OK, so my dear dear friend has been complaining LOUDLY that she does not own any of my knitting handiwork, and while I am so very flattered that she takes an interest in my work, that's an awful lot of pressure to put on a person! She wants something she can show off to other people, so I needed to make her something that I knew she would like plus that I would feel comfortable with her showing off. I figured felted purse was the way to go. But what colour? Just one colour or do I mix it up? I just finished a really cool one for my aunt that is black with a dark green stripe at the top and a green handle (ok, it was a necessary design feature...I ran out of the black, the point is it looks really great. I'd show you pics, but they didn't turn out). Then I thought, no. I will design her a bag that is stunning! I'll...I'll...knit a picture in it! Ok, maybe those of you already skilled in picture knitting (I used
Intarsia method) don't see this as a big deal...but it's my first time! So I, being a chronic over-acheiver, decided I would
design it myself. So I grabbed my
knitting journal (yup, I bought the S'nB journal, no notebooks for me!) and started to do
math to figure out where to centre my design, and mapped out a butterfly. I chose my colours and cast on! I was on my way to a knitting triumph for sure!
Here's what it looked like pre-felting:
You can kind of see the design, after felting my plan was to embroider the butterfly's body and maybe go around the edges too...at this stage it looks like a dancing plucked chicken.
So I felted it, it looked pretty good. But I thought it needed to be a bit tighter, so I threw it back in for another go in the washing machine...and got distracted. By my children and their ever-present NEEDS! Here is the results, embroidery and all:
It looks great, even if I do say so myself...however, notice how, um, squat the butterfly looks? That's right ladies and gentlemen, this purse is damn small! Width wise, we're ok, but height wise, even my little wallet is too big. The 2nd wash was just too long. Sorry Janet, I promise you'll get a bag, but I can't give you this useless thing. I'll pay closer attention next time, I swear.
Meanwhile, Grace likes it a lot:
It holds her things quite well, a book and a
Klapperwurm, and now she is strutting around with it on her arm and her juice cup is in it too.
To recap: Today's lesson is "Never Leave Felting Unattended". That will be all.
3 comments:
I LOVE THE BAG! What a genius design. In the pre-felted stage, I thought, "What is going on? That's not a butterfly."
And then, then you put his little body on and TA-DAH! You're brilliant.
I bow to your butterfly prowess.
Henry's arch nemesis, Albert, went through both the wash and the dryer. He is now smaller than Henry. Henry is decidedly happy about this. Albert, well, Albert now talks in a high-pitched voice.
What Steph said. First picture wasn't making a butterfly in my head. Once you embroidered it though, wow, butterfly.
I'm so proud to say that I had a part in teaching you to knit. Okay, Robyn gets most of the credit, but it was my idea!
Yup, I owe my knitting to you and Robyn...and that ducky hat I got her to knit for Grace. Once I saw the finished product, I said to myself "I HAVE to learn how to do that!!"
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