Fall Felted Bag, Contest #2

I love a contest. However, I’m practicing some rebellion skills here, as the sole hostess knows she’s my pal, so she’s getting NOTHING for #1, even if it does disqualify me. I’ve picked out the pattern and know what colors I’m using, and that’s the only hint she’s getting.

As for #2, well, the same hostess noted that I cheated and picked people I already knew for the answers to contest #1, so… Michelle and I remain as in touch as her crazy life allows!

I’m sure I’ve somehow cheated today, but whatever…

Felted Bag Contest

There’s a contest, so here’s my “entry.”

1. What is your favorite yarn for felting, and why?

Grins. Regular readers can answer that. Patons SWS, because it felts quickly and beautifully, comes in great colors, and is a soy-wool blend.

2. Name one person in the swap who is not from the U.S. and tell us where they are from, and link to their blog.

Chrissie, Singapore

3. Find one person in the swap who has a dog, and let us know the name of their dog(s) and link to their blog.

Michelle has Murphy and Chewy!

4. Find one person in the swap who has a child or grandchild and link to their blog.

Mary has children and grandchildren. (Funny how that works, isn’t it?)

5. And finally, tell us if you like October or November more, and why!

October holds all kinds of goodness. The dear Mugsy has a birthday. One of my brother inlaws has a birthday. Our anniversary is in October. Anne’s birthday is in October. Love those changing leaves! It’s cool, but not COLD yet, for the most part.

Fall Felted Bag Questionnaire

How long have you been knitting or crocheting? How did you learn? or from whom?

Well, we’re up to about nine months right now of serious knitting. I learned as a youngster, but never did a single project, save a dog blanket that was too small for any of our dogs. Anne piqued my interest last Thanksgiving, and the rest is history.

What was your first felted object, and why did you decide to try felting?

My felted needle case. You can see my first felting projects (and Mugsy) here.

What are your favorite colors? Any you hate?

I’d love to go back and see how this changes from one questionnaire to another, but I really don’t have time right now. At this moment, I’m blue, so a sharp turquoise or a Williamsburg blue would be my favorite. (Sniff. Dang. I’m such an emotional sap.)

In general, reds, pinks, blues, greens, browns, teals… Heck, let’s just say anything but orange and road sign yellow, okay?

What are your favorite styles\types of bags? (Long straps? Short handles? Handbags? Totes? Embellished? Plain? Include links to patterns or photos if you’d like – give your pal an idea of what you enjoy!)

Oh my. For daily use, a wee handbag, with a strap just short enough to shove my shoulder through, but for totes, anything goes! If you peruse my blog, you’ll see quite an assortment. I’d say the one thing they all have in common is that they’re colorful. (By the way, my Booga, which turned out to be smaller than I thought and WAY too orange is now enjoying life in Alaska, with Anne’s fabulous mom, who sincerely liked it!) Basically, I like wee bags for regular and out on the town use, and big bags of any shape for toting projects and more around.

What handbag or bag are you carrying today? Do you use a separate bag to carry your knitting?

I’m still carrying my Sidekick. I used my bag from the first exchange to carry my books and knitting to the beach, and it’s perfect for my baby blankie in progress at the moment. I also have my new Total Tote, and that’s loaded with my next sock project, ready for wherever I ride next.

What other things do you enjoy knitting or crocheting?

Socks. Small projects. I just found a sweater I want to do though, and while I’m not very far along, I’m enjoying the baby blanket I just started.

What sort of needles do you enjoy working with? (straights vs circs, bamboo vs aluminum)

Metal circs., although it depends on the project. I don’t mind dpns at all, but they too must be metal. I do use my Bryspun straights for dishcloths though. No bamboo or plastic. Snap, crackle, pop!

What’s one project you’ve not yet tried but are dying to make?

Felted bag or otherwise? Bag, I want to do the B4 bag, but have to get a better grip on bobbles first. Then there’s the Bar Harbor Shell bag… Projects in general? I have several sweaters, a yoga mat bag (or is that a bag?), a baby kimono, and so much more.

What’s one yarn you’ve not yet tried but are dying to work with?

Again, felting or otherwise? Felting, my life won’t be complete until I try Malabrigo. Otherwise? Bamboozle is my big desire at the moment, but check my blog, because I’m likely to buy some post-haste.

What other hobbies do you have? Do you spin? Sew? Garden?

Yoga, stamping, scrapbooking, my dogs… I do not spin and have no inclination. I wish I could sew, but Anne won’t stay long enough to teach me. I used to garden, but my back doesn’t like the bending and such.

Besides yarn, do you collect anything?

