Major Knitter

Felting the Market Squares Bag

I finally decided to felt my market squares bag. 

I filled the top loading washer with hot water, some delicate detergent, added a small rug and got out my zippered pillow case and, of course, the felted bag.

I put my hand knit market squares bag into the zippered pillow case (this serves 2 purposes - it saves my washer from all that felt and lint and it also keeps lint and fuzz from the washer off my felted bag)

I VERY CAREFULLY added a large pot of boiling water to the washer and crossed my fingers.  Afterall, felting is an art and not a science.  Then I went about my business and checked back on my bag periodically.  The trick about felting is that you never know exactly how long it will take.  I checked every 5 minutes or so and the progress was pretty slow.  So I turned the knob back to the beginning of the cycle (so it wouldn't drain and I'd have to start over with more delicate detergent and more boiling hot water) and waited some more.  Sometime between doing that and getting dinner on the table I lost track of time.

Oh no!  I over-felted my bag.  It turned out great.  It just turned out much smaller than anticipated.

I shaped it on a Charles Chip tin and then mushed it to the shape I wanted.  I stretched it over the tin so that the base of my bag would be round and flat.  I hate a bag that flops over and lets the contents spill out.  This photo is of one side of my bag.  Here's the other side.

One side has more of the purple and the other has more of the green.  I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out - even if it is smaller than I would like.

   

I ran out to Westport's Textile Store and picked out two different batik prints to line my bag.  I'm not sure which I like better.  I think I like the one on the right.  It doesn't have any purple - but I think the brown in the one on the left detracts from the bag.  Plus I like the concept of squares and circles. 

What do you think?

Felted Garden Scarves

My dear friend Elizabeth of The Felted Garden saw my post about the charity auction for the Jackson Recovery Center and quickly offered so many of her gorgeous hand-felted scarves for the auction.  Aren't they beautiful? 

I can't thank you enough!  These are sure to be a huge hit and raise lots of money for a great cause.  Thanks so much.

As We Enter Into The Felted Garden

I took James around to some lovely places in my very own Westport, Connecticut.  The first place I took him this morning (after the grocery store for a stock of Kool-Aid which was to dye for) was my felting friend's Felted Garden. 

Elizabeth lives in one of my favorite homes in Westport.  It's on the national historic register and played a part in the revolutionary war.  It was actually an Inn during those times.  I'm absolutely certain that felting and knitting have been going on in this house for centuries!  Elizabeth continues the fibre tradition with her beautiful felted scarves, wraps and throws.  She was busy getting ready for 3 shows in the next 5 days, so we didn't stay long.  Just enough to see her fantastic fibres.

Elizabeth showed James some of her scarves.  Here they're discussing a specific felting technique.  I particularly liked this white leafy scarf.  Rachael - this pose is for you!

Elizabeth showed us her creative laboratory

   

James quickly pointed out this lovely teensy bin of UFOs.  If only we could be so lucky to have such a manageable sized UFO stash.

It was a wonderful visit into Elizabeth's Felted Garden.  If you'd like to take a tour yourself, you can get a virtual tour by visiting Elizabeth's website here.

While We Were Felting

Jenn and I tried to get some knitting done while we were felting Big Boy

 

She worked on a regular sized felted bag with the leftover Lopi yarn and other novelty yarns. 

Jenn saw Mr. Orange lying on the coffe table and asked what was this gorgeous WIP.  I told her it was about to be frogged.  She was surprised and gave me the right amount of "Oh no!  Not this beautiful sweater WIP."  Then I tried it one for her. She had the reaction that only a true friend and knitter can have.  "RIP-IT!  RIP-IT!  Now!"  That's was my reaction, too.  So, I ripped.  Now this is what I have to show for it.

 

I decided that this orange yarn would make a gorgeous bright orange felted bag.  I thought it would be nice to make a round bottom bag or perhaps a basket.  Then I remembered that I had a round bottom felting UFO somewhere in the basement.  I went to get it and got caught up knitting that old friend.

Hmmmm.  I picked these bright, crazy colors in the days when I was felting every single hour of daylight.  I guess I decided bright was good.  I think it was better left in the UFO pile, too. 

Anyway, we ended our day of knitting and felting by commiserating in solidarity with our too big felting failures - er - I mean challenges. 

