Wet weather, wet wool

I'm off today but since the weather is pretty WET, I decided to stay inside this afternoon and finish up a few knitting projects. They are actually finished, but just need to be felted.

Saturday afternoon, as I was leaving work I grabbed some odds and ends from the felting basket, and started the Noni Oven Mitt. I made a size small, and took her advice... in the pattern she suggests tying square knots where the stripes start and end. I usually weave in all the ends, even though it's a long process. We'll see how her method works after it's felted. So this is what the inside of the mitt looked like after I finished knitting it: Then I tied my knots, which neatened it up a little:
Certainly looks cute from the outside, doesn't it?
That oven mitt was so quick that I decided to make another one (size medium) for one of the girls' teachers. I did modify the thumb, as I didn't care for the Noni directions. Remember, knitters... a pattern is only a guideline. Do what you need to do to make it work for YOU.
I also finished the Noni Yummy Lunch bag last week, so this will go into the machine at the same time as the oven mitts. I have a feeling that the lunch bag is going to be huge. The finished size listed on the pattern is more like a felted COOLER than a lunch bag. I mean, who eats THAT MUCH for lunch? So we'll see when it comes out of the wash... it's running right now.

Another thing I have to wash is my awesome Sin City scarf. I chose a simple reversible rib stitch which was easy and quick. I was told that this yarn MUST be knit on size 8 needles, and that you need to wash/dry it so that it felts a bit. Okay, sure. So I'll try that. This is pre-wash:
The girls are just getting off the bus, and now the basement smells like wet wool. Not a great smell when you walk into the house. Maybe it will prompt them to clean the litterbox? It does sort of smell like that... to the untrained nose, that it.

And YAY! I guess I'm allowed to start something new!

I guess I felt like felting

May is always a tense month. It seems as if there are so many school things that are all scheduled around the same time... meetings, reading restaurants, sports, Brownies, Girls on the Run, teacher meetings, birthday parties, etc.


Add to that the daytime sales rep meetings that I have (it's fall buying season!) which can last 3-4 hours at a time, and a big anniversary sale that we are getting ready for. It's a bit overwhelming at times.


So I've felt a bit burnt out each evening after all of these things tugging me in different directions, and the knitting mojo has suffered. The other day I felt I needed to start something to get it going again.


I've done a LOT of felting in my 25 years of knitting. I love it because it's really pretty mindless and quick. Perfect for my current frame of mind! So I decided to break down and knit the Noni Yummy Lunchbag that's been tempting me every day for several weeks now.

I was a bit startled to find out that it takes a whopping SIX skeins of Cascade 220. That's a lot of yarn... but I broke down, because it's really adorable. And it is supposed to be naturally insulated, and I imagine it would last a LONG time.


So I dove in. I found that it was excellent practice for knitting continental, as I used my left hand for one color and my right hand for the other. I know how to knit continental, but it's not my method of choice, as I was not taught that way. I just prefer to throw my yarn. But I must say, I am QUITE the picker now, and I did a wonderful job on that section of the bag - very even tension, it looks great.