The Felting Fairy administers the Smackdown

So I had this idea to make a felted cat bed. Not an original idea by any means, but I've been wanting to make one for a while and finally decided to do so with some Noro Big Kureyon that I got for a great sale price. But I didn't want just a regular, small cat bed---I wanted a bigger cat bed!



I have knit many a felted basket in my time---granted, most of them smaller than what I was planning, but most turned out successfully nonetheless. Now, logic would tell you that I should take the methods I've used to make many successful small baskets in the past and transfer that to make the bigger cat bed. Yes, that would work! But did I take the path of logic and use what I already knew to make the big cat bed? No.



I thought I would try somebody else's pattern, because of course they must know better than me, right? Then, I would modify said pattern by adding just one more increase to make it a little bigger than the stated finished size! Yes! What's a little extra increase between friends? What possible harm could come of it? You can see where this is going, can't you?



So, I happily knit the popular Kitty Pi Bed pattern (based on the EZ Pi Shawl pattern) with my Noro, slipped in my little extra increase modification and some extra rows, and even cleverly added many rows to the side wall structure to make sure the sides would be tall enough to accommodate the extra width of the bed. After 3-1/2 skeins and feeling that the bed had reach ginormous-enough proportions, I further expressed my creativity by trying a new s-t-r-e-t-c-h-y bind off I recently found! (Sometimes with felting the upper edge can draw in too much, even if the bind off doesn't seem tight, so I thought I'd try out the new bind off to help eliminate that problem.)



It was after the bind off that I began to think that something was just not going to turn out right. Perhaps it was that first little tap of the Felting Fairy's wand on my shoulder. With the Pi pattern, the sides just flopped out sideways and could barely be detected before felting---not a good sign. Ginormousness aside, pre-felted baskets always show some structure of the side walls before felting. But the whole thing just lay there like a flounder. I tried to keep the faith and believe in the pattern, including what seemed like my very slight modifications, hoping it would all come together in the felting wash.


Here's what it looked like pre-felting (minion actual size)...

My little Toebi loves it! Sweet Toebi.

Slightly small cat on a very large mat. No problem---it will shrink tons when felted. See those slight little curls on the edges representing about 12 inches of knit side walls for the bed? Um, no problem--when it tightens up in the felting process they will stand up tall and firm! (second bigger whap from the Felting Fairy wand). Remain in denial about that new stretchy bind-off you included that might actually work. (Now being soundly thumped on the head by fairy wand...). We must have hope until the end, though, so let's move on to the actual felting and all will be fixed---Thump!! (That Fairy broad is really starting to piss me off now.)

So, fresh from the always-forgiving felting process (thump), I present to you for your amusement, the Minion Mat! (Thump, whomp, thump). Far better than an actual cat bed, and useful for all manners of cat repose,....

minion wrestling matches,....

and Felting Fairy smackdowns---and all unemcumbered by those silly, unneccessary side walls! Whomp! The Felting Fairy smites a death blow to the knitter who dares to get creative with a strange, untried pattern! Ouch. Well at least the colors are pretty, and it has that nice little lip to distinguish it as a handy cat mat rather than an actual cat bed or a throw rug!

Go ahead---mock at will the thoroughly beaten and smacked-down knitter. I'll wait while you run to the bathroom because you've peed yourself laughing at my folly. After all, it was only 4 skeins of Big Kureyon, countless hours of circular knitting, eleventy-seven repeats of dragging it out of the wash cycle to check the felting, and endless sniffling while my tired little fingers worked to form something resembling a curled lip on the edges as it dried...

Well, at least Toebi likes it---he's an easy customer to please. And what are the lessons have we learned here today, children?

