On the Third Day of Christmas...

Today I felted a bag.  I knitted a small bag out of wool yarn a few days ago.  I put the wool bag in the washer this morning and let it agitate in hot water for some time.  The original size was big enough at the opening to fit my head (yes, I tried it on :D).  It was about twelve inches tall and eight inches across.  Now, it's about seven by seven inches. 

The bag is very stiff.  It's weird to have knitted something that is now so stiff and sturdy. 

It can even stand up on its own!  :D

As you can see, the bag was very hairy and fuzzy.  It kind of reminded me of Sulley from Monsters Inc. 

"Kitty!"

To keep the locals from thinking that I was carrying a big blue behemoth, I decided that the bag needed a haircut.  ;)
This is the hairy mass left from the shearing. 

 I machine-stitched a leftover strap from a previous project. 

I also added a zipper. 

At this point, I decided that the bag needed some pizzazz,  '90s style.  Enter the pin craze!

This beauty came from a discovery on the sidewalk pavement one day up at campus.  I was walking along and suddenly I was like, "Is that the TARDIS?!"  It was awesome.  :D

This next one is an American Girl retired pin.  It's my homage to my passion for the theater. :) 

This one I got from American Life League about four years ago. 

The Peanuts are a personal favorite.  :)

I hope that none of the pins will fall off while I use the bag.  It happened to me once and now I'm afraid that I will lose one of them.  Especially the TARDIS one.  ;)

In other knitting news, I am working on a sock. 

I have a problem though.  That bit of yarn that you see?  Yeah, that's the end of the skein.  Already.  :/  Usually I can make one skein of Patons sock yarn last for one sock.  Oh well.  I'm not about to rip it out, so I'll probably buy another skein. 

I'm also working on some new legwarmers that will actually fit this time around.  They are going to be made from colorful leftover wooly yarns in a striped pattern.  I love striped patterns.  I know that they are quite simple, but something about them makes my lil' knitted heart go pitter-pat.  :D

God bless!

On the Second Day of Christmas...

Well, it's the second day of Christmas!  We woke up this morning to six inches of beautiful crisp snow.  We haven't had a snow like this for at least two winters (I think).    

My mom mentioned that having snow today goes with this song.  :) Today is the feast of St. Stephen, and the snow is indeed crisp and even.  

 Of course I had to take a picture of some snowy wool.  :)

Have a blessed day!

Labelled.

Sometimes a skein of wool yarn is labelled "virgin wool," implying that the skein was made from the first shearing of a sheep.  The first shearing is considered the best because it is the softest.

If this is true and factual, then I ask you, what in the world is this?

Encoded Scarves are the Best

Today I went to the local craft store to buy some white wool for my Doctor Who companion scarf.  You see, earlier this month I finished my version of the Fourth Doctor's scarf for a friend of mine.  Here is a link to the picture of the original:  http://www.doctorwhoscarf.com/photos/photo1e.jpg.  Please pay no mind to the strange look the Doctor has on his face. ;)

For some reason, the plum colored yarn appears indigo. Gr.

"DOC"

I couldn't find three of the seven colors I needed at the store, but I made it anyway.  The scarf ended up being over eight feet long.  Now I have leftover yarn, the best part of any project!  I decided to make my own mini version of the scarf by using these leftover bits.  But this is no ordinary scarf!
I have discovered in some knitting books that it is possible to knit dates and messages into scarves.
Let me explain.  The code itself is a relatively simple one.  I made 1 stand for A, 2 stand for B, 3 stand for C, and so on. In the scarf, the garter stitch pattern that I use forms ridges or rows.  The number of ridges per stripe stands for a letter. If you count the number of the first purple stripe-4 ridges-that means that the first letter is D.  The second stripe has 15 ridges, so the second letter is O.  The white stripe is only 3 ridges wide.  Does this make sense?  Eventually the scarf will read, "Doctor Whos (no apostrophe) Companion." :)
Pretty cool, eh?