Promises

As I mentioned earlier today I have completed two projects lately. The sweater looks pretty specIacular, even if I do say so myself. Here are front and back views on my dress form. The sleeves are piled on top of the form as they are still damp and I don't want them to stretch out too much more than they are already. The concept came from a site called elann.com that I found one day when browsing for cotton based crochet and knitting yarn. The yarn I used is called Lara in the claret colorway. It is just a huge circular pinwheel shawl, with sleeves, that will wear like a large shrug. Experienced knitters will laugh but after I was about 20 rounds into this project when it started to un-ravel from the center pinwheel. It took me eight tries to repair that damage so it wouldn't show too much. Check out elann.com for some unusual yarns at pretty good prices.... and yes all the prices are in US dollars and mailed in the US so customs do not seem to be a problem. I did use 2 extra balls of yarn than called for in the pattern as I do knit a little loosely and used the called for kneedle and crochet hook sizes as I already owned them.

The felted purse that I talked about did not come out as successfully. It is a good size for carrying around a bunch of stuff but the felting came out very lumpy. I used a yarn that was 85% wool and 15% nylon but I used needles that were way bigger than the suggested size. I also added another yarn that is hand spun in a South African aid project. The extra yarn was used for about 6 rows in the lower protion of the bag. It had a metallic thread, beads and a bucle textured angora base yarn. I thnk my next idea will be to dampen the bag again, put something flat in the bottom and then add a bag of rice or beans as a form to block the bag again. I'll also need to get a button for the closure. I do love the colors though and it seems neutral enough for all seasons.

Final score - one project completed, one still on the to be completed list. I'll take those results any day.