BIG BOY and SILLY STRIPES.  What shall we do?  These gi-normous bags are too big to actually carry around.  I guess we just wanted to share with you that everyone can have a felting failure.  It happens.  It's part of the game. Just the same, please send us your ideas on how to utilize our creations.  We'd really appreciate it.  Happy knitting - and felting.

Felting Friday

This morning at 8:45 a.m. Jenn from SNL came over to felt "Big Boy"  - her oversized felted knitting bag.  She was worried that it might be too big. Prior to felting, her bag was the size of a short sleeping bag.  The strap looked like a very long scarf.

We threw it in the wash with HOT water, some mild detergent and a lot of prayers.  See - we have our fingers crossed.

To help the felting process along, we boiled several large pots of water to add to the washer.

After several cycles, and continual checking on the felting process, Jenn pulled out the strap to see if it had completely felted.  It looked perfect.  The BIG BOY on the other hand, still had a long ways to go to be completely felted.

Look at the Lopi fur balls that rose to the top of the washer.  Hmmmm.  There might be enough wool here to spin into yarn and then knit up a scarf!

We left BIG BOY in the washer and kept repeating the wash cycle and adding more boiling water for several hours.  Literally.  In the meantime, Jenn used the leftover skeins of yarn to make a felted bag for herself.  Isn't this yarn gorgeous?

Time for a coffee break.  Which one of us is the innocent bystander and which one is the trouble maker?  Hmmmm.  Interesting question.  Please don't answer.

Four and a half hours later and the bag looks like it's completely felted.  It's larger than we wanted, so we try a few more cycles for good measure.  Maybe it will miraculously shrink a little bit more.

OK - Here's the BIG BOY completely felted.  Man, that's one big knitting bag.  Nothing to do but block it and figure out if we can make it smaller.

 

What shall Jenn do with her Big Boy?  Please leave your suggestions and fixes.  Maybe you'll come up with something we didn't. 

* Note - Secundogeniture thought it was a felted wastepaper basket.  I like the way he thinks!

Lest You Think I Haven't Been Knitting...

Check out the updated photo album for the Felted Frenzy I had this week.  I was busy putting the finishing touches on so many felted handbags.  I felted some, finished others and sewed the handles on all of them.  I hope you like them.  Now I just need to sell them.  If you're interested, email me and we can chat off line.

Better Flower

I found a smaller pearlized button for the center of that ill-fated felted flower.  It does look better this time around, doesn't it?  It's always good to have a tin filled with buttons.

And, on a disappointing note, I decided to felt three derbies that I knit up about 16 months ago and never got around to felting.  They turned out just fine and I shared them with my fellow knitters at SNL.  I was getting ready to share the Before/After photos with you. The Felted Derbies have been in the laundry room drying ever since Saturday morning.  I just noticed tonight that they got crushed and permanently creased as the babysitter decided to put her book bag on top of my felted creations.  UGH!!!

Analyzing Where I Went Wrong

Every once in a great while you have to admit where you went wrong.  I'm a grown up.  I can do it.  Today I'm going to walk you through my felted I-cord process and show you what went right and what went wrong.  Ready?  Fasten your seatbelt.  Here we go.

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I started by using worsted weight yarn and US size 6 dpns.  I cast on three stitches and made an I-cord that was 12-15 inches long.  Cut off the end of the yarn, leaving a tail about 8 inches long for sewing the flower.  Thread a darning needle and sew both ends together forming a loop.

Sew the loop in half creating a figure 8.

Fold one half of the figure 8 into three even "petals" - accordian style - and sew together.

Repeat for other side.

Now you have a few options.  You can either attach your flower to your [insert object to be embellished here] and be done.  Here's what I did with Gracie's Ballerina Wrap the first time around.

If you want to try to jazz it up a bit, you can add some shimmery buttons and beads.  I bought these at Knitting Central. 

Here's my attempt at embellishing my embellishment

And a close-up before felting

Followed by a picture with a side-by-side comparison of the before and after

Here is where we get to analyze the problems and think up some solutions. 

1. Button in the center is too big, too bulky, and not fancy enough for this flower
2. The petals felted together and became one amorphous blob
3. Use a better bead or button for the center - probably only 1/4 inch diameter
4. Perhaps I should knit one long I-cord and felt it before sewing it together into a flower.

I think I'm going to embellish Gracie's Ballerina Wrap as originally planned with just the simply knit, non-felted I-cord flowers.

