Some felting magic!

With my two felting projects finished Saturday night, yesterday was felting day! Even though everything is still in the process of drying I thought I would post my results as I am very excited to show everyone. Felting is magic...at least that is what my youngest son thinks :)

My tote bag before feltingand after felting

My first project was a felted tote bag. My bag although modified is based on the pattern for
Baby's Got a Brand New Big Bag by Maia. Janice inspired me to knit this bag. Janice is quite the bag lady. I just love all of her creations. As far as my modifictions for this wonderful bag go...I knit the bag as the pattern states, but with no decreases. I just knit it straight up from the bottom and I did my own striping effect. I used a mixture of Moda Dea Cartwheel - hazey and Paton's Classic Merino - new denim and denim marl. I am happy with the results. Both yarns felted very well together, but I did expect the bag to be a bit bigger. Next time I'll have to make one even bigger!!

My second felting project was the fiber trend felted clogs. I have heard and read so much about this pattern I just had to try it. I purchased the pattern at my local LYS. In fact when I went to buy it they needed to order it for me...guess that states the obvious as it must be a very popular pattern. This pattern is truely amazing. I enjoyed knitting them and I'm sure there will be more in my knitting future. Once agin I used my tried and true felting yarn Patons Classic Merino - dark grey mix and peacock. Since they did not go through the spin cycle, they are still soaking wet this morning. How long does it take for them to dry completely? Now I have to do some research to make the soles slip proof. I have some ideas, but want to check them out further first chance I get. The clogs (women's size 10) are huge before felting. You can see them next to my old pair of clogs:

before felting

after felting they look like a perfect fit!

I'm going to knit a pair for my husband sometime. He wears a men's size 13 so I can't even imagine how big they will be before felting!

Off and running...happy knitting :)

Yes, I did make another ballband!

First of all I wanted to tell you that I have been working on another project... actually two, but I'm not ready to show you just yet...sorry! The only hint I'll give you is that they both involve felting.

In the meantime I've been working on knitting up some more of my chenille yarn for washcloths. I can't believe I did it, but yes, I knit another ball band! It still is my favorite cloth after all and I thought it would be fun to see it in chenille.
I used my cotton chenille yarn from PASA yarn mill (Uxbridge, MA) along with Peaches & Cream - shaded denim. Actually I like mixing the Peaches & Cream cotton with the chenille. It gives the cloth a little more body. I'm dying to try it out. I'm totally in love with the other chenille cloths I have made. The easiest one to make is grandmother's favorite and it works and washes great. My middle guy likes my chenille hob nail cloth. I was surprised when he tried it out last week. Usually the boys could care less about my knitted cloths...so I was very glad when I noticed that he had used it and when I asked he said he liked it :)

I also experimented with one of the stitch patterns in Barbara Walker's "A Treasury of Knitting Patterns"..."Dots and Dashes". You can also find the stitch pattern here.
I used Bernat Handcrafter cotton- robins egg with the chenille. I think I should have made a border as it seems a little bit wonky. I think it will make a good wash cloth. Will be anxious to see it's shape after being washed!

Guess that's about it for now.
happy knitting :)

My new pattern board!

I thought I would share with you this nifty idea I discovered in my travels from one of my fellow knitting bloggers. I outfitted myself with the necessary ingredients to make myself this magnetic pattern board. I got the idea from Lisa. I bought a magnetic memo board at the stationery dept. at walmart. In addition I bought a roll of magnetic tape which can be found in the craft dept. Both things together cost less the $10.00. I mounted colorful orange paper to the back side of the magnetic tape since one side is sticky.
Now I can easily keep track of where I am in my pattern. I was used to using a pencil to mark the rows that were done.... this way is much better. Thanks, Lisa :)

Since today is Valentine's Day I made my boys a treat...Self Frosting Cupcakes. You can check them out here.

Happy Valentines Day :)
and Happy Knitting :)