Secret Pal Final Box

Yesterday I received a final fabulous box from my Secret Pal 2...

This picture has almost everything in it - handmade scented soaps (that are quite strong!), two balls of Cascade Fixation sock yarn, a magnet and postcard from Utah (wherin my pal's identity was revealed), Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac (which I promptly started reading) and the 2005 Knitting Pattern-a-Day calendar. People, that's 365 patterns! Plus the 12 (or more) from Knitter's Almanac - 377 patterns to play with!

But wait, there's more! One thing didn't make it into the picture because I'd already put it up in my window with the neon Halloween cat...

If you can't read it, it says "I'm a knitter and I vote... Don't make me get my DPNs!" If you want one of your own, you can buy them off my Secret Pal's site.

Thanks, Laurie! I've really enjoyed having you as my Secret Pal! Everytime I get a new pattern from my calendar next year I'll think of you!

Update

Hello! I'm here! It's a Weekend Update, which is the only kind I might be doing for a little while... Work is crazy insane for the next month or so, and my social calendar has been picking up lately, too. I have been knitting a bit on the side, though, never fear!

But first, recently I've been doing more sewing than knitting. See, I was working on this:

(um, the costume, not Dan), which I wore yesterday to the Renaissance Faire. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself, but I unfortunately didn't really get a better picture than that one.

I also did some felting (as you can see from the entry below)... 4 items, four kinds of yarn. I felted the clogs from Fisherman's wool, a bag I made from Lopi (pictures at some point), C's bag from Kureyon, and a swatch of Gjestal Naturgarn that I had on hand. The Naturgarn felted quite well, so I stocked up on some more of it from elann for some felted bags.

The bpt is pretty much where it was before. I've added about 1.5" on to the remaining sleeve, and that's it. I don't know what it is about this project, but I seem to have gotten a touch of finishaphobia. It's not the seaming (actually, I love to seam), because this was made in the round. It's not even the ends hanging off that I need to weave in. I just can't really bring myself to finish that last sleeve. One of these nights I'll just have to buckle downa nd get it done, but we'll see when...

My work friends and I are going to split a booth at our office's craft fair in early December. We have several knitters, a crocheter, and some paper-folding/card makers (including me). The next few months will undoubtedly be full of novelty scarves (I've got one done and supplies for several more), felted bags, and cards. Oh yes, and Christmas presents for the rest of the family. I'm not sure when I'm going to sleep, but at least I'll be enjoying myself knitting!

FO - Clogs!

Is that a washing machine? With some meticulously hand crafty items being mercilessly pummeled into submission, alternately shocked with water temperatures from the steaming to the frigid, and being flayed by the agitator and hardy blue jeans alike? Why, yes it is! And that can only mean one thing... Felting! (OK, purists, fulling, but whatever)

Yes, the suprise of my mother's Christmas present has ended. But better than than opening a package of this on Christmas morning and pretending to be pleased:

("Um, darling, they're lovely! A little on the, um, large side, don't you think?")

Nope, they've been shrunken to a custom fit, thanks to the recipients' feet wearing them around until they were mostly dry:

After this picture was taken, we wrapped them in towels and then taped a plastic bag over them to complete the drying process whilst molding them to the feet. Moon boots, anyone?
(And how about that funky tile in my basement? Pretty groovy, huh?)

The observant will notice that one of the clogs (on the right in the photos) appears a bit darker and more extreme in the color patterns, particularly the purple. That particular dye-lot was definitely stronger... and more Grape. The felting process did great things to blend the colors together and also to tone down the 2nd clog so they look more similar. But still hand crafted :)

The Christmas present element of the clogs remains, as Mom did not get to take them home with her, but left them here to be placed under the tree and unwrapped with all of the other gifts.

Details:
Pattern: Fiber Trends Felted Clogs
Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool, Kool-Aid dyed by me and Dan
Needles: 10? (I can't believe I've forgotten already... could have been 11's or 10.5's... something in the Denise kit, any way!)