Better late than never

I finally accepted that I was never going to take my bag to the laundromat, and all my neighbors have top-loading machines, too, so I decided to give hand-felting a try.

It worked out better than I expected, mostly because I expected a very long slog but it didn't take that long. Although, linking to the article now, I'm wishing I'd remembered the towel for cushioning the bucket. And I didn't bother with the tennis balls. And we broke our mesh colander at Thanksgiving, so I lined a plastic colander with cheesecloth instead.

I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the "poke hole with needle, push I-cord through" handles turned out, too.



Yay! All done!

Look What the Postman Brought!

It's the yarn for Liam's sweater. He asked for bright red, so that's what I ordered. This is from Knitpicks. It's their Shine worsted (60% Pima cotton, 40% Modal). I have not used this yarn before, but I've heard good things about it. It's incredibly inexpensive, and also very soft and machine-washable, so I though it was worth giving it a try. I'll keep you posted.

Ta Da! The First Knitting Project I've Finished in YEARS!

I couldn't get it quite as well felted as I'd like since our hot water wash isn't particularly hot, but I'm happy nonetheless. When I do another felting project I'll either figure out how to make our hot water cycle hotter, or I'll run down the street and borrow a neighbor's machine.

Using the two strands of worsted weight yarn ended up giving the bag quite a nice weight and texture. I didn't have enough yarn at the end to make two handles, so I made one extra-long one and attached it at the two narrow sides of the bag. I may stitch a couple of small lengths of ribbon inside the bag that can be tied in a bow. My theory is that the bow will close the bag tighter so I'll be less prone to lose things like wallets and glasses and cameras...

I'm off to finish up a scarf for me, and then I'm starting hoodie sweaters for the boys. I'll keep everyone posted.

Have a great weekend, guys!

Une Fait A Complis

Ok, so the only way I could think of an original title was to use French. Basically is says I am done. The above photo is the before and below is the after. I had to felt it twice, but it turned out the same size it was supposed to. And I did it twice because the first time I used warm water instead of hot. I think it turned out pretty well for my first time knitting a bag and my first time felting. I will definitely do this again.

Done!

Done! A little over felted because as I was felting it I realized that the utility sink was clogged, and got rather distracted trying to unclog it. But, it turned out pretty well regardless.

And for those if you wondering about the straps, I did the poke a hole through and tie thing, and it worked out really well. So if you haven't figured out another way, that'll probably do the trick for you.

How is everyone else doing??? And what is your next project????

Handles

I have felted my bag. I had to run it through twice to get it as felted as I wanted. My husband thought I was nuts for purposely shrinking something. How is everyone planning on attaching the handles? I am new to felting and not sure of the best way to do it.

Shiny and new!

Well, really fuzzy and new. My LYS had their annual sale yesterday, and I got a ton of really nice stuff 50% off. I'm posting here because some of the yarn is for a sweater for M and I am pretty sure he doesn't read this blog. If he does, "Hi honey! You're getting a sweater!"

You should have seem me standing in the middle of the shop trying to do higher math in my head while calculating yardage and guarding the last few skeins of my favorites.

For M's sweater.

For C's sweater.

For A's sweater.