Finish Friday

I managed to finish up the sixth, seventh and eighth I-cord flowers on my train ride home tonight.  I am a wee bit sleepy, so I think I'll wait until the morning to felt them.  ZZzzzzz.  Good night.  Sweet dreams.

My Sewing Machine is Finally Put to Use!

Yikes!  The felting frenzy has begun.  The ginormous felted knitting bag has been felted.  It shrunk, felted, shrunk and felted some more and it's still enormous.  The only thing I could find around the house that was the right size for a drying mold for this felted creation was the sewing machine \which I had to stack on top of some flower pots to make it tall enough. 

I took some pictures and will share them with you shortly.  There's just one problem.  The camera hooks up to the computer that is upstairs.  Up a very steep flight of stairs, I might add. 

I'm feeling better, but not that much better.  I'll probably have to post for a few days and then you'll have to check back for the pictures.  It will be something to hold your interest!

I'm recovering nicely.  Thanks for all your get well wishes.  The only problem is that my recovery is going much slower than I would like.  I don't do anything well in slow motion.  I guess this is nature's way of making sure I take it easy.  So please bear with me while I post - picture free - for the next few days.  I promise to come back and fill in the blanks.  My doctor will be so pleased with your undertanding!

Is 5:15 a.m. too early for felting?

My new washer arrived yesterday morning while I was taking it easy.  I was extremely anxious to start my felting experiments... but the piles of laundry took precedence.  So this morning I crept out of bed at 5:15 a.m. and headed straight for the washer.  Is that too early?  Anyway, as I type, the machine is agitating and I'm absolutely certain that felting is taking place.  One trick I learned that I'll pass on to you - Run the water in the laundry room sink until it's hot so that the water that goes into the washer is immediately HOT for the best felting results. 

Check back for results...

Oh Joy! Oh Bliss!

BF is just the best.  You'll never guess what he did.  Never.  Shall I just spare you the torture and suspense by telling you?  OK.  He read my blog.  He read my mind.  He listened to my little birthday requests. 

I'm getting... a.brand.new.top.loading.washing.machine.complete.with.an.agitator for my birthday.  (Shall I say that again?)

I'll be back in felting business.  We went today to purchase the washer at County TV and Appliances in Stamford and it will be delivered next Wednesday.  I can hardly wait.  I'm so excited.  Aren't you just thrilled?  Hold that thought.  You might be overwhelmed with the photographic felting frenzy that takes place next week.  I have so many projects just sitting around waiting for an agitator.  I guess I won't be lacking projects for posts next week.  Yeah! 

Felted Bottle Cozy

Jenn from KnitWit Momma wrote to me the other day asking if I had the pattern for the felted water bottle holder that Regina sported at SNL a while ago.  I decided to create a pattern.  Here's the pre-felting view of the bottle cozy.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Now I'll throw it in the washer in HOT water with some mild soap and a pair of jeans (for agitation) and hope that it shrinks to the correct size.  Good thing that water bottles come in small, medium and large.  Depending on how it shrinks, I'll just use that size bottle as if it were planned.  It really is part math and part luck with this whole felting business.  The general rule of thumb I use is that it will shrink about a third during the felting process.

Keep your fingers crossed!

What is it??

It's a whole lot of knitting, that's what.  My Finishing Friday really paid off.  OK... technically it's Saturday, but I finished knitting the main portion of my oversized felted bag.  Look at the size of this thing.  I wasn't kidding when I referred to it as my sleeping bag.  I worked on this today at Saturday kNit Live ("SNL"), determined to bind off the 220 stitches before I quit knitting.  Then I started on the straps.  I want them to be extremely thick and sturdy, so I'm using 4 strands of yarn at the same time to knit the handles.  I think that will be strong enough for this tote bag.  I'm also working up the pattern so you can delve into a project like this for yourself. 

I weighed the bag after I finished it.  Guess how much it weighs?   Three (3) pounds!  That's a lot of  yarn.  Who am I kidding?  That's a lot of knitting.

Tomorrow I hope to finish the straps and weave in the loose ends.  I'm not sure if I'll be able to felt it in my front load washer, but I'll try.  If not, Regina, I'm coming over to use your washer!!!  (I hope that's OK with you.)

Happy knitting everyone.

