Monday, November 17, 2008

Ways in which I'm stupid

Well, I'm sure there are many, but let's focus on how this stupidity translates into bad knit blogging, the most potent stupidity known to knitters with connections to the innernets everywhere!

Last Sunday, I finished Inga's Haekelbeutel and was so excited to felt it. I'd never felted anything before! So I looked up instructions for machine felting on this here innernets (I'd read it all before, I just wanted a refresher before taking the plunge), gathered up my stuff, and headed up to the laundry room. I pinned it up in a pillowcase, selected a few pair of jeans to keep it company (and help with agitation in the front-loader) and set it going. Yay! Now all I had to do was pray that it felted well and shrunk up a lot, because it was SO very large and in charge, you guys were just going to laugh when you saw --

Oh.

No.

Hmmm. Yep, that's what I forgot to do. Take a picture of it before I put it into the machine so I could show before and after felting pics and you could see the dramatic difference. If there was one, you know. And, as it turns out, there was one. A big difference. Not that you'll truly appreciate the difference what with not being able to see it and all!! D'oh!!!

Well, anyway, here it is after two rounds in the washer and dryer and some shaping with the trusty steam iron (which you may notice I would use on everything if I could). I'd still like it to be a little more even, but it's terribly difficult to work with. Suggestions?


It's all thick and squishy and yummy and the stitch definition is nowhere to be seen. I still intend to line it, but I couldn't wait to start carrying it anyway!
Inga's Haekelbeutel by Inga Joana Mertens
Patons Soy Wool Stripes in Natural Navy
US size I hook

I've already purchased yarn to make a spring/summer version...

...that I will photograph before felting!!!

_____

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Y'all, I just wanted to say that I have seen the finished product in person and the photo does not really do it justice. It looks so good!

YarnThrower said...

Whoa! Love, love the bag! It is so fashionable (not that I know much about those things) and the perfect size to lug a bunch of stuff around in (assuming the chair it is hanging on is at a 1:1 scale)... So cool!

Becky G said...

Very nice looking bag, there.

Anonymous said...

Well doesn't that look just dandy? Because I'm a word nerd I must share. . . anyhow, one of my silly little obsessions is finding out how certain English surnames are actually professions long forgotten. For example, a Ware is somebody who makes pottery for cooking. Anyhow, I was reading a historical fiction book set in the Medival period and discovered that a person who makes felt (using the technique you described) is called a Fuller. As in Denise. Did you know that?