My Felted Bag

I adapted a pattern found on knitty.com, the French Market Bag

I added a few rows, adapted a few rows to make a ridge around the base (later reinforced with stitching) added a fastening strap with magnetized clasp and pin. Image 1: before felting. Image 2, after felting with luscious yarn inside, Image 3 after stitching and embellishing, Image 4, after stitching and embellishing, shown held up.

Yah.. I ain't no lacer

At least not yet. I attempted that previously mentioned complicated lace pattern with needles too big (for my clumsy fingers) for the yarn, and after more than 40 rows found a dropped stitch raveled almost all the way down.. I did like the process, except for having to read the pattern three stitches at a time :-}

I'll try the same pattern after my wounds heal in thicker wool with needles easier to use with the yarn guage.

And maybe try a simpler lace pattern with smaller needles to use the lace weight yarn I have.
(ohhh.... another reason for shopping! Size 1 or 2 straight needles!)

Package deal

I'm doing something unusual for me. Usually I will make SOME adjustment to a pattern, whether it be changing yarn or adding a few stitches here and there (except when I'm doing a test knit for someone writing a pattern, of course) but recently I bought yarn, then downloaded a pattern specifically FOR that yarn and will be following the pattern exactly, with the same color of yarn shown and everything. I love the color, so that's reason enough not to change. I've never done lace before, at least not the old fashioned kind of knitted lace (I've done tons of crochet and sufficient drop stitch types in knitting) And the pattern seems challenging enough that I might do best to follow along!

I'm making the candle flame shawl shown here on Knit Picks
using their suggsted shimmer yarn (what's not to like about silk and baby alpaca?)

First Hand Done Dye Job

I'm making another kitty pi freom this pattern KITTY PI (yes, another one, two more to go and I'm done) and ordered some yellow yarn especially for Geisha. She's a lovely older feline residing at House Bonsai, who loves to lick men's beards. Anyway, She loves warm colors it seems and the color I ordered just isn't up to snuff, a bit too browny.
So I decided to do a bit of reasearch and dye my own. I have some Procion MX that has been sitting waiting patiently for me. So I mixed up a vinegar dye bath and proceeded. I did a mottled orange first, and LOVED the subtle shades of red-orange-yellow-pink. Then used just a bit of the leftover solution and added more yellow to make the sunshiney yellow yarn.

I'm hooked. I know the mottling is a sign of inexperience, but I confess I adore the effects. I'll post a pic of the finished felted project later, but here are the skeins while they were drying.

Serendipitous GoodWill purchase

I found a skein of 100% Virgin Wool at Good Will the other day, and bought it for 95 cents.
It was an old skein, probably produced in the fifties or sixties, based on the style of label. It was an Ombre Pattern called "Rose" and was pretty funky to look at, and a bit rough textured to work with. I decided to use it for a felting project, another of those Kitty Beds (called Kitty Pi)

I LOVE how the pattern muted and changed with the felting, and its a favorite of the Moonie cat. He's big enough you can't even see it when he's lying on it, but here's a picture of it empty.

Kitty Pi

Well, I made 3 of 4 Kitty Pi intended for the fuzzy residents of House Bonsai (See Green Tendril BLog to the right). Miss Fiona leapt into hers right off and took advantage of thePhoto op. There's also a photo of the same Pi with Kitsu Dog's tiggy toy modeling it for size. The Tiggy measures a good 7 or 8 inches, so by comparison you will realize what we all know. Fiona is a LOT of cat.

Writing

I'm getting more and more anxious for SSD to come. The money is good, but what the money will allow me to do is better. Ebay takes up so much energy and time, that I find the blog is about all my brain can handle writing these days.
Without ebay, or with only 10 or so auctions a week, And with a place I can sit comfortably for longer periods with my feet up, I can write. I have three separate stories going (book length) Sometimes when I wake up I rush to jot down new ideas, but after about 30 minutes of typing, my feet and belly begin to throb and the path to the words seems to fade.

I can take pain meds and grit my teeth and do ebay auctions, but I can't seem to concentrate or pin down the storylines when I'm takign the vicodin. The recliner will make all the difference. That and the time.. I already bought a laptop with my ebay earnings :-}

ANd I just finished a massive Ebay week (95 auctions) so the recliner is coming soon!!!!!

Until the SSD comes, I still need to do ebay to help pay expenses. I am grateful I CAN contribute, but some weeks are harder than others.

So.. IN the meantime I'll blog and write notes on the stories, and keep checking the mail.

THe hearing was in October 2005... it shouldn't be too much longer before we hear the verdict, I hope.