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Felted Daypack Felted Daypack before

Felted Daypack

Felted Daypack before and. . .

after.

This was a fun quick project and I love the finished bag. I used it today and it worked perfectly. Sometimes these "sling" bags can be a nuisance -- always slipping off your shoulder or getting twisted around, but not this one. It behaved beautifully! I followed the "Two Old Bags" pattern closely, but I changed the straps. I like my straps flatter, so I used the double i-cord technique from the "City Shoulder" pattern. It is actually based on a belt in Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitting Without Tears."
Of course I got everything to make it from the great guys over at ThreadBear. Speaking of the guys at ThreadBear -- if you like this daypack, you should check out Rob's Blog. He has a gorgeous daypack made from Kureyon on his site!

Hot vs. Cold Can you

Hot vs. Cold

Can you believe that I used the same colors to dye these two rovings? So, what was the difference? The one on the left was dyed using the "hot pour" method and the one on the right was dyed using the "cold pour" method. Here's a full length picture which shows off the colors a bit better:

In the hot pour method you put everything in a pot and simmer it. The colors tend to blend a lot more. In the cold pour method, you put dye on the wet wool and spray it down with vinegar. Then you wrap it up in plastic wrap and steam it! Very quick and easy. This is now my preferred method of dyeing.

And since I have been feeling a little down lately, I decided to make myself a new toy! Here is my distaff. And I found the directions to make it here. I used handspun bfl that was plied using the navajo-ply method. This yarn was also dyed by me! It worked really well when I was spinning last night, so I am really happy with it!

Joy Done! Yep it's all

Joy Done!

Yep it's all done! (Well, not really. . . there are pesky ends tucked inside that need to be woven in but I'm not sure how to do that with this tape type yarn.) This was very fun and quick to knit, but I don't think that I would use such a bulky yarn for a tight-fitting garment again. I think a finer gauge would have been best for a little tank top.
You didn't think that that I finished one project without starting another, did you?

Here's my yarn and pattern for the daypack from "Two Old Bags". I got the pattern and yarn from my buddies over at ThreadBear. I also dyed some more wool yesterday. More on that tomorrow!

Dyeing for the First Time

Dyeing for the First Time

Of course I had to pull out everything and start dyeing the day my dye kit arrived. The results weren't what I expected, but they weren't bad either. Here's what I did.

First I soaked the yarn and roving in water while I perpared all the supplies. The yarn was some Cascade 220 in a natural color and the roving was Blue Faced Leister. Then I mixed up the dyes -- I used lanaset -- and I started to heat up the pot with the yarn and roving inside in a generous amount of water with some vinegar added. I poured on the dyes and let it simmer. You can see what it looked like. Here's where things strayed from my plan. I was supposed to wait until the wool sucked up most of one color dye before I added another. I didn't really understand this part and didn't wait long enough. So, everything mixed together.

After the water in the pan was almost clear and was almost room temp, I took out the wool and gently washed it and rinsed it. Then I laid it out to dry. You can see the Cascade above. I think you need to soak yarn longer than roving. The roving got wet very quickly, but the Cascade wasn't as wet and didn't take up as much dye.

The roving was a little scary. I was afraid that I had created a big felted mess, but much to my delight it was as spinnable as ever after it dried out. Whew! There was some nice subtle variation in the roving and it was fun to spin and ply.

Here it is still on the spindle after plying and . . .

Here it is all finished. I was able to put it into a lovely hank with the help of my super fun new swift! (I think Pete was seeing the benefits of buying this for me already -- he didn't have to sit and be my yarn holder like he usually does!)

Happy Birthday to Me! (part

Happy Birthday to Me! (part 2)

Yipee!! They are finally here! My long lost swift and winder have finally completed their journey from distant lands to me. I've already been playing with them (and so has Fancy -- the kitten)! Thank you Booga P -- I love them! And thank you to the guys at ThreadBear -- the swift & winder were worth the wait! Gotta go play with my new toys some more, but tomorrow I will have pictures of my first adventure in dyeing fibers.

Ready to Dye Look what

Ready to Dye

Look what I got in the mail today! Yep -- a Lanaset dye kit. I got it from Julie at Sheep Hollow Farm and I have to say that she got it to me QUICK! I also thought it was a good buy -- you get 12 different colors and a little sample card showing the colors. It even includes instructions! And this was only $26.10 shipped. I'm very happy with it. Now, my daughter will be waking up from her nap any minute, dare I get this out and start playing with it?

Blue Faced Leister 2-Ply Here

Blue Faced Leister 2-Ply

Here is that first skein of Blue Faced Leister that I have been talking about. I thought it looked okay, considering how little I have spun before. This is my first real skein. I've tried little bits before, but this actually made my shoulder sore. I just couldn't stop spinning it! Here is a close up:

It even kind of looks like real yarn! I might have to work up a little swatch to see what it looks like knitted up.

Button Time! Made a new

Button Time!

Made a new button for the Knitting Blogs website. Feel free to steal it! I've also done a little work on the Knitting Blogs website -- added some links and a sign in for the ring (in case you need to update your info, url, blog name, etc.)

On a knitting note -- I have been working on the other half of Joy. It's about halfway finished, but since it's the same as the front I didn't take a picture.

And on a spinning note -- I finished a skein of the Blue Faced Leister that I got from Copper Moose. Picture coming soon. (If we ever have any sunshine around here!) This is really nice stuff -- very addictive to spin. But the plain white color has me wanting to learn how to dye yarn. Hmmmmm.....

No Knitting to Report Why

No Knitting to Report

Why you ask? Because the stamping business is keeping me darn busy. New spring stamps are coming out and I have been updating my website all day. (Want to see them? Just click here!) And another order arrived yesterday. Whew -- I'm in need of some kitting time!


I've also been working on the Knitting Blogs Web Ring and the Knitting Blogs Website. I'm now posting all new blogs as I add them to the ring. Yes, it seems simple enough to do this, but everything takes a little time and all those little things add up. Sometimes I don't know where the day has gone!


I did get a chance to do a little spinning the last couple of nights. If I finish up plying what's on the spindles right now, I will put it into a skein and post a picture tomorrow. I also have two little skeins that I never took photos of yet. I'm still a beginner, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it!