1. The Felting Fairy is a bad-ass beeyotch who will whup the life out of you if you think you are getting all independent and creative-like with felting untested patterns, especially those of a large scale.
2. Don't use (or modify) someone else's pattern if you already have a method that has worked a zillion times before---you will certainly be smited a blow by aforermentioned fairy for believing that someone else's ideas must certainly be better than your own.
3. Don't use Noro to felt objects that need some structure---it turns into a fuzzy, floppedy, floppy thing. (I should have known better when a Booga Bag felted out of Kureyon was sort of mushy and soft and needed a reinforced bottom added---but I thought the bulky version would be so much stiffer after felting---silly me.)
4. If you have a yarn you have used successfully for past felting, think about using it when moving up on the felting project ginormousity scale.
5. Always post your felting disasters in an open forum for public mocking as payment to the Felting Fairy, so hopefully she won't open a can of whoop-ass on your next felting attempt! The felting process is time-consuming and uses a lot of precious yarn to make a shrunken object, so you don't want to risk getting smacked down again!
6. Cats are beloved creatures who pretend to love what you made for them, even if it turns out to be a mat and not a bed, and only laugh at you on the inside.

I guess that simple example of a "true" statement from my first intro to logic class really IS true----"The cat is on the mat."

My Warm and Fuzzy Heart(s)

I have always loved Valentine's Day. Not so much for the commercially-required purchased shows of affection for our loved ones (paper valentines, flowers and chocolate, all marked up 500% in honor of the occasion), but rather for the celebration of my favorite iconic shape---the heart! I am a lover of all things heart-shaped and Valentine's Day simply gives me an excuse to combine my love of heart shapes with my love of fiber and felting!

As you know, I adore felting and the resulting firm-but-fuzzy felted objects produced by the process. To me, felting is a magical illusion carried out with the addition of some warm water and friction to a usually somewhat floppy knitted object to produce a lovely, fibery piece of art.

How else but magic can you explain the ability to turn this basket full of non-descript pieces of knitting....

into these....

and these!!...

Yes, it's magic I tell you! I have completed many a felting project and I never cease to feel that little squeeee! of excitement every time, as I mold the felted objects into their final shapes for drying---and these little heart baskets and coasters were no exception!

The pattern I used to make these hearts is a Fibertrends pattern called "Heartfelt Expressions" by Evelyn Clark. I used Lamb's Pride Bulky and size 13 needles, dropped them in some hot water and woolwash, stirred vigorously and....Voila! Fuzzy hearts!


Since it's hard to see scale in these pictures, the coasters are all about 6 inches or more across the widest point, so quite generous in size. The hearts are about 6 inches wide by 5 inches long at the opening, and a bit wider at the base. The pattern has various options for bind-offs and height of the baskets or trays. I did each one a little bit differently in those respects, but I love how all of them turned out!

My Valentine's Day will be spent at Madrona, spending some time with the lovely Miss Evelyn Clark herself, and probably crippling my checkbook at the marketplace...


Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! May your hearts be warm and fuzzy....


ETA: Thank you, blogger, for that lovely last pic....I love you, too....

A New Year, and our first installment of "Ask Ms. Kitty!"

Happy New Year, everyone! Toe-cat and Technocat had a little party, and of course the paparazzi captured the following candid drunken picture (I know they had to be drunk when this was taken, because no self-respecting minion would ever be caught on film with a bow on his head unless he was crocked)...

Intervention followed when they recovered from their hangovers and they have promised to go into rehab in 2008, as well as get a job to replace my fine wine stash. I mean, those boxes of wine with the spigots on them were vintage and we got them on sale---very hard to replace!

I know it's been a while since I've posted---lots of gift shopping and cookie baking, as well as socializing and just general laziness has been occupying my time over the holidays. There was also some knitting, but due to the above-mentioned laziness, the pictures are still in my camera awaiting uploading and editing. So I'll save the knitting and received Christmas gift bragging until next time.

Since it's a fresh new year, I thought I'd introduce something new here on Knotty Kitty Knits. This new feature was brought about by a lovely reader, Carlene, who dared to ask moi, a well-claimed non-expert, for some knitting advice. I have been asked for advice before by the unwitting who come here and believe I have any good advice to offer, but on those occasions I have chosen to answer in private, so as not to expose my lack of expertise to public scrutiny. But hey, it's a new year and why not throw caution to the wind and offer help to those who solicit it in my own public forum. [And there is also the fact that Carlene is blogless and left no email address, thus forcing me to answer in public because I want to help (yep, I'm a giver) and she left me no other choice!]

