Opinions welcome

So I need a new bag for school. I’ve known that for a while, but as of today I’ve reached a new level of needing a new bag, and very soon it won’t be so much a bag anymore as a cylinder I can carry around on my shoulders.

So I’ve been thinking. Yes, thinking. And I think that I want an awesome bag. It needs to have a pocket for everything, so nothing gets squished and nothing gets lost and I always know where everything is and there’s plenty of room for everything. But where can I find this bag? A bag that will have a place for my keys, my camera, my wallet, my phone, my ipod, my gum, my pens, my notebook and any various books or food I want to carry around with me. Oh, and it also need to have a miscellaneous spot for everything else (I’m a commuter student - when I get onto campus I stay there all day, so everything must come with me).
I don’t think that this bag exists. Remember, it must also be awesome.
So I’m going to spend my spring break making a new bag (don’t worry, I won’t start until I finish my sweater).
Check out this Monk's Travel Satchel (note – this is a pdf file). I love this bag! But there’s a few problems. Or one problem, and that being that it’s knitted. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem for anything, but after putting a lot of thought into it I don’t think this would be the best idea. I put my bags through a lot of hard times. This thing will pretty much be an extension of my being until it dies, and I don’t see something in a wool/cotton blend holding up after being thrown around, kicked around, and stepped on. I’m also worried that it’s going to stretch out - textbooks are really heavy (really heavy).
So I think I might take this idea and use it to sew a bag. Now I have sewn bags before (maaaybe I’ll show you a picture sometime if you’re really good), so I know I can do it, but do I want to? I don’t have a lot of patience for sewing. For some reason I want instant gratification with my sewing projects. I’m not like that with knitting, but if I’m sewing (at a sewing machine, I’m alright if I’m doing it by hand) I want it done right now, and I will sit there until it is finished. So if I’m planning on sewing this, I have to be willing to devote at least an entire day to sitting in front of the machine, going slowly insane. But the result will probably be more practical and durable.
But the knitted bag is just so awesome….

various....

No! I have not been knitting. But I miss you all so I thought I’d tell you about how I’ve not been knitting.
I believe I have chosen a zipper for my sweater. Actually, I have chosen two.

First, I bought the dark one. It is 18”, which is a slight problem because the sweater opening is 17”. But, quite honestly, I know nothing about zippers. When I got there I discovered that they only make them in even inches (or at least that’s the trend that I saw), so 17” was not an option. Interesting. I also have no idea if you should lean towards too long or too short if you come across this kind of problem. My gut says “too short” but they didn’t have any zippers I liked in 16”, and I am sometimes an impatient person and I wanted my sweater done right then, so I bought the 17” zipper that is a color that doesn’t really go with my sweater to being with. But then school started, and although I really wanted to finish my sweater, that was no longer an option.
So then a few weeks later I went to a different craft store, and they had the perfect zipper, right size and right color, but it’s reversible. I decided that I don’t care. So now if I really want to, I’ll be able to reverse my green sweater. I don’t think I’ll want to.

I also bought two ribbons to line the inside, one on each trip. I really like the plaid one, but I don’t think I want it for my sweater. I think it would be a bit too flashy.Not that the ribbon in itself is flashy, I just think that if someone sees it they will be more likely to look at the ribbon than the sweater. The second one is a bit more toned down, it should work alright.
I hope to install it over spring break. I have never installed a zipper before – this should be interesting!


And now since I’ve neglected you for so long and this is a rather boring entry anyway, I’ll post some random pictures:
You know what I really like? Candid pictures of people with no explanation as to why or what situation they were taken in. I don’t know why. I love looking through other people’s photo albums. Posed shots I find boring, predictable. It’s the pictures that are taken when no one realizes their picture is being taken that are the good ones. They don’t need to be amusing or really interesting in any way, I just like them. So here are some candid shots of my friends, I hope you enjoy them. Or at least are not incredibly bored by them.

knitting ADD

I haven’t had much knitting focus since I finished my sweater. I’ve been thinking about starting one thing or another on and off; I see one thing and decide it’s the best thing ever and I should knit it right now, and then I decide it’s ugly a few hours later. Half of this is probably because I don’t have a stash of yarn on hand. I can’t go “oh, let’s knit this with all of this lovely yarn of one uniform type and color that I have right here.” Nope, not going to happen. So whatever I choose I need to find the yarn for. And seeing as I am a rather broke college student, the yarn recommended for said project is probably going to be waaaaay to expensive for me. So I need to find a substitute, and quite honestly I haven’t spent that much time with different types of yarn to know what is a good substitute for what, and so the result is usually me getting really frustrated about the whole thing and giving up. No, really, it's fun.
So, instead of working on something productive, I’ve been doing this and that. I’ve spent far, far more time looking at potential yarns and pattern choices than knitting. I guess this is probably a good thing, because if I started a project I’d be more interested in working on that than doing any real work.
Hopefully I’ll find something good to work on during spring break (preferably something that can be finished during that one week time span. Yes, I need instant gratification.)