Felt Up

I am taking on the Nicky Epstein felted bag from last year's Interweave Holiday Gifts issue. I actually have no idea whatsoever how to do intarsia. I have some books, though, that tell you how. I'll see what I can do. This is what it's supposed to look like. The big rip in the page is courtesy of Gracie.



Of course, I couldn't find the yarn that the pattern specifies. Well, that's not entirely true. I found some of it. I just didn't like it. Instead, I ordered some alpaca from Victoria. Then I decided I really wanted to use KnitPick's Wool of the Andes instead. So now I have a bag full of WotA and lots of extra Alpaca Yarn Co. Classic DK (darn!). Here's the WotA in the kitty-proof (and doggie-proof) bag, ready to go.



I even knit some of it together in the order it will go in to check how it felts. I like it. The picture makes it look a little bright, but it blends together pretty well. It needs to be felted a little more. You can still see individual stitches. The finished product will have to be washed probably three or four times in order to felt it completely.




When you do that on purpose, it's called felting (or more accurately "fulling"), but when you do it accidentally and your favorite sweater comes out sized perfectly for a doll...it's called shrinking.

I plan on casting on tonight to start this bag. We all know how that goes. It's on my list, anyways.

The Sweater Goes to England

The Sweater. The stuff of legend. I read somewhere the other day about how women in some knitting traditions would not start knitting their "betrothed" a sweater until the day the wedding date was set. This may be the origin of the sweater curse.

I no longer fear the sweater curse. Ryan loves the sweater. He wore it a lot while he was home. I had to wash it before he left (that was a lot of fun...wet hand-knit sweaters are HEAVY). He's picked out others with scary things like pockets and collars. He's not going anywhere. He knows that he's spoiled rotten. He might even get some socks if he's a good boy.

My family had to be told during Thanksgiving dinner that it was The Sweater. They hadn't even noticed. I'm assuming that is a testament to my skill and not a commentary on their powers of perception.

I think it looks pretty good!

Oh, Christmas Tree

On Black Friday (because we're crazy), we went to Lowe's and bought a Christmas tree. A fake, not pre-lit, "Grenada pine," made in China, fabulous, wonderful tree. I haven't put a tree up for the last couple of years because the cats try to climb them. I haven't been excited about Christmas for a couple of years now. I'm excited about this Christmas.


While we assembled said tree, we had a bit of an audience. They think we're stupid. They know that trees belong outside.



Here's Ryan posing in front of his "job well done." Nobody fluffs fake pine branches like my man. The funny part of this picture is the hat. It really is that cold in my house!


Ginger helps out by making sure that the tree smells good and tastes right. She gave it the thumbs up (even though she doesn't have any) and we proceeded to decorate.



The finished product...It's been up for a day and the girls have only knocked four ornaments off and tried to eat a couple branches. Let's just say we're waiting to put up any of the really breakable ornaments. Those of you who decorate your trees with distinct and uniform color schemes should probably not look too closely at the tree. You might have some kind of seizure. I'd feel bad about that.


Stay tuned for a short photo-documentary of Christmas ornaments...

Are You Gonna Finish That?

I'm a process crafter. I enjoy making the thing rather than having a finished thing. I think that this is partially to blame for my inability to finish things in a timely manner. That and my ADD and my perfectionism. There is that, too.

At any rate, shortly after I returned from Las Vegas (in August of 2005, no less) I started this quilt. The fabric had been hanging around for awhile. It was too cute to cut. I finally found stuff that went with it and decided it would look good in what is called the "Churn Dash" pattern, a traditional American patchwork pattern (because we all know how traditional I am).


I actually have two rows across done, sashing and all. I think I was trying to determine if I really liked it all together or not. I think it's supposed to be 4 X 6 blocks. I don't remember. It was 2 years ago.


It's pretty much been kicking around since then. I really ought to finish it. Just as soon as I find all the pieces, that is.


The fabric is adorable. "Life is just a bowl of cherries."



Calls dibs now, because I need another quilt like I need a hole in the head.

I Have to Go Check on My Turkeys

This is what I told the other teachers in the faculty room. I realized as I said it that I could easily be talking about either the roasting poultry or my students.

For the second year in a row, I have made Thanksgiving dinner with a foods class made up of various teenagers. Apparently, I drink heavily before making this particular decision.

I'm just kidding. It's actually a lot of fun. Just ask the turkey.


I don't know why I keep doing this. It's exhausting. It would be easier to cook for 15 teenagers than it is to cook with them. It came out pretty well, though. We torture the entire school with the smell of fabulous stuffing (cook it until it smells right) and roasting turkey. They did a great job with the pumpkin pie and I pitched in the famous raspberry swirl cream cheese pie.

It looks good anyways. Those mashed potatoes were absolutely perfect!


My favorite picture is always the aftermath. The shot of the food table after the vultures have picked the carcass clean.


We had leftovers today. That's a great thing to write in your lesson plans, by the way..."Friday: Eat leftovers."

I'm Thinking of Throwing a Little Party

The sweater is done.


Ahhhhhh.

After waiting forever for yarn. After waiting even longer for needles (I could have walked to Vietnam faster). After knitting and knitting and knitting. After blocking and waiting for pieces to dry. After re-doing the neck four times, increasing the number of stitches and the size of the needles. After ripping out both sides and re-doing them, too. After more hand-sewing than I ever like to do. It's done.

It even looks like a sweater.


Hoooray for sweaters! Now, he just has to come home and get it!

The Fourth Time is a Charm

Apparently. It took me that many to get the neckband of the sweater right.

And by right, I mean it finally fits over my head. We'll see how this goes.

Anyways, it looks like a sweater. Well, it looks like a sweater without sleeves and sides that are connected, but it has a hole for your head and shoulder seams. I guess that's something.

Next, I have to sew the sleeves in. On a good day, my hand stitching is passable. Not to mention that sleeves are a pain when you're sewing them on normal fabric (on a sewing machine...my preferred mode). This oughta be good for a laugh.

I've already mentioned to him that he doesn't ever have to wear it in public.