Summer Roundup: FOs

I may have disappeared from the blogosphere, but my needles were on fire this summer ...

My first pair of socks!






Lion Brand Yarn Sock-Ease, Rock Candy
Details on Ravelry

The Flintstones Bag


Before ....




and after!


Very Pebbles and Bamm Bamm ...

Lion Brand Landscapes, Rose Garden
Details on Ravelry

rainbow brite

Remember glimpses of a tote bag I was knitting, and nearly allowed Zoey T. Cat to annihilate? That poor project had languished, alone and forgotten, until I rediscovered it while packing for our big move. This project falls into the category of, "why did I abandon this project when it was so close to being done?" Seriously, all I really had left was binding off and making the handles ... oh well. It's done now, and happily gifted! I used Lion Brand Landscapes yarn ("prairie meadow" or something like that) and basically the same design as my pink dottie tote but with straps attached (and bigger needles and chunkier yarn). I wish I had taken a better close-up before gifting this bag, but when this yarn felts, the cloudy, mottled part of the ply melds together and the bright, vibrant part of the ply emerges–leaving bright colored flecks throughout the piece. I like the effect, but if you’re trying to avoid stitch definition, it would be difficult to achieve with this yarn. This yarn also takes much longer to felt (more wash cycles) than other wool marketed for felting projects, in my experience. I'm counting this project as my first contribution towards Project Spectrum - Air, due to the rainbow-like qualities of the finished felted fabric.

Now that it's done, I want to make another ... unfortunately, I have yet to locate a source of Lion Brand Landscapes yarn in my new locale. My local options include Wal-Mart (no luck there, ha!), a nice LYS within 30 minutes, and a Hobby Lobby within an hour (two thumbs up!). Of course I must now lust over yarn I cannot purchase locally! Sigh.




Before ...


and after!

experiencing technical difficulties

I have so much to show you, so many new projects! Alas, my camera is not cooperating. Sigh. Surf 'n Turf is DONE, buttons and all, and actually was worn a couple of times before warm weather hit, despite its late finish (thanks to this freakishly long and freezing winter/spring we're experiencing on the Palouse). A felted purse is now blocking, with an electric blue retro wedge bag waiting in the wings. And I'll be dipping into a recently enhanced bead stash soon.

Now that my mind is turning towards packing and the move to a much warmer climate, I'm dreaming of tank tops. That's right, knitted tank tops. I'm probably insane, but I'm giving it a go. In cotton-blend yarn, lest you think I've totally gone off the deep end. I'd love to splurge on some more exotic warm-weather yarns, like bamboo or linen. We'll see. I'm trying the "Mondo Cable" pattern from Chic Knits first.

Doesn't this stitch pattern look perfect for a warm-weather top? Very airy.


Image from Berroco Flex.

... done!

spotty progress

Does this bag look familiar? Yeesh. Felted in August ... and just attaching the straps now. Finishing is definitely my Achilles heel when it comes to crafting projects. I have such a long project wish list that the minute I am thisclose to finishing one project, I jump right ahead to the next. I have a recipient for this cute pink bag in mind, so it's found its way out of my UFO [un-finished object] pile. Hand-sewing the ribbon trim has been surprisingly relaxing!

Oy vey.

I am such a bad blogger! One post this month? Yikes. What's worse is that when I realized my only post was on September 1st, my first thought was, "Wouldn't it be cool to have posts only on the first and last day of the month?" (instead of being motivated to post immediately) And I've had photos of projects to write about for weeks! Yeesh. Forgive me. I'll try to get my act together.

**back to our regularly scheduled programming**

The Gator bag! Here's a photo synopsis of the process:


Before.


And after! Blocking up nicely.



See? Not so cat-in-the-hat afterall.

Once again, I decided that I liked the "purl side" of the bag better. (as seen above) The difference is slight at a distance, but you can really see it in these close-ups.