That being said, I bring to you the first (and possibly only) episode of "Ask Ms. Kitty!" The feature where you can ask Ms. Kitty for advice on any subject in which she is not an expert, which covers everything, including and especially knitting, and she will give you an answer, utilizing her many years of non-expertise! Advice not guaranteed and to be taken at your own risk, don't try this at home and usual disclaimers, blah, blah, blah....

There! Now that I've covered myself legally, on to our very special first (and possibly only) installment of "Ask Ms. Kitty!"

Carlene writes:

Hey Knottykitty,
I stumbled across your blog while looking for some help with a crochet bowl I made. The yarn is 75% wool and 25% soy and I am struggling to get this stuff to felt. I have tried hand felting in the sink and using the washing machine. So far the bowl hasn't shrunk at all and merely looks slightly fuzzy on the outside. Do I need to try different soap? More washes? (I think it's been washed 10 times so far.) Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!


Dear Carlene,

Without seeing your yarn and your actual bowl, I can only offer some suggestions that I hope might help. I don't know if you've done any felting before, so excuse me if I offer any suggestions that are too basic. Of course, Ms. Kitty is not an expert, so these suggestions come only from my own haphazard felting experiences:

1. Are you positive that your yarn is only wool and soy? I'm not sure if the percentage of soy might prevent it from felting, or make it take longer to felt. Sometimes yarns are treated in such a way that can delay or prevent felting. Have you seen any other felted projects from the yarn you used?

2. Is the yarn white or off-white? Sometimes these colors of yarn, even if 100% wool, are treated chemically in such a way that they will not felt.

3. Did you crochet the bowl on a large enough hook to leave some "air space" between the stitches? I know crochet can be very dense, so if there isn't at least a tiny bit of room for the fibers to move about and attach to each other, there will be less felting, or felting that goes very slowly. I always try to use a larger needle or hook size than would look good for an unfelted project, so the stitch fibers have plenty of room to move about and felt.

4. How long did you actually felt the bowl? Some fibers are just plain stubborn! For instance, I made a felted bag out of 100% wool called Donegal Tweed, which took, literally, over three hours to felt. I thought I had gone insane (that day) because I was doing everything the usual way and couldn't figure out why it wasn't felting. Found out later (of course) that they treat this particular wool in a way that makes it very slow to felt (Thank you LYS who suggested this yarn and left out that little bit of info until afterward--teehee).

5. Are you using at least warm water, and adding a couple of towels or pairs of jeans, or tennis balls to add friction? Felting needs friction to move along well. It also needs a softening agent, like a few drops of dish soap, or better yet, some non-rinse wool wash added to the felting water. This helps the yarn soften and release the fibers to tangle with each other! I think warmth of the water counts too, though some experts say that's not as important as the friction. Without one of these three---friction, warmth and softening agent, felting may be more difficult or take much longer to complete.

Hmmmm.....that's about all I can think of to help you right now. I hope something I've mentioned helps! If you can tell me what yarn you used, and tell me exactly what you did when you tried to felt it, perhaps I can give a little more non-expert advice! (i.e., Did'ya wash it 10 separate times, or 10timesallatonce?) There is the possibility that you might just have to process the bowl for a longer period of time in one session for the felting to get going. Or worse (and I hope this isn't the case) there may be unlabeled ingredients in your yarn or manufacturing treatment that will cause it to be unfeltable. If in doubt in the future, try felting a swatch first. (Of course, I never swatch because I like to learn the hard way).

There is one one wool/soy yarn that I use frequently for felted projects that I absolutely love---Paton's SWS. It felts beautifully with a solid structure and a nice, bumpy texture throughout, probably from the soy part of the yarn.

Please let me know---I'm really curious to hear how things turn out for you, and if any of the suggestions help! Good luck, Carlene!

And that ends our episode of "Ask Ms Kitty!" If you have any questions about anything about which Ms. Kitty is not an expert, which is everything, please post them here on my blog as a comment, or send by email to twominionsatyahoodotcom.

Oh, and by the way---for any future episodes: Ms. Kitty prefers to be addressed in polite inquiry as "Dear Ms. Kitty,..." "HEY Knottykitty" will do, but may not get you an official response in a future episode. The advice won't be any more reliable, but I'm just sayin' is all....

