green

Completed: May, 2004
Brown Sheep, Lamb’s Pride Bulky / 85% wool, 15% mohair
Color Nos. M97 - rust [4 skeins]; M14 - sunburst gold [1 skein]
Trendsetter, Flora / 100% Polyester
Color No. 608 - Sunburst [1 ball]
Needles: 13 (11 for the handles)
Stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches

I’d first seen this pattern when browsing at the Alamitos Bay Yarn Company in Long Beach (which is a really nice yarn shop–good selection, reasonably priced, and terrific staff. If they were located closer to me, I’d be there all the time). They had a sample bag on display, and it looked like a nice, simple first felting project.

The pattern is from Fiber Trends, and originally called for a single color wool yarn plus some novelty yarn to knit in for decoration, but I ended up making a two-tone bag instead.

The bag body is knit in the round as a big tube, which makes this a really simple bag to knit. There’s a small bit of seaming at the bag bottom and for attaching the handles, but that’s about it.

The handles are rather clever, too: K5, slip 4, then turn. By leaving your working end in the middle of each row like this, the next row pulls the opposite edge around so that they curl over to create a neat and strong strap. It didn’t look right or make sense to me the first few rows, but once I progressed a couple inches, I could begin to see those turned edges take shape.

Before felting, the bag body was a whopping 20″ tall x 22″ wide, and each strap was 26″ long. I’d previously done a felting test with this yarn to check its shrinkage, and found that the bag didn’t shrink in height as much as my swatch, but that’s probably due in part to a larger strip of fabric containing the novelty yarn (which doesn’t shrink as much). Post-washing dimensions were 15″ tall x 19″ wide with 24″ straps

Completed: May, 2004
Lane Borgosesia, Tapestry Borgo Wool / 100% virgin wool
Color No. 809 [yellow - 1 skein]
Trendsetters Flora / 76% Viscose; 24% Poly
Color No. 100 - black blaze [1 ball]
Cascade 220 / 100% Peruvian Highland wool
Color no. 7807 [purple - far less than 1 skein]
Needles: 10
Stockinette stitch

I’d purchased the Lane Borgosesia yarn at a big Stitches From The Heart fundraising sale earlier this year. It was sold in a bag of 10 skeins, which I split with my knitting pal, Janis. We figured we’d be able to felt something with it, and we couldn’t beat the price, it was all for a good cause, yadda yadda.

After I’d done my felting test I decided to try making something. With no real plan, I started knitting a tube. After a while, I added the Flora yarn for a splash of color, then back to the plain yellow. Then I started asking for people’s opinions. A hat was the most common suggestion, but I was afraid it would be too stiff and small. I considered
a couple different bags, but couldn’t decide without knowing what it would be used for–and I really needed to decide in advance so I could stitch up the seams prior to felting. Ugh.

Some time later I purchased a cell phone charger for my car, which gave my little project a purpose: I would make a cell phone accessory bag. I seamed off the “bottom” and the edges along the top, then planned to add a zipper after felting. I’d also read that felted fabric could be cut, so I knit up a little swatch of purple in a seed stitch to see if I could cut it into a decorative shape.

I was surprised at how well it ended up coming out. The yarn felted beautifully, the hot-pink zipper contrasts nicely with the golden yarn, and the purple flower for the zipper-pull actually works great. If I had to do it again, I think the only thing I’d change would be to make the bag opening a little wider, as I underestimated how much it would shrink. The pre-washed bag measured 9 inches tall by 9.5 inches wide; finished size, 6 inches tall by 8.25 inches wide.

Completed: April, 2004
Lion Brand Yarn / Fun Fur
100% Polyester
Color No. 205 - Sandstone [1 ball]
Needles: 10.5

I have a bright orange Levi’s denim jacket, which I love…except for the collar. The jacket is generously cut with a loose fit, and the collar has always looked relatively small and a bit twisted.

I had seen a pattern for a fuzzy collar and cuff set on Lion Brand Yarn’s Web site, so I decided to try making a collar for my jacket.

Their pattern was for crochet only, so I just knitted up a swatch that was sized to match the dimensions of my jacket’s collar. A simple whip stitch along the edges, and voila! Instant fuzzy.

Completed: April, 2004
Noro Oimochan Multi Yarn
100% wool
Color No. 3 [3 balls]
Needles: 15
Garter stitch

About two and a half years ago, I made myself another scarf from this same type of yarn in a different color. It’s one of my favorite scarves, and I recall really enjoying the process of knitting the yarn: it’s cushy and thick, and knits up quickly and smoothly.

I was looking for a particular yarn at Wildfiber and found these balls of Oimochan in the sale bin. Yay! Wasn’t completely sure about the colors, but couldn’t beat the price so I picked up a few balls. It was another quick and enjoyable knit, and will make a great late winter/early spring scarf for next year.

This scarf measures just shy of 5 ft. long, and about 4 inches wide.

Completed: April, 2004
Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille
100% cotton
Color Nos. 2342 - lime green; 2230 - orange [1 hank each]
Needles: 6
Stockinette and garter stitches

I’d first seen this pattern in the Winter 2003 issue of Interweave Knits, which
was reprinted from Weekend Knitting. It was an interesting pattern, but it wasn’t until one of
my knitting friends from work showed up with a finished flower that I thought I might be able to do one, too.

It’s actually a pretty simple pattern: you first knit each of the petals separately, then knit them together in the round. Four things I learned while making this pattern:

1. Because they’re separate pieces, it’s easy to get the petals twisted when you start on the flower center. I thought I was being careful, but ended up getting things twisted around (twice) on my first washcloth Double check the orientation before joining, and keep an eye on that during your first few rounds.
2. If you’re using the suggested Crystal Palace cotton chenille yarn and you’re a tight knitter like me, be careful not to stitch too tightly. This yarn has a tendency to break (it has NO stretch).
3. Blocking is really important for this project, especially if you’re going to give this away as a gift. I’m impatient and sometimes skip blocking on projects I don’t feel really need it (read: most of them), but drying this flower flat improves its appearance a great deal.
4. Everyone you encounter while making the petals will ask you: “What are you making? It looks like a bikini top!”

The washcloths measure about 10 inches in diameter, and paired with a nice bar of soap would make a great gift.