Some of My Other Wasted Talents

$425. It just boggles my mind. Funny, they've taken down the photo that showed the "artisans" using their double knitting rakes to make them. Guess they didn't want us to know how fast and easy it was to make a scarf like that!

I took a couple of pictures of the finished black net bag before mailing it away to psammeadred. This one is made of black vintage pearl cotton on a 1/2 inch gauge.

The drawstrings are five-loop fingerloop braids with two half-strands of contrast color in each one. (I tried to take a photo of one of the braids in progress, but since I couldn't hold the camera and hold the loops taut at the same time, it didn't look like anything.)

When I was pregnant and couldn't wear my favorite money belt, I carried my wallet and stuff in a very similar bag. I learned that it's good to put keys inside a plastic bag instead of loose in the net -- they can't get away, but they like to stick out through six or eight different meshes at once and that makes it hard to pull them out when you want them.

Close-up of the drawstrings. I have an older tatted bag with drawstrings tied like this, in what is undeniably a "granny knot".

I know it seems wrong, but what I found in use was that the knot is hardly ever under a strain that will make it come out, and since the ends stick out perpendicular to the rest of the string, that keeps them from sliding into the loops of the net. I've tried other finishing knots, but the granny knot has worked best for me on the fairly slippery pearl cotton.

Speaking of knots, I recently joined the Pineapple Knot Forum. Considering that we've been on the internet for something like 15 years, I'm a little surprised that it's taken me this long to connect with other knot-makers and net-makers.

And I have to say hi to Rita, whose netting website, Knots Indeed, has long been a favorite of mine. I found it shortly after I learned to make nets, and I've referred lots of people to it. She now has a blog, too.

The coolest thing about connecting with other people who do what you do is the cross-pollination of ideas that you get. Netted handles -- what a great idea! I love when people take an idea and go all different directions with it.