Time for a CONTEST!!....and some actual knitting content!

Don't fall over, but yes, this post will contain actual knitting content. But first, let's commence with my first ever, official blog contest!! I'm not saying it's going to be scintillating or anything....no creative geniuses live in the knottykitty domain, we are simple creatures here. It does, however, have an official name---In honor of my first blogiversary and upcoming birthday, it's time for....

The Belated Blogiversary and Birthday

Big Basket of Balls

Contest

Because here at Knottykitty Knits, we love us some balls!! (Don't be a dirty girl, you know I mean yarn balls, of course!) I'll give a minute to clear that image from your mind.....now, I'll continue.

Since I've been known to knit a dishcloth or two around here, I have managed to acquire quite the stash of kitchen cotton through the years. And, oh! I just so happen to have a picture of it right here, arranged in a lovely basket...

I'm not sure why I thought it was necessary, but just in case, here's a closer view...

All of the balls in the basket are whole (no partially-used) skeins. They are mostly standard Sugar 'n Cream balls, both variegated and solid, with a few of the larger-sized balls in there as well. I believe there are one or two Peaches & Creme balls in there as well.

Here's the contest part---

Leave me a comment on my blog by midnight (PST) on Wednesday, October 3rd (the birthday part--mine), that includes the following:

1. Your guess as to how many balls are in the basket.
2. Your favorite small project to knit, with link to the pattern if available, so we can all have some new patterns to look at, because we love that!
3. Your blog address, if you have one, because we love to look at those, too!
4. Optional: Any kind of birthday/belated blogiversary greeting you'd like to throw in, be it normal, funny, poetry, strangeness or whatever.

[The reason for #3? Because I'll be home all day by myself on my birthday (sniffle) and I'm old (hmph) and I love a good laugh (ha!).]

I'll be giving out yarny and knitting-related prizes for the following:

1. Closest guess on how many balls are in the basket, without going over the quantity.
2. My favorite comment that makes me laugh, or feel better about getting so old, or both.
3. Random drawing.

I will try to announce the winners by the end of the weekend, following the end of the contest.

So what are you waiting for? Get on in here and leave a comment with your guess, your favorite small project pattern and your sense of humor!!

********************************************************************************************

Real knitting content:

Yes, it's true! I've actually managed to finish a couple of projects this past week. First, I finally finished this basket that I was done knitting a couple of months ago, and then let it sit by the washer waiting to be felted. Here's the before picture...

and here's the finished basket....

Knit with Paton's SWS soy/wool yarn---I have to say it again, I love making felted projects with this yarn. The color choices are great and it felts up as soft or as stiff as you want. I didn't have a pattern for this basket. Just sort of made it up as I went along. I wanted a squarish-shaped, low-walled basket, and I think this one came out pretty good for a first attempt at making a basket without a pattern. I also included increases as I knit up the walls of the basket, hoping it would keep the walls from flopping outward after it was felted---and it worked! Finished size is about 7-1/2"L x 5"W x 2-1/2" deep.

This second FO, the Moss Grid Handtowel from Mason-Dixon Knitting, turned out nicer than I expected. It took me absolutely forever to finish, done on size 4 needles, and I was a little worried about how it looked when it was done...

It seemed like the "moss grid" squares really didn't show next to the strips of stockinette between the boxes. I thought it might have been my tension when switching back and forth between the moss stitch and stockinette sections.

So I put it in a nice woolwash soak for about an hour and hoped for the best. Hard to capture in these pictures, but I'm still amazed at what a little soak, a trip through the dryer and some light blocking when almost dry did for my cute little towel!

Those stockinette strips between the squares smoothed right out to reveal the nice little moss stitch boxes! I couldn't seem to get a great picture, but the color is much deeper and it has a lovely sheen to it! Needless to say, I was excited that it came out this well compared to the before pictures!

The fabric also got incredibly soft, with a great drape to it. It was made with Euroflax sportweight. I have some beautiful moss green in the same yarn to make it a set. About 3/4ths of the way into knitting this hand towel, I was thinking I might not be making another one because it was getting a little monotonous. But seeing how this one turned out has returned some of my desire to make a second one to complete the set...later.

