Felted Ruffle Drawstring Bag

I needed a little bag for Molly to put some bits in for our flight next week. I got the idea for this for some gaming dice bags on Ravelry, but none seemed quite right so I kind of made this one up. I got a bit bored by the end so decided to do a little ruffle at the top.

Its hand-felted, and I probably could have felted it more, but it was beginning to look too small so I stopped. I am still not convinced its big enough, but its pretty darn cute non-the-less. Its made with Rowan Tapestry yarn which is a wool/soy blend. Lovely colours with nice long stretches. It felts nicely, although the end product is very 'knit-your-own-yoghurt' hippy styleeeee.

Heres how I did it:

1 skein (plus a little bit) of Rowan Tapestry
5.5mm circulars (I used magic loop; use dpns if you prefer)

CO 30st
Garter stitch back and forth for 40 rows (20 ridges).
Place marker, then pick up stitches on the other 3 sides of your rectangle as follows: 20 stitches on first edge, 30 stitches on cast-on edge and 20 stitches on last edge. 100 stitches
Join in round and knit in round (stst) until bag measures approx 15cm.
For ruffle:
Starting at marker, [Inc 1 (knit in front and back loop), K1] for one round. (150st)
Knit one round
[Inc 1, K2] for one round (200st).
Knit 3 rounds.
Cast Off.

Drawstring:
2st i-cord as long as you like.

Sew in ends. Felt.
When dry, cut small holes in lower edge of ruffle to carry drawstring.

Look at these!!

They are these. Arnt they great?! I going to make 2 families of 4 for Mary and Lizzie's kids. I used Rowan Tapestry with has gentle colour gradations, so they are kind of colour coordinated in a subtle kind of a way.

Creatures of the Reef

So I finally finished my first big lace shawl! I am inordinately proud of myself. As mentioned it is intended as a gift for my grandmother-in-law. Its probably the first item I have knit which I dont really like (in that I dont think its the most beautiful thing I have ever seen), but it is perfect for her, and after all thats what matters!

It started off slow with casting on over 400 stitches and I had to do it twice after switching to Addi Lace needles after a few rows. With rows that long, the thing grows very very slowly (no more 'just let me finish this row....' since it would take half an hour!). But they slowly but surely get shorter and shorter, and following the charts becomes easier, helped out a lot by stitch markers.

And I am surprised to see that it really only took me a little over a month. And that is only evening knitting when I wasnt tired since reading lace charts and small children dont mix ;)
But the trouble with lace is that it looks like a dogs dinner for the duration of knitting, so its not like you can periodically gaze and stroke it and admire your handiwork. Its not until the blocking where its true beauty is evident and the little crabs and fishies came into their own. I particularly like the 'seafoam' section at the neck too.

So please excuse the vast number of photos. I just couldnt stop! Will update in a month or so to report on the reaction from Nana. Fingers crossed, eh?

I am in big trouble.....

OK, I have too much to knit for various things and time is rapidly running out. Instead of just getting on with it, I am going to document it all here. And that will make me feel better organised. Or make me freak out. One or the other.

1. School knitting
I have had big plans to knit stuff for teachers and/or pupils in each of the girls' classes, but this is going to have to be scaled down. Only 2 weeks to go!
- a felt bowl for Rosie's main class teacher. Done. But its a bit rubbish. Hmmm
- something for her non-main teacher plus 2 main teaching assistants. What though?
- I was going to knit a mess of cupcakes and dinosaurs for the classroom. I am rapidly thinking that this isnt going to happen :(
- Something for Molly's keyworker from preschool. Cupcake? Not sure. Cupcakes for everyone??

2. In-law knitting
Since we dont see the extended inlaw family at Christmas, I am knitting them gifts for our trip in August. Only a month to go!
- Creatures of the Reef lace shawl for Nana-in-law. Getting on with this, probably 2/3rds the way through, but its a big project.
- Spirogyra fingerless mitts for MIL. One done, the other started. A quick project so should be OK
- Both (nice) sister-in-laws are supposed to be getting a scarf. One is about 3/4 done. Havnt started the other one yet. Gah!
- Something small for cousin's kids (4 of them aged 1.5 to 5). Was going to do knitting bunnies or similar, but going to run out of time. More likely will be gnome babies or these which are too cute.

3. Airplane knitting
By which I mean I have knit Molly a bunny with clothes for the flight over (and its too cute!) but need to do more clothes and make a monkey and clothes for Rosie.

Urgh...feel ill now....better go and get knitting!