My Friend from Fairyland

My best friend from Sioux City, Iowa was is in town this weekend.  I've known her since I was three or four when we were classmates at Fairyland Nursery School together.  Yeah - it was really called that. Anyway, she was in town with her mother for the weekend, so BF and I went into the city and took them to lunch at Emporium Brasil on Little Brazil Street (46th between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas).  As a coincidence, today is my friend's birthday.  She probably thought I'd forgotten, but not me!  I took her one of my favorite felted bags as a special birthday gift to take back home to the Midwest and show off.  Remember this bag?

This bag was made using Noro yarn and some matching Zap.  I found the gorgeous handles in the Garment District in Manhattan - probably M&J Trim.  I'm not sure if they still carry these exact handles, but they sure do have a huge selection.

Happy Birthday my friend!  I hope you have a great day.

The Thing To Remember When Felting a Bag...

It's sort of funny how you forget things.  For the first 6 months of 2004, all I did was knit bags and felt them.  I could make them in my sleep.  I was the Felting Queen.  Then *POOF* all that changed and I stopped felting (due in part to the fact that I no longer own a top loading washer).  The point of my post today is that you should always keep this rule in mind when knitting a felted bag:

Your bag will shrink more in heighth than in width.

I remembered this when I thought to myself after knitting an additional 7 inches to my Blue & Black Striped Felted Knitting Tote.  I thought I was probably about done, and then I measured the WIP.  It was only 29 inches tall.  That means that I would have a very shallow tote after felting.  I think I should knit until the bag is about 36-40 inches tall.  Hi-Ho-Hi-Ho It's off to knit, I go.

Wet Felting with the Knotty Girls

Today I made this out of raw wool

and turned it into this

My darling friend Regina invited me to her house for a wet felting class.  I taught her how to make hand-knit felted bags a year ago and now she's teaching me how to make felted bags out of raw wool.  I was at this amazing class at Regina's home with her Thursday night knitting group - The Knotty Girls - from Debi Haehl's Knottygirl Knit & Yarn Club.  What a great group of ladies.  Debi was there and once you meet her you can tell why Knottygirl is such a successful store.  Debi is all joy, fun, and happiness rolled into one amazing business woman.  Anyway, take a peak at the fun we had.  You'll be able to see how I magically changed the BEFORE picture into the AFTER picture above.

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After all this fun in the heat & humidity, with steaming sudsy water, we finally got to sit down to an excellent meal. It really "felt" good to sit down and relax.

And here's a great picture of Regina and me during dinner.  Yes, we're wet.  They don't call it wet felting for nothing!

Look at this amazing entrelac felted bag that one of the Knotty Girls made.  Isn't it wonderful?  The drawstring lining topper is a fabulous idea.  I always struggle with totes and the problem of things falling out the top.  This solves that just fine.

Finally, after my felted bag dries, I'll needle felt some fine details on the flower petals and leaves to enhance them.  I am just a bit worried about the way Regina displayed the needle felting items on her table right next to the giant box of band-aids.  Regina - what are you trying to tell us?  I'm a bit concerned.  Hehehe.

Finally, in the words of our favorite Canadian, You Know You Knit Too Much when you use your favorite Lantern Moon ebony straight knitting needle to put your hair up because it's wet, hot, soapy and sticking to your neck.  See?

Gosh I love knitting.  We were such a wild and crazy group of felting ladies and Knotty Girls.  Thank you Regina for your generosity, hospitality, teaching, patience, dedication, assistance, reassurance and amazing friendship.  What a great day.  Who knew wet felting could be so tiring.  Zzzzzzzzz.  I can hardly wait until my bag dries and I can needle felt, finish, line, and sew on some pink or green handles, and then wear my new arm candy.

Drat! Double Drat!

I love felting.  I hate felting.  I know you think that sounds contradictory, but that's just how it is in the world of felting.  You never know how it's going to turn out, so you just keep your fingers crossed.  The yellow checker cab pillow did not work out as beautifully as I had pictured it in my mind's eye.  The black and white color work shrank more - probably due to the extra yarn and the strands on the wrong side of the work.  I think that a) the stitches were tighter due to this, and b) the extra thickness made it pull tighter.  I also think that the finished material is too thick.  For my next attempt at a felted pillow, I think I'll use smaller needles and use a single thickness of yarn.  Plus, I need to shave the finished product as the black and white yarn really pilled a great deal.  Oh well, it was good in concept.  Now I'll have to go back to the old drawing board.