Yes, there has been a little knitting.....

The blog posts have been leaning a little more toward kitten than knittin' the last couple of weeks---I guess that's what happens when you bring home a new baby! But between all of the extra feeding, cat box scooping, refereeing sibling spats and keeping the new toddler from accidentally doing permanant damage to himself or the house, I have managed to squeeze in a tiny bit of knitting. Of course, that doesn't mean this post will be kitten-free----maybe just kitten-light...

The felted clogs are almost finished! Just need to sew up the bottom seam and weave in ends, and they'll be ready for felting.

Here's the pre-felted clogs with the foot of their intended owner (the human foot, not the minion foot....)

Of course, Toebi has to try them on for size as well. He thinks they fit just fine without the felting....

I've also started on a pair of Peekaboo mittens. I have been looking for a good "convertible" mitten pattern for a while, but since I've never made mittens before, I was also looking for some that weren't too complicated for my first go at it. I happened upon this pattern on MagKnits, and it seems like just what I'm looking for---functional, but not too fussy.

With a few episodes of frogging at various points, here's what I've got so far...

The Technocat is inspecting for his approval of my work so far. I just need to kitchener the top of the hand portion, and pick up the thumb gusset and add the thumb, and the right mitten will be done! I'm a little apprehensive about the thumb part---not quite sure how to arrange the stitches and get them made into a "thumb," but I'll figure it out at some point. I really don't want to mess up the entire mitten trying to learn to do the thumb, so perhaps a little lifeline might be in order for those stitches on the holder, so I can rip back and try again if I don't quite get it the first (or second) time.

Another new skill for me was casting on stitches in the middle of rows without holes or strange stringy things stretching across the gap. After a couple of tries and a few frogged rows, I think I got it!

I also found that knitting the mitten on two circulars is working out much better than dpn's for me. I tried to be a purist and do them on the dpn's, but the cuff was not looking as pretty as I knew I could make it, and too much fussing with needles. So I frogged the dpn version cuff and started over with circs, which has been working out great so far. Now, if I can just figure out that thumb thing, I can finish and move on to the left mitten...

The minions are multiplying....and so are the toes!!

We got a new kitty!!

While on our normal trip to P**smart to buy food for the minions, Purrfect Pals was there, in the center aisle of the store, with lots of little orphans needing homes! Most P**smart stores have a cat adoption area, and I usually visit it every time I go. It's always hard to resist the lure of an innocent, cute little face needing a home....but this time they pulled out all the stops and put them right smack in the middle of the main aisle! What an evil plot!

As I walked by all of the cages and cooed at all of the cute kitties, this one caught my eye for lots of reasons, but most especially because of this....

LOTS of extra toes!!! (Sorry for the blurry pic---moving target....). Is he cute, or what? I have always wanted a polydactyl cat, and here was this one, needing a good home and all. With my poor husband groaning in the background, the ladies of Purrfect Pals asked if I would like to hold him.....How could I refuse?

However, while it was love at first site on my part......for my husband, not so much. First of all, having two cats to begin with is one too many as far as he is concerned. So of course, obtaining a third minion to run the house was completely out of the question! Also, he said that the whole "extra toes" thing kind of "creeped him out." Obviously, he has no appreciation for the truly unique! He went on his way to shop, hoping that would lure me away from the kitten temptation.

Ha! Obviously, he also has no appreciation for the lure of a beautiful kitten with extra toes, available for the taking, to a kitty-lover such as myself. I finally gave up.....for a little while....and we went about our shopping.

As we came back down the aisle, the Purrfect Pals girls lured me in again with their siren song...."would you like to hold him again"......"we can do the paperwork right now"......"are you sure?...we'll be here until 4pm!" (These girls are GOOD!) However, my husband has great sales resistance, unfortunately, and we checked out with our purchases, but without the kitten.

