Hi. Show-n-Tell was great; the felted tea cozy are becoming darling, little homes. Terri is finished, complete with lining and a zipper; she knitted, embroidered, needle felted, and embellished with buttons. Vicki's tote has a nice vine and a variety of colorful flowers on the back. Make sure you get a look at them. I could not get my camera to work so photos will follow later as soon as I find out how to use it. Candi shared a good idea to make a gingerbread house tote for Christmas. I would like to make another one with a Japanese design, and Nora is making a cozy with a mexican design - I hope you don't mind me sharing that. Linda L. shared a beautiful book called "Embroidery for All Seasons" by Diana Lampe; she bought it at Joanne's in the ribbons section. Linda, our instructor, showed us two knit cushions we talked about last week: one was knitted and the other was felted. She also gave us instructions for it to make on our own. By the way, she mentioned to felt it in pantyhose or a knee hi stocking, and it will need to be felted 3-4 times.
This week we started the Entrelac Tote pattern. Two handouts were distributed: one for provisional cast on and the other for chained cast on. Linda talked about the different types of 100% wool yarn you can use, explained about provisional cast on, talked about the big hole you will be making on the tote for handles and making a yarn over especially the yo3 which will feel very loose and looks like it is falling down -- it will work itself out later. One suggestion she added is to tie a plastic bag on both sides of the hole so it won't close during felting; more about that when we reach that point. Next week we will learn about making the triangles in class.
Homework
Try to do the top and icord handles.
Questions & Answers
What type of cast on should we use?
Use long tail cast on to start.
How do you join a new color?
The easiest way is to make a 6 inch tail and just start knitting with the new yarn. Never tie two yarns together.
Can you mix yarn from different brands?
Yes, as long as it can be felted.
Knitting Emergency
Linda mentioned an online shop that is excellent for purchasing Cascade 220 yarn for $6.50. It is called Angelica's Yarn Store, and the owner ships out the order the same day.
Another idea: Should we put together a phone list next week? Georgia called me about setting up the triangles on the tote and I was no help, but it was nice hearing her voice and sharing what we are doing.
By the way, a few of you have noticed my pink and brown knitting tote bag. Beverly introduced it to us at our table; she has one in black and lime green. Her store, Scrapbooking, near Kmart sells it for $39.99 plus tax (Correction: The cost is $29.99; see comment 1). Diana and Linda L. have ordered one in different colors such as lavendar and sage. The tote bag has a lot of pockets and a hidden compartment; I love it.
Can't wait to see you next time. Have a good week.
5 comments:
HELP! HELP!
I have a knitting emergency of sorts!
My daughter, Lauren - is visiting from SF this weekend, and we're crafting to beat the band. One of the projects we're making is the felted (or not) pincushion.
We're using the pattern handed out in class, and with no photo to go by, I'm using my (very bad) memory of the ones shown in class to go by.
My problem is - the pattern seems incomplete. After creating a 'tube' from the 4 knitted pieces, aren't they all simply wound around one another and sewn together before felting?
The instructions don't mention sewing or coiling. It just says to 'fold tube in half' (Lengthwise or crosswise?) and then something about wrapping around the smaller folded tubes.
If the smallest tube is folded in half (crosswise), there's a big gaping hole in the center. Is this right?
Or should Lauren and I be coiling and sewing?!?
Please - someone provide an answer ASAP - we'd like to get our pincushions assembled and felted before tomorrow!
Thanks!
And thanks for mentioning the totes ($29.99, not $39.99) and the scrapbooking store. D's tote is black and lavender, L's tote is brown and spice (a very pretty red). I just work there at Scrapbook Central (not the owner or anything) - it's a great shop!
Hi. I am going by memory too. I would fold the inner rectangle in half then roll it. On the last (outer) tube, I would stitch the seam together into a circle first then fold it in half. I am not at home to look at mine, so I'll get back to you later. I can't remember if they are all stitched together individually first, but the inner tube can be rolled.
After knitting up our pieces,
Lauren and I improvised and figured our way around assembling them into coiled donut thingys. We ended up meeting with great success and after felting - the pincushions were so cute!
Thanks for the tip on longer felting time - it does take going through several wash cycles to shrink down to size.
We 'winged it', but I appreciate your response, Irene!
Lauren and I also tried needle felting for the first time. We both decorated felted bowls, then L made an adorable teeny 3-D mushroom and spotted toadstool! Lauren's gone back to SF with her felted projects to take pix and post on her blog!
I'll send along a link, if anyone is interested!
Yes, I would like to see the pix. Thanks.
Lauren's fun artsycrafty web journal (with link to her shoppe) is:
http://smartsandcrafts.com/
Her adorable felting projects appear in the post for February 27th.
The fake fungi are just over an inch tall and really adorable!
Thanks again, Irene - for maintaining such an informative knitting class blog!
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