guest project

Even with all my complaining about that scarf yesterday, Norma still made me a present for my birthday. This was a special project that we planned out together to celebrate my fortieth. Those of you who know me are checking your math. Yes, I turned 43 this year. The extra 8 months I took on that scarf aren't bothering me so much anymore.

I love having friends who could care less when things show up. We just enjoy knowing someone was willing to make something with their own hands - however long it takes.

Norma knit the bag and then felted it. It's huge!! -Big enough to hold a magazine with my other stuff (great for sitting in a carpool lane). The polka dots are done in tapestry wool in a stitch that escapes me at the moment. It's sort of a spider web woven pattern. I love how they're raised off the surface.

Thank you so much, Norma!

pom pom maker

Some people buy tee shirts on vacation. Some buy postcards. I bought this:

Sadly, this was my first attempt. Pathetic looking.

Round 2 worked a little better, but it was still hard to tie the center tightly. It's also still not as full as I would want.

The center of this flower is attempt number three. For this one I actually separated the 4ply wool before winding it on the pom pom maker. Can you say tedious? (This is what I'll resort to after hour 12 or so of driving to keep myself occupied.) It did turn out looking closer to a store bought pom pom, but I doubt I'll have the patience to do it again. I think the key is winding as much yarn as you need, and then adding even more. Otherwise they look pretty anemic.

I need to add a few felt leaves to this and it'll have a home on one of Ellie's jackets.

*I've seen these makers in larger sizes at Hobby Lobby since I've been home.

french knitter

This is what got me into knitting on vacation. It's a french knitter(size small). I bought this book for Ellie and was intrigued by some of the projects. An entire section is devoted to projects made with french knitters.

While this isn't knitting at its finest, I can totally see the meditative draw of doing it now. Leftover skeins of tapestry wool went into the road trip craft bag. I ran each color through the knitter until there wasn't any left. (Note: 18 inches of tapestry wool = about 1 inch of knitted tube) The book called for specific sizes on some and for those I stopped at the required length. These are still waiting to be turned into something.

These, however, just need some pins on the back and they'll look cute on Ellie's backpack. I think they'll spiff it up nicely for first grade.

(More notes: 5 petaled black eyed susan was 20 inches to start. The pink flower was about 17 inches. Sew pink heart to felt background - maybe two layers with pinked edges?)

I'm also wondering if I couldn't make even smaller tubes using crochet thread and a homemade knitter from an old thread spool with nails on one end. They might make cute necklaces or bracelets.