We got out to the car and got in. And yes, I'll admit it........I resorted to pleading and whining! I even threw in the part about reconciling our cosmic balance sheet of buying our other two minions, by adopting at least one orphan in need of a home. (I have had some guilt about this issue, since I have always adopted my cats from shelters until the most recent two.....we were renters when we got them, and could not get the "landlord permission letter" that was needed to adopt from the shelters, since they were not allowed at our apartment---so we bought from a breeder).

And then a miracle occurred----my husband----who would be quite happy to have no cats, let alone THREE....actually gave in and we went back and got the kitty! (It's not that he's a cat hater----just slightly allergic...) The Purrfect Pals girls were laughing when they saw me-----they said "we knew you'd be back!"

We have named the new minion "Toe-bi" (I know, but the toe thing was too good to resist....). He has two extra toes on each front paw, and one extra toe on each back foot, for a total of SIX extra toes! (For you non-cat-owners, cats usually have 5 toes on each front paw, and 4 on each back foot---a total of 18.) He is completely adorable, with a sweet personality and a BIG purr. And he is absolutely great with the "politics" of inserting himself into the domain of the two existing (and spoiled) feline residents! He approaches each of them with gusto, then promptly rolls over on his back in proper submissive respect, and allows them the first move, or sniff, or paw swipe, or whatever!

Things seem to be progressing along well in the mingling and socializing department, with a surprising minimum of hissing, swatting or disagreements. The Supervisor is properly intrigued, but is more interested in getting to Toebi's kitten food than anything else. Technocat is neutral to slightly disgusted by the whole issue, and has chosen to pretty much ignore the existance of the unworthy invader for now. Fine with me.....better than hissing and spitting!

And as for the kitten-resistant husband......every time I turn around to talk to him he has disappeared....into the bedroom where Toebi is staying while everyone gets acquainted!! Geez, I can't keep him out of there! And as for his "creeping out" about the extra toes....all he can talk about now is how cute the kitten is with his big "paddles.".......

Kitten: 1 Husband: 0

The kitten reels in another victim!!

>^..^< >^..^< + >^,,^<

I hab a code.....and a felted moebius bowl

I keep reading on everyone's blog and hearing from my friends that they have all had colds or flu. Lucky me---I didn't catch it----until yesterday....Uggghhh..... I've had a sore throat since yesterday and am all stubbed ub. Yuck! I'm not feeling up to doing much creative blogging, so I'll return when I'm feeling human again. Rachel tagged me last week for "6 weird things about me," but I can't really think of anything right now, even weird things about me. So, I'll leave that one for after I'm feeling better.

For now, here's a felted moebius bowl I finished last week. I really love the color---reminds me of the beach and beach glass, so I have officially named it "Beach Blue Bowl." I know, very original....but what do you want from someone with a clogged brain?

Anyway, this bowl was very fun to knit. It's made from Fleece Artist wool, by knitting a moebius strip with a I-cord bind-off. Then all of the stitches along the edge of the moebius strip are picked up under the I-cord, and the basket portion of the form is knit. The pattern is from "A Second Treasury...." by Cat Bordhi. If you have never checked out this book, I highly suggest you do! Lots of fun, creative projects.

The only modification I made to the pattern was to leave off the felted fringe around the bottom edge of the rim---I thought the color of the bowl should be the main focus since the color is so brilliant, and that the fringe would detract and not look great in this color.

Of course, I had to get a cold right before I'm going to spend a couple of days at The Madrona Fiber Arts Winter Retreat later this week. (I'm sure my fellow retreat class members are going to LOVE having me around.....with my blankie and box of tissues in tow!) Not to mention taking an all day class when I feel like crap. Hopefully a couple of days will make a difference. Besides, the registration was a little too pricey to cancel the class!

I'm going to have fun if it kills me!

>^oo^< >^--^<

Happy New Year...and more felting!

Happy 2007 to everyone! Hope you all had fun ringing in the New Year in your own way. I spent a quiet evening at home with hubby and the minions on New Year's Eve, which was fine with me!

Had fun working on a few little fun projects between Christmas and New Year. I loved the felted mini-baskets I made a couple of months ago so much, I'm making more in larger sizes to see if they come out as well as the tiny ones. Made this one in "manly" colors for my hubby, which I think came out pretty. He put it on his desk at work with candy in it. I again used the Paton's SWS soy/wool blend, which felts up beautifully and very solid.

