Friday, April 11, 2008

Felt Friday

Debby and I felted our Noni Bags today, at the same time, for moral support! (Our first felting projects ever!)

Pre-felting, my Noni bag was 24" long. The circular ends were 8" across. Here's a link to a couple of pictures I posted last month:

Today, I got set up by the washing machine with my directions, tape measure, scissors, fishing line and needle for sewing up the opening, etc., and mobile for chatting with Debby. Well, Bandit was *very* interested in what was happening, rubbed around my ankles for awhile and then decided that he *had* to get more involved. He climbed up beside the washing machine, wormed his way around the lid and onto the back...and then *fell* in! I was able to quickly snap a pic with the mobile! Thankfully, I had the agitation paused and my bag was out of the water while I was sewing it up. But there was cat hair in my felting water, so I had to drain that out and start again. Although he looks a bit pissy here as he was just surprised by the fall, he actually stayed in the tub for several minutes, apparently rather entertained by things. (He is known for being a particularly weird cat.)
Anyway, after that distraction, I got things going again with the felting. After felting, it measures roughly 16" long and the circular ends are 6" across. The top where the opening is, is a little longer than the bottom, but I don't think I can do much about that. It's probably close enough. I think it's because of the ends I wove in along the edges making it a little bulkier.
An end view.
Side view.
Leaning tower of Noni Bag. You can see how the open side is a little longer so it leans rather than standing up straight. I'm still fussing over the edges of the opening and getting them a little smoother.
I hope to get to someplace like JoAnn's soon to pick out a lining fabric and handles. I need some buttons for the secret gift project too. Maybe this weekend...

And, I've done yet another wrist warmer...Yes, I'm signed up for the 'Fingerless Glove Fanatics' group on Ravelry! I will soon need to join Fingerless Glove Knitter's Anonymous.

So, I was leafing through the Knitting New Mittens and Gloves book some more and realized that the pattern named Gothic called for Rowan Kid Classic which I just happened to have 1 ball of in the stash. Here's the first one:
I really need to redo my nail polish if I'm going to be doing all this hand modeling ;)

I have some sequin thingys I'll sew in the 'diamond' bit. I just haven't gotten to it yet. I'll do the sewing all at once when I finish the mate that I'm already started on. I think this will benefit from a little blocking, but again, I'll wait 'til I have the second one done.

Thank you for the comments on the Branching Out in variegated yarn. Since no one seemed too bothered by the yarn/pattern combo, I've continued to work on it (it's at about 15" long) and will keep you posted on how it turns out.

4 comments:

belaybunny said...

I do like your noni bag, I think it looks great. I didn't notice the difference in size!! And putting in a fabric lining will be the ideal chance to practise your sewing ;) I like the wristwarmer too, I need more of them cos it's still cold here. And aaaah, what lovely photos of the dogs.

Kristen said...

Haha! Did Bandit come out with one of those "I meant to do that" looks on his face to preserve his dignity?
The watermelon Noni bag is looking good!

Anonymous said...

Great to see the Noni bag at last and looking lovely too!!

knitseashore said...

Poor Bandit! I hope he dried off all right.

Thank you for doing the felting with me. It was so much fun. I'm sorry I had to sign off when I did, but thankfully we were able to do the hard parts together. Your bag looks great.