily. Also, and perhaps the biggest negative of the bag, is if you look at the top, you can see that the bag does not completely close... the zipper at the top does NOT incorporate the sides of the bag, which means if it gets turned upside down, the keys might fall out (if you had put them in here... not sure why you would, but just in case). Oh! Another terrific feature, while I'm mentioning keys, is that tiny zippered pocket on the back. Perfect for your car/house keys. It would also be a good spot to keep money for the subway, or change for the meter.



This close up shows the front pocket. You've got two larger pockets for your cell phone and iPod, or PDA. Three pen loops, some space to hold your wallet (and I've got a largish sized wallet)... and another inside zip pocket.



the inside. Where you see my copy of LMKG, is where my laptop will go when I'm using this as a school bag. I like that this pocket is sewn in, and padded... so I don't have to use my laptop sleeve. The main pocket is rather large, would fit a textbook and a regulation sized binder, and then there's a large inside zip. There are so many pockets, I just don't know what I would do with them all!

The best part of this bag? The name. The Go Girl Messenger bag. Seeing as I feel like i'm always on the go... and it's not too expensive (about a third of what I would've spent on a Timbuk2 bag, after all the bells and whistles).

Here's what I've been knitting on, furiously, when I get any chance to knit. I'm ignoring some projects that have deadlines, (but the recipients don't know I'm knitting for them), b/c I am in love with this yarn.


It's the premier color collection by Lonesome Stone, handpainted yummy 100% alpaca yarn, fingering/sock weight (7 sts/inch on US2s) and 665 yards per skein. Purchased... where else? Colorful Yarns. Most obviously, a clapotis in the making. To make up for the fineness of the yarn, i added a repeate to section 2, and I'm making it longer than prescribed. The alpaca part should make this sucker plenty warm. Hard to gauge right now, b/c there's usually a cat in the lap while I'm knitting.

Two more weeks, and I'll have finished my first semester as a doctoral student. It's gonna be a very l o n g two weeks for me.