For size comparison, this basket is the equivalent of one size larger than the original, business-card-sized basket. In fact, the original mini-basket nests into this slightly larger one perfectly. I'm going to increase the size again on the next one, to see if the walls of the basket hold up in a larger size with the way it is constructed.

I also knitted these hot pads, which are from a free pattern on Knitpicks called "Hot out of the Oven." I used the yarn suggested in the pattern, which is Wool of the Andes Bulky. I also used the color shown in the pattern, called "spumoni." (It really does look like spumoni ice cream...).

These were very quick to knit, but I'm not real pleased with the way this yarn felted up. If you look closely at the square hot pad, you can see the lines where there were decreases on either side. I felted these for about 1-1/2 hours, and this was the tightest it was going to get. It is actually more noticeable in the photos than it looks in person, so no big deal---they are only hot pads, after all! I do think they are cute and funky, though, so I will probably make another set and see if they turn out differently.

I also worked on a moebius bowl that has been lurking as a UFO in my knitting basket since last April. I have finished all but cutting and applying the fringe, and then it will be felted as well. It is knit from some beautiful Fleece Artist yarn in a bright turquoise-blue/green blend, which I'm hoping will retain some of it's vibrant color when felted. Don't have a picture of the basket yet, because right now it looks kind of like a really large, floppy hat with twisted brim---not a very good subject for picture-taking in it's current state!

>^..^< >^..^<

It's finished felting day!

I've been having fun with felting for the past week, and now I'm finally posting the pictures....

Here is my first booga bag for Norovember. I actually finished in November, but didn't get around to the picture-taking until the weekend.

I really like how the colors turned out, but I'm not so sure I like Kureyon for felting bags of any substance. It is a yarn that has thick and thin areas, and it is not a very "solid" or thick felt. The bottom is a bit too soft to hold up solidly with contents inside, so I bought a piece of plastic cross-stitch-type sheet, cut to fit inside the bottom of the bag, and it's now much sturdier and holds contents without bowing out on the bottom. Normally I would just double the yarn, but with the beautiful striping pattern of the Kureyon, that isn't possible without ruining the effect. I love the color effects, but will probably reserve felting this yarn for smaller bags and other felted projects.

While in Victoria, BC last weekend, I bought a skein of Paton's SWS, which is a wool/soy blend. I saw a felted sample in the shop I visited there, and it looked so lovely felted. The variegated colors blend softly into one another, and it felts up very thick and sturdy, with a nice little "bumpy" textured effect.

I knit two mini-bags from a pattern called "Special Companions," a pattern available for free on KnitKit.com. They are a super-quick knit, so I came home from my weekend away with two bags done and ready for felting!

I made a felted bag previously from this designer (Janet Scanlon) called "My Little Companion," which I absolutely love and use constantly. (If you haven't tried any of Janet's patterns for felted bags, you really should try one----the patterns are well-written and the bags are well-structured and come out beautifully!)

I made these from one skein of the 'geranium' colorway, and had plenty left over for the handles with some extra to spare!

The bag on the right is shown without the handles applied yet. They look cute either way, but I love them with the handles, as they look like an exact miniature of my larger bag. I placed business cards inside so you can see the approximate size scale.

After felting and while still wet, it is easy to slightly change the shape of the bag before drying, so it can be molded into more of a round, basket-type shape as well. The top edge felts with the slight edge-curl of the stockinette stitch still intact, giving it the look of an I-cord rim.

I loved these little bags so much when they were finished, that I bought some more SWS in other colors to make some more. This yarn is less than $6 per skein at Michael's, and easily makes two bags, making the bags a cute and inexpensive project. I think they will make great gifts, or even holders for other gifts. I'm going to try making some in slightly larger sizes to see how they turn out. I would have never known that a wool/soy blend would felt if I hadn't seen the sample in the yarn store!

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It was such a lovely weekend in Victoria, until.....

It was such a lovely and relaxing weekend in Victoria, BC. Here was the view of the inner harbour from our room window...

