Yoga Mat Bag, FO

Yoga Mat Bag from Last Minute Knitted Gifts is done. It's just about dry. It came out way too long for the yoga mat which is hiding inside and only come up to the top end of the Kureyon. It will work well for a very tall yoga practitioner. The areas that I stranded pulled in a bit and the Kureyon did not felt as much as the Cascade giving it a bit of the "boa constrictor that swallowed a meal" look. The top bells out a bit. This happened to the one other bag I felted in the machine. Anyone know why that happens and how to prevent it?
I made this for someone who actually does yoga, but don't know if I will actually gift it since it seems too big. Maybe with a bit of surgery...? My yoga practice so far has only progressed to watching one video, but hey, I have the mat so who knows? I guess I could use it to store my yardsticks or if I ever take up golf....

The bottom of the bag is very clever. The extra rows give it a nice edge and alternating K2tog and SSK decreases pretty much hide shaping after the felting is done.
A new technique for me was knitting the icord edging along the strap. It was very easy and well explained in the pattern and gives the edge of the strap a nice smooth, firm edge.




I found some cute Maneki Neko ceramic beads at Creations by You. They were a bit big, so I made them into stitch markers for larger size needles.

Sometimes I just want to knit stockinette

I find myself reminiscing about old Honolulu at times. It's all relative about what is old. This view of downtown Honolulu illustrates my point. The building boom has created many new skyscrapers in downtown. They are mostly expensive, but no doubt have fabulous views. None of it looks "Hawaiian" to me. Sigh.

I started Minimalist Cardigan from the new Interweave Knits. I tried to talk myself into believing I had enough yarn, but no amount of positive thinking can change 8 balls into 12 balls no matter how much I want it to be, so I better stop now. The Cascade Key Largo I got from Opal is very nice to knit and in my favorite color, indigo blue. I wonder what else it wants to be? I hope it's stockinette!


Yoga Mat Bag from Last Minute Knitted gifts is miles and miles of mindless stockinette. It was something I needed. The Kureyon left over from Kim's Rosedale is very festive. The rule was not to buy more yarn so I mixed it with some Cascade 220, but alas, I've run out of orange for the strap. I hope the two yarns felt at the same rate, or it will be a very interesting bag! I've avoiding going to Ben Franklin to see if there is more orange. I had good intentions of not buying more yarn. I toyed with the idea of using a rope strap with grommets, but I'm not sure. I will let it marinate a bit.

My local Goodwill produced a great stand (?candle holder) for the latest needle felted Totoro pincushion. I'm stuck on the idea of gluing it in. As a rule I don't like to glue anything no matter how fun a hot glue gun is. I'm also trying to decide if I should put some silk ribbon leaves around it.

Monkey Socks, FO

My Summer of Socks lone pair is finally done!

Pattern: Moneky Socks by Cookie A
Yarn: Trekking XXL, color 77, a present(yay!)
Needles: Knitpicks, size 1

Trekking is finer and not sproingy like Koigu. It seemed a bit splitty, so the very sharp knitpicks came in handy. I loved the color shading and the final product. The pattern is very easy to follow and thankfully easy on the lace-phobic I've become.

The grey Totoro's really wanted to be in the picture, as they feel entitled to equal time to the blues.

Now, what for Project Spectrum orange, brown, purple? Do I cheat like last color and post flowers? Hmmm.

Totoro gets Needle Felted

Well here it is, my first needle felting project after Howard the Hedgehog's eyes...Totoro pincushion.
A while back I was obsessed with pincushions. In Hawaii, the humidity causes pins to rust so what to stuff them with was an issue. I heard of using human hair and actually got one in pincushion exchange. I ended up using a lot of fiberfill which actually works okay. I read it dulled the pins, though. Then my sister sent me a bunch of cleaned, carded wool and that was my favorite. She also sent me a kit where the roving is lumped into balls and tied in a pantyhose, then felted in the machine. I made a bunch of these balls and used one of them for the base of my pincushion.
I covered the ball with some lovely wool/silk roving that Opal gave me, then used bits of yarn and roving to make the rest. I haven't found a piece of foam to try my hand at freeform, 3-D needel felting, but hope to work up to some like sildeth's little gems.
The little lacquer box held a pincushion that I sacrificed as it was not stuffed enough.