Weekend Retreat

BF and I spent the weekend at his father and stepmother's house.  We had a wonderful time and did nothing but eat, sleep, eat, read, eat, chat, eat, knit, eat, and did I mention eat?  It was a very relaxing weekend with family.  I always love being away for the weekend, as I can really do nothing but relax.  OK.  I managed to start and finish a new creation I'm making for my son Michael's bedroom - it's a felted cover for a throw pillow in a yellow checker taxi cab theme to match his bedroom.  I'm trying to tie the yellow theme together with the gerbils so I'm going to make 3 pillows in yellow, black, oatmeal and brown:

1. Yellow Checker Cab pillow
2. Gerbil pillow
3. "M" pillow

When I inquired about knitting, our host was kind enough to do some research for me and found the LYS - KnitLove.  Of course, I had to make a mad dash to KnitLove which is run by the very pleasant Sabine Tulp.  I was hoping to stumble upon some more Tahki Baby in Dark Olive for my Nicky Epstein Flower Basket, but Sabine only had it in blue.  Instead I bought some Turbo Addi circular needles and Nicky Epstein's book "Knitting Embellishments." 

I also purchased some Filatura di Crosi baby yarn for our friends who are about to have their first baby.  Our friends aren't telling anyone the sex of the baby, but based upon the colors of the nursery, (which incidentally matches the yarn I purchased), I have a pretty good guess if it will be a boy or a girl.  What do you think?

If you're also visiting the Hamptons and need a quick fix for yarn, visit KnitLove.  If you'd like to go to this quaint store, here's the info:

• KnitLove
• Sabine Tulp
• 42 Gingerbread Lane
• East Hampton, NY 11937
• Tel:  (631) 329-0700

Red Roses and Pink Rose Buds

I'm making the Red Roses according to the directions for the Flower Basket.  But since I want to make a dainty evening bag, too, I'm also following the pattern except replacing the yarn with Paton's Classic Wool and size 7 needles.  The pink ones will be miniature rose buds (I hope).  I'll sew the ends and felt these pink buds and see how they turn out.

Meanwhile, one skein of the red is supposed to make 3 full roses.  I need to use about 3 yards of a 2nd skein to finish rose #3.  Shucks.    Oh well.  I have 9 more roses to make in red.

But when you're knitting this Takhi Baby with a size 19 needle, you need to give your hands a rest.

Flower Basket Knitalong

I joined my first knitalong - The Flower Basket Knitalong.  I fell in love with this felted bag when I saw it in Vogue Knitting - Winter 2004/2005 and found the knitalong when surfing the net.  I knew I just had to participate.  I ordered my yarn and am waiting for it to arrive.  I can hardly wait.  The Felting Queen is BAAAAAACK!

Wanna join?

Re-Vamp the Little Red Evening Bag

I had 2 Christmas parties this week - one on Thursday and one on Friday.  Last night's party was the best.  I wore all black with a red jacket and decided to add a little touch of class to my red and black felted evening bag.  I didn't care too much for the felted I-cord handles, so I went to the Garment District's famous M&J Trimmings and bought all sorts of handles.  I ripped out the I-cord handles today and replaced them with these.  What do you think?

Here's an inside view of the funky handles

I believe it's 5th year of the big Christmas party and only 4 of the original members attend.  We have a wildly hilarious time giving each other gag gifts filled with hidden innuendos or inside jokes.  The laughter begins at cocktails and doesn't end until we're at the coat check.  It's so great to spend a night with good friends.

In addition to gag gifts, we also get some real gifts, too.  I got 2 knitting books.  Gary bought me The Knitting Directory by Alison Jenkins (no picture available on Amazon).  David bought me Stitch 'n Bitch Nation by Debbie Stoller.  Thanks to everyone for the great gifts.  Thank you Gary for hosting yet another memorable evening.  Happy Holidays!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

At one of our recent Saturday morning knitting bees, Tara showed us the felted hat she finished for her daughter.  She's making one for all three girls.  Isn't it darling?  I believe it came from a kit... so I'll ask Tara for the information about the pattern or kit so you can knit one, too.

Here's a side view

How to Felt a Bag

Here it is! The much awaited primer on how to make a felted bag. I hope you like it.

These bags are made by knitting 2 strands of yarn at the same time with a size 13 needle. Start with about 5 skeins of worsted weight wool in a variety of colors. Whichever color is your base color, use 2 skeins of that. Otherwise, you can pull the yarn from the outside and the center to create the double strand. It's a little messy, but it will work. If you have a ball winder, you might prefer to wind some balls with double strands to start. I generally use Paton's Classic Wool - Merino or Lamb's Pride, or Plymouth Galway. You will have leftover yarn, but it will allow you to make a second bag (maybe even a third?) with the same stripe pattern.

