:(This weekend, I finally finished knitting the bag I started like, 6 months ago. I really like how the rectangle pattern turned out! But I debated with myself for a long time about whether I wanted to felt it or not, and in the end decided to go for it since otherwise it'd be pretty floppy.Well, I felted it in my standard way - threw it inside a zipped pillowcase and washed it in the machine on hot with a couple pairs of T's jeans. And well...it didn't turn out quite like I'd hoped. I think the black yarn bled quite a bit into the white, and because of all the stranding in the back, the shape is pretty out of whack. I did my best to kind of stretch it back to square, but as you can see, it's still kind of wonky-looking.Before:
After:
My friend Mee pointed out that you can still see the stitches, so she thinks it's not felted enough. So I may give it another whirl, even though it will probably get a lot smaller, to the point where I'm not sure how usable it'll be. Oh well. I'll update after I try again.
The irony is, this is something I just started at Knitting Night In on Saturday. I know, I'm terrible. It's just so much more fun to start something new. Anyways, this is the wool soaker that I mentioned before. I knit it using this pattern, but as usual, I skipped the swatch guage so it turned out gigantic (if you look close, you'll see that I've already folded the waistband down too). There's a reason I never normally knit clothing. Next time (if there is a next time), I'll probably go down at least a couple needle sizes. Still, I think it's salvageable if I felt it a bit. I do really like the colors, and the stripe used up the small bit of pink yarn I had laying around. Although now I'm wishing I had more pink since I still need to add some ribbing or ruffles around the leg holes, but I'm going to call it done enough to post.Front:
Back:
I've kind of been slacking on the knitting lately, but I went to a little knitting gathering last weekend with some other moms. It was nice to have a night out, even though only a minimal amount of knitting was done, and it did kind of "recharge" me to start some new stuff. I decided to try to make a felted bag using a pattern similar to the 'squares' hat the I recently made for a friend. Pictured at left is what I've got so far. It's turning out to be a bit narrower than I thought it was going to be, so now I'm debating whether to really felt it or not. Also, it loses so much length in the felting process that it may take me a hundred years to make it long enough pre-felt. I originally was shooting for a tote bag, but I may just leave it as is, sew a lining, and slap some wood handles on it and call it a purse.
Oh, I also finally got my second dishcloth done. It looks pretty much the same as the first one, just different colors. I like the variegated yarn a bit more though. It's a little more interesting. I really like this pattern as it's really easy and mindless to knit, so it's good for doing in front of the tv. The bag I'm working on...not so much.I'm still working on finishing up the needle roll from the knit along. I don't know what my problem is, I just have to do the cables. I think I've just lost interest in it as a project.I've got the sewing bug lately and have a lot of things that I want to get started. I bought a bunch more flannel to make bibs. They had some really really cute prints at Joann the other day, and I couldn't resist. I'm hoping to get some sewing done this weekend.
I can't believe I'm going to do this, but in an effort to shame myself into finishing some of the umpteen projects I have laying around, I'm going to catalog all of the current Works in Progress that I have going. Some have been laying idle for years. This might turn into a series of posts. First up, a stuffed rhinoceros. I started this as a gift for a friend's baby. He's almost 2 now. Oops. I had a really good start, and I'm actually about 75% done. But doing all the little pieces and sewing it up just doesn't seem to appeal to me. Maybe I'll finish it in time for my next kid.
Then there's a couple pairs of booties, also intended as baby gifts for children who are definitely too big for booties. The pink ones are super close to being done. I just have to sew the soles on, and then add a button for the t-strap. It's just...the soles seem to be a big small for the top part of the shoe, and I'm annoyed/embarassed at how off the sizing is in general. And YES, I did a gauge swatch, and it still came out all wonky. The green stripey one, well, I made the one and it was enormous and I got discouraged and abandoned the other.
I feel compelled to mention that both of these booties, as well as some others that I attempted before came from this evil book, which had gorgeous pictures and made it seem like it would be so easy, and if it weren't so damn expensive, I would probably chuck it out the window or maybe set it on fire. This book is largely responsible for my hatred of following patterns. Grrr.
Next up, here's a hat that I started about 4-5 months ago for Evy. This is actually the second attempt, as the first ended up unraveled.
Here is an amigurumi bunny that I started a while back, when I first got obsessed with amigurumi. I don't know why I didn't finish this guy. He's about 90% done. Just needs another ear, 2 arms and a leg. 
This is a scarf I was making as a Christmas gift for my brother's girlfriend. I'm actually going to see her next month in California, and now I'm debating whether I should still try and finish this to give to her or just make something else entirely. Argh.
This is the dishcloth that I started a couple weeks ago. It's actually almost done (the picture's old). It's the easiest, most mindless project I've got going, which is probably why I've been working on it the most lately.
What else? Hmmm...Oh, there's the needle roll, but I won't bother posting a picture since that post is fairly recent. not to mention that nothing's changed since the last time I wrote about it. Still working on the cables...boring.Ay, I just remembered this sad project.
It's the bottom half of what was going to be a cardigan and pants set, made from a felted sweater. The problem is, after using the sleeves to make the pants above (which still need to have an elastic waistband put on), I realized that I don't have enough material left to make the sweater. And now I have the added issues of E being too big and the weather being too warm out for wool sweaters. *sigh*
Last, but not least, I have this sleeveless top that I was going to give as a gift for my mom's birthday...5 years ago. Egad. I'm also not that far from done on this one. I don't know what my problem is. Maybe I can get it done for Mother's Day this year.
I think that's actually everything for now. I have a few pairs of knee socks that need to be converted to babylegs for a friend, but I'm actually going to knock those out tonight. So all in all, not great, but not as bad as I really thought it was going to be.
All of my obsessive-compulsive behavior has paid off. I finished the main portion of the needle roll and felted it over the weekend, and I must say, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Here are the before and after pics:
I threw the pen on there to give some sense of scale, and as you can see, the felting process shrank it up quite a bit, although most of the shrinkage was in the length, not the width. It went from being approximately 24 inches long to just over 17. After I took this picture, I also stretched and pulled it a bit to get it to be more squared off in shape.Now I just have to knit the cables to stick the needles through and then sew on buttons and it's done! I'm just hoping I have enough yarn.
I'm trying really hard to stick to a project from start to finish with this Knit Along thing. But because I had to divert from the pattern, it's getting a little complicated. The needle roll so far has come out way wider than I thought (always a problem because I seem to knit very loose compared to gauge). Normally, this wouldn't bother me because this thing is supposed to be felted anyway, but now I'm starting to run out of yarn and it's not quite as long as I'd hoped. Also, my friend Mee just told me that when you felt, your piece shrinks more in length than width. Doh!! 
Anyways, here's what I have so far. I'm too anal retentive to just start tacking on whatever other yarn I have on hand. It has to follow the pattern I have in my head. Since I took the picture, I've run out of the green, so I unravelled and picked out stitches from the bottom and am adding more on that end. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens when I felt. I'm hoping to finish this main part tomorrow night when I have people over for a Knitting Night.