Roosters. Bags. Stitchmarkers…

What kind of goodies do you enjoy? Sweets? Salty? Anything you hate or are allergic to?

I’m much more inclined towards sweet than salty. I don’t care for hard candies, except for mints. And I mean mint mints.

Do you have any kiddos? (Furry kind count!)

Indeed, there’s Mugsy the Jack Russell Terror, aka: the Crup, and Fred the Basset Hound. Our home revolves around keeping the princes happy.

What kind of project best personifies you and why?

As cheesy as it sounds, a sock. I love diversity, and knitted socks definitely personify diversity. They’re portable, adaptable, functional and sometimes warm and cute. (Hey, I have my moments!)

What is your favorite part of Autumn? You can also share a special Autumn memory if you’d prefer!

Well, as each season arrives, it is my favorite, but Autumn means cooler weather, beautiful leaves, more walks with Mugsy, and this year, our 10th anniversary. There are also lots of birthdays and anniversaries for friends and family, and that’s special too. I love pumpkin and fresh cranberries, and they’re much easier to find in fall and winter…

Tell us 3 things you would do if you won 10 million dollars in the lottery.

Just three? Well, there’s the somewhat standard bit about the perfect yarn shop with some friends, but I’m going to give you three new things this time, not that hanging out with my favorite knitters every day wouldn’t be heaven.

Buy a BIG farm somewhere, maybe in the Northern Neck, near my aunt and uncle’s big farm. Mark and I both love the country, and he’d be happy as a pig in poop on a tractor…

Travel. I’m talking yarn crawls with you guys, at your favorite spots, mine, and those must-sees. Nascar races galore, a knitters cruise, seeing Europe with my favorite cousin, Africa with a couple of special folks, etc.

I’d also set up a foundation for training and educating fire fighters, especially volunteers. The world is changing, and training and knowledge will keep them safe, and allow them to perform more efficiently. Mark and I both have invested a lot of time in training, both our own and in training others, and it’s something I’m passionate about.

Meme and Swapswap

Dearest Anne tagged me a while back, but was kind enough not to hit me over the head while I was on vacation. I’m also aware that I never tapped any other Rockin’ Girls for that award, but my time has been a bit thin, so forgive me, okay?

Instructions:Remove the blog in the top spot from the following list and bump everyone up one place. Then add your blog to the bottom slot:

1. Fat Chick Crafts

2. Put a Sock in it

3. Sacha’s Nation

4. The Bag Lady and the Pro

5. KnitTea

Next, select 5 people to tag: (If you’ve been tagged already, my apologies!)

1. Stacey

2. Cass

3. Holly

4. Paula

5. Sue

What were you doing 10 years ago?

Um… My serious back problems were just beginning. I felt a twinge, argued with the brand, spankin’ new personal trainer about what I should and shouldn’t be doing, given my known back issues (from my teens), but listened to Mr. Expert and pinched a nerve, again. I was also just a few weeks away from marrying my best friend, and let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you try to put the finishing touches on a wedding for 250+ of your closest friends and distant relations while on narcotic pain killers!

What were you doing one year ago?

LOL… Alzheimer’s already!? Ten years ago was easy. One year ago, not so much. Mourning the first summer vacation without Randy, my stepson. He opted to stay with his mom rather than do the beach thing with us. Ouch.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. Dark Chocolate

2. Fruit of most any sort

3. Nuts

4. Popcorn

5. Cheese

Five songs that you know all the lyrics to:

1. Amazing Grace

2. How Great Thou Art

3. Bat Out of Hell - Meatloaf (how’s that for transition?!)

4. Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond

5. Old the Good Die Young - Billy Joel

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. Open a Yarn Store/Bookstore Combo with a Coffee & Pastry Cafe attached. (Yep, that is exactly how Anne wrote it too, but friends can share a dream, right?!)

2. Sponsor a house for Habitat’s Women Build

3. Tour the world with my cousin Sherri

4. Finish College

5. Buy a house in Sedona, AZ

Five bad habits

1. I sometimes have a potty mouth. (I blame the fire service for that.)

2. I interrupt when Mark is talking.

3. I have “safe places” which means I put things away and can’t find them later.

4. I am moody. It’s not a habit, but it’s something I’d like to change.

5. I am a rotten housekeeper.

Five things you like doing:

1. Knitting

2. Blogging

3. Reading

4. Listening to music and singing along.

5. Cooking

Five things you would never wear again:

1. Those floppy, big bows Madonna inspired me to put in my hair in 1985.

2. A string bikini

3. Stirrup pants

4. A big, pouffy wedding dress or other formal gown

5. The Guess jeans with the zippers at the ankles - not that I could get into them now anyway!

Five favorite toys:

1. My Laptop

2. My clicky stitch counter

3. My Pampered Chef Food Chopper

4. My Moonlight Knitter row counter that looks like a bracelet

5. The Garmin GPS thingee

And now, more joining has happened. I don’t have a button yet for SP11, but I’m in and waiting on my match.