Cast on about 30 stitches or so. Knit in garter stitch for 16 rows. This will create 8 ridges. Generally, for various bag sizes, you should make the bag approximately half as wide as it is long. KEEP IN MIND THAT BAGS SHRINK MORE IN THE HEIGHTH THAN IN THE WIDTH. If you knit a rectangular bag, it will shrink to a square when felted. If you only knit a square bag, it will shrink into a smaller rectangle when felted.

Bind off all the stitches except the final stitch.

Pick up 8 stitches along the edge of the base of the bag. (HALF THE 16 STITCHES - adjust accordingly if you use a different number of stitches).

Pick up 30 stitches (the same number as the length of the base) along the length of the bag.

Pick up 8 stitches along the next edge of the the bag.

Pick up the final 30 stitches along the final edge of the bag.

Place a marker and knit in the round for about 2-3 inches.

Start adding in alternating colors in stripes of 1-6 rows at a time. Experiment. Combine colors in ways that you feel will look nice. I recommend at least 3 colors for a striped bag. For the Tree Series bag, I used 5-6 colors.

Knit in a striped pattern until the bag measures anywhere from 12-15 inches. End with the same base color as the base of the bag.

If you didn't weave the ends of the yarn into the bag while knitting, make sure you weave them in before felting.

When it's done, turn the bag right side out again.

Put the bag inside a zippered pillowcase cover. Set the washing machine cycle to Hot wash and Cold rinse.

Add a small amount of delicate detergent to the water.

Let it mix well until bubbles form.

Place the bag (inside the zippered pillowcase) in the washing machine.

Keep your fingers crossed. Felting is not an exact science. Keep a close eye on your felting progress or you may have a mini-bag instead of a tote bag!

Let it wash for only about 5 minutes before checking on how well it's felting. Remove the bag from the washer. If it needs to felt some more, return it to the washing machine for only about 3-5 more minutes. Check regularly until the bag has completely felted. Repeat these steps until the bag is felted sufficiently.

You shouldn't see the knit stitches anymore when the bag has felted sufficiently. Once felted, forward the washing machine dial to the "Cold Rinse" cycle and let the machine finish its cycle.

Next, pick out an appropriate size form (box, Tupperware, tin, etc.) Use a plastic grocery bag to put around the form (to protect the cardboard, metal, etc.). I had one friend who used a bag of sugar to block her bag, but did not put the sugar in a protective plastic grocery bag. Unfortunately, the wet wool and the paper bag of sugar didn't mix. She had a sugary felted bag that attracted ants from all over! I don't recommend using a bag of sugar as a form for blocking your bag!

Stretch your bag evenly over the form and let it dry. This might take a day or two.

You can attach bamboo, wooden or other handles to the bag when dry. I have attached the handles in two ways:

1 - Make a mini felted flap to attach to the top of the felted bag and through the holes of the handles.
2 - Use the same yarn as the top stripe of the bag and neatly sew the handles in place.

No TEARS, but Lots of Fear

You're all probably relieved to see that I did NOT post a picture of myself in tears. That's because I listened to Mush of "Iowa Chicks Knits" and decided to felt the striped tree bags using the regular wash cycle on the machine and not add the boiling water. Generally, I add boiling water to speed up the felting process. That's fine when the item being felted in monochromatic. With stripes (especially in the red tones) and white, I was leery of having a "pink" all over bag. Fortunately, the Crab Apple Blossom Bag and the the Red Apple Tote felted beautifully. Pictures to follow shortly once they're dried. Now I need to felt the Little Nut Tree Bag, the Super Eggplant Tote and the Green Apple Tote. Fun! Fun! Fun!

Right now, the Red Apple Tote is blocking on a box of Fruit Loops. Gotta love being resourceful!

Green Apple Tote

Tart and tangy. This bag looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?

Five bags in five days. Not bad. The prolific knitter lives on...

Under the Apple Tree

Well, doesn't this bag just make you think of a delicious red apple? Maybe a McIntosh, Cortland, Jonathan or a good ol' Red Delicious? What's your favorite? While I was knitting this bag, I was picturing myself underneath the shade of an apple tree with someone special, eating apples and maybe even a little foot massage. Sigh! Let's go apple picking everybody... it's almost that time of year.