Works in progress, sort of

Here are some of the things I have been working on lately. The green bag was an experiment that failed. I like the shape of it (Cascade Luna yarn-fast!) but the handle doesn't work at all. The original pattern had 2 handles but I thought this would look better. It looks nice but is totally non-functional.

Home Ec Workshop sells the plastic daisy Crystal Palace needles. They are cheap, light, and fabulous. I almost like them as much as addi turbos. I bought 6 more pairs yesterday.

The orange sweater is an unfelted dog sweater. The yarn is kettle dyed--my favorite. It's too big unfelted, but I am afraid it will shrink a lot in the washer. I tend to NEVER want to make swatches.

The pink and brown sweater is for Sissy--also to be felted. It is made from Paton's Soy--which is a horrible yarn I can't recommend. The colors are beautiful, but the entire time I worked on this, my hands felt greasy. I talked to someone else who used this yarn, and she was of the same opinion--beautiful colors but feels terrible when you work with it. It also feels a little bit itchy to me.

Felted Bag for Sandy

This bag was sort of an experiment, but I like the way it turned out. I will be sending it to Sandy for her birthday (which was yesterday). It is made from Malabrigo yarn (the bright blue) and Noro kureyon. It felted beautifully in about 1 cycle. The pattern was adapted from an online pattern for a Celtic bag, but with different handles. The handles are knitted diamonds that go into a small strap with an i-cord middle. Initially, I wanted to make the handles from Noro, but I ran out of yarn 2/3 of the way through handle #2! To dry the bag, I stuffed it with plastic bags, and then sewed the top shut and handles together. I have never done that before, but it did make the top edge even. The Kureyon felts a little bit fuzzy, but it looks good.
This was knit on #9 circular needle with 1 strand. It took way to long to make!

My next project is a satchel made from Knit Picks yarn. The yarn is a nice color, but feels terrible. It is going fast though.

I like working with Malabrigo. I ordered 4 skeins from Ebay last month--everyone else was sold out of the colors I wanted.