I’ve be remiss in noting that there’s another felted bag exchange!

Y’all know about the Colors of Tea Swap (it’s my swap; I can call it something slightly different each time if I want!) which at this moment, is still open.

Then, there’s the Vegan Pal 2 Swap, which is also still open. I can’t decide which option I want. I hate orange the color, but totally LOVE pumpkin, the food, so…??

That’s enough for now. I’m supposed to be working on the tea blog site, and I have more vacation excitement to share, and a BIG THANK YOU to make too, but… later.

The Postmistress Always…

…makes the dogs bark more than twice.

This could also be titled, why one should always get dressed, even on Saturdays. Luckily, it was the postmistress herself, and not the young man substitute. I, in my nightie and dogs in the yard… You don’t want to hear much more of THOSE details, but the postmistress left my package by a tree, as the dogs refused to come in, I couldn’t go out, and she wouldn’t believe they wouldn’t bite.

That’s the first thing I saw when I ripped open the box. I was just getting ready to paint my toes, but I can always wear something with a closed toe to the wedding, right?! A *GORGEOUS* bag, from my incredibly generous felted bag pal, whom I now know as Lia. I’ve enjoyed her blog for a while, but I was hardly sure she was my pal. Hooray! I continue to be spoiled. (Bamboo handles! Rich brown and vivid blue on the bag. Bliss!)

This is what I saw when I unzipped the bag. Yep folks, I said UNZIPPED. I can’t sew much at all, so I can only dream of such grand construction. There’s a better picture of the lining and the goodies coming, so just enjoy the show. I was so blown away by the awesome bag that I surely wasn’t expecting anything within. I just unzipped it to appreciate its largeness, and to ponder taking it instead of my Healthy Back Bag as my “purse” for the flight tomorrow, and wow! More spoiled goodness!

Here’s a peek at the lining, and more of the bag. Wonderful, yes? Between the above shot and this one, you can see that it’s a great, coordinating brown and blue paisley. I am positive I never mentioned how much I love paisley, but there it is. Squee!

The goodies. The Vogue On the Go Felting, Gloves in a Bottle moisturizer, some Tehku Pacific Jade Green Tea, hand-tied into rosettes (what a beautiful luxury!), my beloved Tofutsies yarn in a great pink colorway, and the cutest honey spoon (more on that in a bit.) I can’t wait to get home from Chicago already, so I can make some tea and take photos, so my tea swap blog readers can share the incredible beauty of ornamental teas. Again, WHAT A TREAT!

As excited as I am about the tea, you have to see a close-up of the spoon. See the bend in the middle? That’s so the spoon can perch happily and ungooily (oh, how Blogger will hate that word!) on the edge of my cup or mug! It really is a very practical, pretty honey spoon, and interestingly enough, it coordinates nicely with my favorite teapot, but that’s a post for another day, and even another blog, honestly.

Thank you, Lia. That is a most impressive swap package. You went so far above and beyond, and can serve as a model spoiler! Sure, the package was a tad late, but she stayed in touch, and I had the very distinct impression that it would be worth the wait. (Was it ever!) What truly makes Lia a great swapper is her attention to detail. She obviously read not only my questionnaire, but my blog, and not only took a stab at producing packages I would love, but went out of her way to send things she *KNEW* would delight me. (By no means am I snubbing or overlooking my other spoilers. I have had some AWESOME pals, and have received wonderful swap boxes. It’s just as I co-host more swaps, I can’t resist taking the opportunity to point out what’s so perfect about a good swapper!)

Pardon me, but I must hit publish, eat the lunch my dear hubby picked up in town, when he picked up the wedding card I forgot, and see about these toes that need some paint!

Let the record show…

All the knitterly goodness that arrived on Monday in the anonymous box was from my Felted Bag pal. I don’t even have my bag yet, but already, I’m nominating her as a super swapper. My apologies to my HSKS pal (hello? are you out there?), and to Kirstin, who is, after all, “just” a Ravenclaw prefect, not even my prefect, I think.

So, I’m feeling special. I’ve got Tibbers Sox spoiling me rotten in Sockapalooza, Michelle, the mistress of niceness sending packages just because, and now, my still anonymous bag spoiler too.

I have to tell you… I went as far as analyzing handwriting, trying to figure this out.

