Mama's got a brand new bag

I should take a moment to remind you that I am very easily entertained.  Considering where I live and my current income level - this is a damn good thing.  So it should come as no surprise that getting anything in the mail besides textbooks or cat supplies is just cause for celebration. Especially since Christmas is in the past, and my birthday's still a month away.

But I bought myself an early  birthday present this year:

It's a Baggallini Messenger Bagg. And it is a marvelous thing.  It hangs comfortably on one shoulder like a normal purse would but can also be slung over so the strap runs across your chest.  It has a variety of pockets to stash everything I might carry around town with me and/or take when I head overtown for the day.  The inside of one of those pockets has a pen or pencil loop and a key clip and there's even one of those clever little pockets on the strap for your cell phone.

The bag I've been using for the past several years is a small tan leather backpack I purchased from the leather goods booth at the Sawdust Art Festival.  It was beautiful when it was new and over time it did what good leather is supposed to and acquired more character with age.  Periodically I'd clean it out and wipe it down with a good leather cleaner, even give it a  few weeks off while I tried using a smaller, dainty, girlie looking purse. But I always went back to my old faithful leather bag. Last year one of the zippers finally broke and I was only able to get it replaced with one of a slightly different color.  So...more character, eh?

What finally pushed me over the edge towards buying something new was that the acquisition of that leather bag actually pre-dates my becoming a Knitter.  You know, the "Knitter" being that person who does not leave the house without some sort of knitting project to work on in random moments because for the love of wool, you just know you are going to get stuck somewhere waiting and having that knitting will keep you from murdering that poor bank teller/postal clerk/bus driver*.  

Anyway, I found that even squeezing a sock in progress into that backpack required a certain amount of strategizing of the contents, and I was constantly rearranging the contents everytime I needed to pull something out and put it back.  Not so fun. However, in this bag, the sock in progress gets it's very own pocket! Now how's THAT for giving the knitting a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T?  (Knitting gods, please take note.)

The only thing I still need to figure out is what to do with my camera.  I am one of those people who takes a little digital camera everywhere (seriously, it pays off) and in my old bag there was a perfectly sized pocket with a soft lining, just right for my camera.  Now I have a pocket for it in the new bag, but it looks like it might get knocked around a bit and that's no bueno.

Sure I could buy one of those small padded camera cases but hello, I am a Knitter and you know what that means...I should knit up a camera case!  There are over a dozen patterns on Ravelry and after looking through a few of them I think I should be able to just wing it on this. Right?

I looked through my yarn leftovers from various projects and though initially I thought sock yarn would be good, I've decided to try using the partial ball of Berocco Love It remaining from my Sweaty September Tam.

As you can see, I've got 40 grams and that seems like it ought to be enough to make a little camera pouch. I'm thinking a little 2x2 ribbed tube, seamed at one end and a little flap and fastener at the other.  How hard could that be???

*True story - a few years ago I impulsively hopped aboard one of our bus tours into the interior of the island with my friend Judy, her husband John was driving and guiding the tour.  The bus broke down in one of our dead zone areas where the driver gets no radio signal and there is no cell phone reception. It was summer and there is no A/C on that bus.  I had knitting. Everyone lived.