Monday, November 12, 2007

Latest project


I am knitting this bag (a modified Sophie) for a friend who has done a lot of nice things for me. (My Thai Lime and Chile Spiced peanuts supplier.) She wanted "naturals" for the color, but I couldn't resist adding a hint of color. The lighter brown/butterscotch is from Ely, and the darker brown from Wooly Bear. The stripe that looks rather pink in this picture, is more of a brick color, and is Ely overdyed with raspberry dye. The maroon color is Wooly Bear overdyed with cyclamen, garnet and a touch of mulberry. It looks huge, but it will felt down to a nice sized bag. I hope.
I made the mistake of setting this down to tend to something. When will I ever learn? I can't just set things down, I have to put them away. Mom got hold of it and unraveled about 5 rows completely, and I had to unravel about another 5 to get to a good row with clean stitches. Urgh! I keep telling myself, you like knitting, you like knitting, so this just gives yourself more opportunity to knit. Yeah, not really working.
(Remember, scroll down for details on the contest, you still have time to enter.)

6 comments:

CeltiaSkye said...

I have a two year old son and a dozen cats, so I also have to remember to put things away rather than just putting them down.

The bag is lovely. Is the yarn alpaca? I've done felting before but only with wool. What sort of dyes do you use?

cornbread hell said...

i foresee a new hobby for your mom...got any knitted items you'd just as soon have the yarn from?

ok, question: 'splain this "felting" to me? i mean, the bag looks great as it is.

Unknown said...

That's beautiful. Wooly Bear and Ely - excellent names.

I meant to tell you that the "vocabulary" post has to be among my all time favorites.

rilera said...

I love the colors you are using for this bag! Beautiful!

Annie said...

Sherri, yes, the yarn is handspun alpaca from my boys. Alpaca felts beautifully. I use Gaywool dyes.

Rick, I actually have several skeins and balls of yarn for Mom. She likes to wind and unwind them. Maybe it is like dog training, you're not supposed to give your dog a shoe as a chew toy because he can't differentiate between the shoe he is allowed to chew on and the one he is not allowed to chew on. Did I just compare my mom to a dog?

Thanks Flinty and Robyn!

Elaine said...

I love the bag too. In answer to why felt, cornbread, if you felt it, you don't have to line it (which for me is an enormous win). Knitted purses really have to be either lined or felted or they stretch out badly from the weight of the stuff you throw in and also the pens and pencils and things like that poke out of unlined unfelted bags. Also, felting gives a different look which is very pretty.

I have to say, I am generally a lurker but your comments about your mother's vocabulary has brought me out from the shadows. How well I understand - my thoughts are with you. We went through AD with my mother-in-law at the same time my father was dying. Her mind was deteriorating while his body was - it was difficult to know which was more awful. They died a few months apart. My mother is now starting to show the first signs - she tells me the same things over and over again and forgets people's names easily. I try not to say "yes, you told me", or get impatient (I phone her every night). She is still living independently.

I also wanted to tell you how gloriously beautiful your Polypay looks in the shades of purple - my very favorites! Just beautiful! Makes me want to try my hand at dying. Hmmm - like I need a new hobby.