So, with that straightened out, I’ll share some yarn crawling results. For more details, you can see Anne’s blog and/or Amy’s blog. (They both brought cameras. I didn’t. I was more concerned with finishing my dishcloth for my pal…)

First stop - Sunday. Ben Franklin craft store in Waynesboro, VA. Not generally something to make you go ooooh, but they do have a great selection of Cascade 220, which Anne adores. I found some squooshy organic cotton to make another cloth for my hubby, and some Caron felting wool, probably to make another Squatty Sidekick. (Amy wasn’t along on that adventure.)

The cotton is Pakucho, 100% Certified Organic Cotton, made in Peru. It’s a Trendsetter’s yarn. It has a lot of information on its label, and I’m all about reading up on details, so that will be a treat when I get around to knitting with it. (No time soon; I’m in love with the Sidekick, and the Summer of Socks begins in just 8 days… wanna bet the first pair will be done on two circs!?)

The Caron Felt-It was a bargain and I loved the color - Wildflowers, the named it - so I couldn’t resist. It’s not as soft as the SWS by any means, but I really wouldn’t expect 100% wool to be so soft. It will be fun to see how yet another yarn felts up too. So, those are the sole purchases from the first stop on the Virginia Yarn crawl, but both were too good to leave behind.

Stop #2 - Tuesday, Old Town Alexandria - Knit Happens. I’ve surfed their website several times, and I think Amy probably gave it a rather thorough review. I enjoyed petting several yarns, but there was nothing in the right color in the right yarn for me, so believe it or not, I left empty-handed.

Stop #3 - Also Tuesday, The Capitol Hill store of Stitch DC. Very friendly, helpful staff. The employee went so far as to call another LYS in the area to see if they had the KA dpns I desired. (They did not, but the yarn crawl continues…) Not another Stitch location, but the competition! How sweet is that?! They had several brands of yarn I’d never seen before in person, and the first must-have was the Scarlet Fleece, hand painted not too far from me! I couldn’t resist the Wrangler colorway. I predict I’ll be hunting down more of that in the future.

I also couldn’t leave behind the Poems, even if the colorway is a bit too pastellish for my liking. That’s color #553, if you check out their color chart. However, there really wasn’t a colorway that was just to my tastes, so I just picked up something that will allow me to experiment with yet another self-striping yarn, because you know I’m on a campaign to find something that I like better than the loved-by-many-but-not-me Noro Kureyon!

Tomorrow, Anne, Ingrid and I will head to Jamestown, and do some yarn crawling in that area, and maybe hit a shop or two on our way home, if it’s not too late to visit Richmond…

For Jessi

Hmmm… Folks, I do read my comments, and when you leave an email address, I try to email you back, even if it is just to say “thanks.” That being said, sometimes, a comment answer needs a post, so here we go…

Regarding the felted bag swap:

1. Did you send your May package to your downstream swap partner?

I sure did. I’ve mailed the bag too. Please see http://cerddinen.livejournal.com

2. Did you receive a package from your upstream swap partner? If you did receive a package, did you let them know that you received it?

It is on the way! My partner was nice enough to email me a few times, and also noted that she’s a busy gal, so I wasn’t expecting extra-lots of emails and such. I will certainly email her, leave a comment on her blog and post on my own blog when the package arrives. In my book, that’s simply good swap behavior.

There’s lots more I could say on the subject, but I’m at work and need to actualy *DO* work.

I do want to thank you for your kind words about my bags. I think a lot of us are rather critical when we eye our own efforts, so it’s great to hear that positive feedback. Thank you for being so supportive and so inspiring!

Show and Tell

Well, my pal’s package has arrived, so it’s time to share the gory details. But first, a little housekeeping.

The pattern for the bag I just completed can be found here. You’ll need to sign up, but there’s no risk and only gain! They don’t flood your inbox or anything, and there are some nice patterns, with more to come.

Now, I present to you, the Four-Square Mitered Square Tote, found here. It’s a great book. I’d actually purchased it for the Market Squares Bag to make for me, but decided the mitered squares would make a great knitting bag for my pal. I had great fun choosing the colors, because I love greens and blues too. The purples, well… you know. The important thing is that my pal was pleased with the final results, including the colors I chose. My pal has yet to make a bag for herself, so at least now, she has a felted bag of her own. It’s great fun to treat someone so selfless, who enjoys giving her own knitting creations to others.