And here is the fun and delicious gift that was waiting for us in our room when we arrived....

The large teacup is made of chocolate and is filled with chocolates and dried fruits. The small cups are chocolates as well. In the center is a canister of the Afternoon Tea Blend served in The Empress Tea Room.

We had such a nice time...We relaxed, had a sumptuous Thanksgiving meal in the hotel's restaurant, toured around town, and had an absolutely beautiful room. I also visited a great yarn store, Beehive Wool Shop, where I bought some new yarns for a couple of new projects. I even had lots of time to knit happily, while sitting in a comfy armchair in our room with a view of the harbour.

On Friday while driving around the area, we spotted a little tea room and decided to stop in. The shop was run by a charming Scottish woman, and we had the best afternoon tea EVER!

The rest of the weekend continued this way until it was time to return home on Sunday. That's when THIS showed up!

It even started to snow in town in Victoria, which is really unusual! This is a view from the car window on I-5 around Bellingham, WA. Very beautiful to look at, but it was an absolutely treacherous, 2-day trip home. A trip that ordinarily takes about 5 hours, including border crossing and ferry crossing, took us two full days!

Talk about terrifying! Cars were off the road right and left on both days. The highway itself was sheets of hardened ice and snow, with a strong wind blowing. Somehow, we must have taken a wrong turn and ended up in Siberia! There was over a foot of snow in our travel area over the two days we were trying to get home.

The first day of travel, we got across on the ferry, then drove to somewhere approaching the border, where we were stuck for hours. We finally gave up and thankfully found a hotel not too far from our travel route. We checked in, starving and exhausted after over 7 hours creeping over just a few miles. Here's a view from our hotel window the next morning....

We then set out on the road again, and had a fairly easy drive to the Canadian border. The Canadians were well-prepared and all of the roads were plowed and sanded. After the border, the rest of the trip was a real white-knuckler! I-5 south of the border was even more treacherous than the roads the day before. The roads had not been plowed or sanded for hours. We crept along and held our breath, and finally made it home safe in about 6 hours (usually a 2 hour trip from the border). We didn't even stop for food or a break---we just wanted to get home in one piece! Here's a view from the car window on the second travel day...

For those of you from a snowy climate area, this may seem overly-dramatized. However, conditions like this are rare in this area, and for some reason, they are never prepared. The coniditions have been so icy, some say the worst they've ever seen. I'm grew up in a southern climate myself, so I am never too happy when they say the "S word" on the weather forecasts. But this last couple of days has had even long-term snow veterans feeling a little shell-shocked!

As I watched the news last night, finally snuggled safely at home, I saw that people sat on the icy roads in gridlock for up to 8-10 hours in the evening after we arrived home, even overnight, trying to get home! Many ran out of gas in the gridlock and had to abandon their cars and walk home! Even the Metro buses pulled over and told riders that they could go no further and the riders were on their own!! Yikes! I much prefer less adventurous times around here, weather-wise!

I'm also a little worried about my dear husband----he needed to go to work this morning. It took him a couple of hours, but he got there safely. I'm just hoping he can get back home again this evening after the ice freezes over on the roads again---it's supposed to be in the teens again tonight!

The funny part of this whole adventure is, I never, never, never travel on Thanksgiving weekends because of all of the crowds and bad travel conditions. But just this once we thought we would go ahead, since the certificate for our room would expire December 1st, and we really needed a relaxing weekend away...

Let's just say my policy of not traveling over the Thanksgiving will resume, effective immediately! It was SUCH a nice weekend overall---a little rainy and chilly, but we had a really nice time overall. But I think I produced enough stress hormones on that drive home to overcome any relaxation gained over the weekend. I can live without another road trip like that for a very long time!

And I was worried about it being a little too rainy last weekend......silly me! Today sounds like a perfect day for staying home and working on my knitting projects! I've already felted my booga bag for Norovember this morning, and I'm going to felt two little mini-bags I knit while in Victoria later today. Here's a picture of my happy little booga bag drying in the window...

Have a happy, warm and dry day, everyone! Hope you can curl up in a nice, cozy spot and knit contentedly----that's what I'll be doing, for sure!

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