The "right side." (smooth stockinette stitch)

the "wrong side" (bumpy purl)

I like how the color transitions are more mottled with the purl-side out. The beauty of these felted bags is that they're basically reversible, so if someone liked more defined stripes, it could just be flipped back. Which look do you like prefer?

endings and beginnings

Today I finally faced the fact that summer is officially over. It's the first day of September. Classes have been in session for a full two weeks now at WSU. But with the official start to the college football season today, I just can't deny it anymore. I was knitting up a storm as we watched the Cougs battle Wisconsin, and decided that stripes would be more fun that making a true twin of my latest felted tote bag. There I was, thoroughly enjoying my bright orange-blue combo, when my husband commented, "Wow, that's going to be a Gator bag." (My husband, a Florida State grad, is a certifiable Gator-Hater). Oops! Sorry, honey! He forgave my Pac-10 obliviousness. (And to his chagrin, I haven't ditched the color combo). Right now it's looking a little cat-in-the-hat, but I promise that will change ....

coming soon

You'd think with all the beadin' going on, I'd up and quit knitting. Nope! Here's progress on my next felted bag, a twin for the last tote I felted. I love this shade of blue! It's one of my all-time favorite colors. For the top border/handle I'm thinking orange, because ... I have an obscene amount of orange wool on hand and can't think of any other aesthetically-pleasing uses for it! Well, maybe I'm exaggerating (I only have three skeins of the offending orange wool). And I really do like the color combo.

Happy Friday, everyone!

a new bag story

Excited by my success with this little pink number, I charged ahead on bag numero dos ... this time I thought some lime green polka dots would be kind of fun. Had I ever tried intarsia before? Nah. Did I bother researching the proper method? Nah. Full steam ahead!


This polka dot turned out perfect ...


This one? Not so much ...

Struck by the fear that all those wholes and bumps would lead to a pretty lumpy finished project, I abandoned my polka dot dreams. Luckily I hadn't gotten too far in my knitting.

One finished bag, ready to felt! (sorry bad evening lighting)
I should have put something in this photo for scale--it seemed huuuge. It could cover my entire head and shoulders. Look honey, I'm knitting a humongous sack!

Hooray! Another successful finished project! It even stands on its own. Amazing!

(an inside shot)

lessons learned

So you can better understand my excitement over the success of my most recent felted bag, here is a quick history of my previous attempts at felting. Enjoy!


My first bag! Not so bad, eh? Knit in the round with an attached i-cord handle. The only problem? The contrasting yarn I chose to line the top felted at a faster rate than the rest of the bag, forcing me to stop the felting process before the stitches had fully disappeared.


And the bag's opening is a smidge cozy....


Second attempt: this time I seamed the bottom together ... which turned out a little wonky. Kind of apple-shaped, in fact. Oops!



Third attempt. I loooove these colors! This time I knit a bunch of rectangles and seamed them together. Not so bad--if I had blocked this guy, it would have turned out great!

Fourth attempt. This is the felted version of the "tote in progress." I still enjoy the switcharoo in dominant colors. But this yarn shrunk up much more than I expected.

And my seaming still leaves something to be desired.

baggin' it

(Really high-tech blocking materials here: plastic grocery bags)

I think I have finally stumbled across the recipe for creating a felted bag that I can be proud of. Ingredient #1: knitting a rectangle bottom as my first step. Ingredient #2: picking up stitches around the entirety of the bottom and then knitting the bag in the round. Ingredient #3: blocking the bag immediately upon removing it from the washing machine. Knitting an actual bottom for the bag improves the shape so much--previously I had been knitting large rectangles and sewing them in half (which didn't mesh well with my utter lack of proper seaming skills!). Those initial bags pale in comparison to this method. And I am embarassed to admit that I just didn't block my previous attempts at creating felted bags. It makes a world of difference! I'll never skip blocking again.



No wonky bits or bumps!



Next step: attach the handle and add cute ribbon as a final touch.

tote in progress

This is my first unique knitting creation, working without a pattern! And my first time using Lion Brand Yarn's wool, too. I'm having fun with this optical illusion ... it's a green bag with blue stripes ... no wait, it's blue with green stripes! I've just finished the body of my tote--the plan is to knit some rectangle panels to form the "sides" of the bag, add handles, and then felt. I haven't decided what color to make the handles--I could make them striped, or completely solid, or one of each color, matching the dominant color for that side of the bag .... so many choices!