There it is, the tote, in all its finished glory. It was done in Cascade 220. The colors are a bit tricky, as Cascade’s labels feature numbers, not names. The important thing to note is that while the pattern called for only 107 yards of all colors except the main color - the dark wine/purple/whatever, of which it called for 114 yds. - I used up dang near all of every skein. I wasn’t familiar with the yarn they used for the sample in the book, and felting being as forgiving as it is, I didn’t sweat the details, as Cascade 220 is always good for felting, right?! Um, yeah. I’ll be swatching from now on, even with felting, if for no other reason than to see how the yarn fulls. Jenny - my pal - can tell you, there’s like a yard of the purple left, as I sent it along in case a handle needs reinforcing two years from now or something.

That’s what one panel looked like pre-felting. In case you need a point of reference, it is oozing over and around my desk chair’s back. Before felting, the panel was approximately 19 inches by 18 inches. After felting, it was roughly 13″ X 12″. My husband was terrified it wouldn’t felt small enough to be practical as a knitting tote. Silly man. A few minutes later, he was helping me pull and tug it into shape, although I will admit that I felted the body of the bag twice. The straps, only once. Speaking of straps, I should note that the original pattern had them all one color. Um… I wouldn’t have had enough yarn. Seriously. I counted the lavender stitches in the handles and the dark stitches in the gusset, and I would have come up short enough to see a difference.

Those are the pieces, pre-assembly. That was honestly the most stressful part for me. It was almost all garter stitch, save the stockinette handle. Yeah. No i-cord. Go figure. They changed a bit with felting of course, and that’s always a fun yet scary part of the felting process for me. What colors will soften? Will any colors take on a different character completely? (See the bronze in my most recent post. It faded into the woodwork, so to speak.) I must say, it went together faster than I though it would. I figured eight squares into two panels, a big ol’ 48″ gusset and two straps would take me a couple of evenings to seam up, but I managed it all in one evening.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a sock to finish and more housework to do before my guests of honor arrive in just FIVE days!

Better Safe Than Sorry

I’m nothing if not conservative. (That’s not a political statement though.) Would that bit of ball have been enough to do the 100 rows of lavender in the straps? Maybe, but I couldn’t take that chance. (Somebody tell my hubby I need digital scales AND the winder and swift for my birthday!) And no Anne, that’s not i-cord. I believe I would rather do 400 rows of i-cord than 400 rows of stockinette at 10 stitches wide.

The good news is that by bedtime, my felted bag pal’s gift will be knitted. Then comes the finishing and felting and such, but that’s the only picture you’ll see until it reaches my pal.

That also means that I’m casting on with the SWS tomorrow, or later tonight! Yeah!

In other knitting news, I have finally selected a pattern for my HSKS pal’s bag. The sock yarn and a pattern are on the way, so that leaves needles, stitch markers and other treats to find. The yarn for the bag too, as I cannot sew a bit, must be purchased, but I’m hoping to do that Tuesday on my mini road trip to check out the promising new-to-me yarn shop the next little village over.

See?! I’m knitting. I just can’t show you what I’m knitting. Sockem? I miss you, but we’ll be together soon. Very soon…

Thanks to all for the well-wishes for Mugsy. He’s doing well. We, however, are not. It’s no fun trying to keep even an 11+ year old Jack Russell from running and jumping. By the time the 8 weeks pass, he will think his name is “Mugsy, no. NO MUGSY!” and he will believe those words are always followed by a human grabbing his little nubby tail, or at least, lunging in that direction.

On the Outside Looking In

My mother inlaw is awesome, especially when it comes to supporting my knitting habit. She’s a bit puzzled by this “swapping thing” though. She gets that Mary won a prize, but while she sat and watched me prepare my pal’s first package for the Spring Felted Bag Exchange, she had more questions than I had answers.

Why are you sending stuff to someone you don’t know? Couldn’t she already have one of these? What if she doesn’t like this pattern? (Followed by, “I don’t, but I do like these colors…” Note to self: remember those colors for a bag at some point for MIL.)

Now, my mother inlaw is nothing if not kind and generous, so it’s not that she thinks it’s silly to send care packages. It’s that we knitters have this whole “swap thing” going, and we seem to enjoy the whole secret pal part a lot. Why is that?

For me, I swap because I tend to get in ruts, and I love that someone else will likely buy something for me I wouldn’t consider on my own. That, and I wanted to know someone else who knits besides The Yarn Family. Not that Anne isn’t the best friend a girl could have, and Tina is so like her little sister with her kind support and willingness to help a novice out, but once I realized from just reading Anne’s blog that there was a whole, vast, international community of cool knitters out there, I wanted to be a part! So, I began blogging, signed up for the most recent Knitters Treat Exchange, and the rest is history.

Now, I must return to cleaning, and making room in the study for my ever-growing stash.