Friday, December 23, 2005

Laptop bag is finished!

Well, almost. I finished knitting it yesterday, weaved in all of the ends (and there were A LOT), and seamed one side of it. All that's left to do is seam the other side and then I can felt it. I think I'm going to have to use the backstitch to do that because of all of the different colors, but I haven't ever successfully done that stitch before - Yikes! Anyway, I'm going to do all of that this morning. I've already warned my mom that I'll need to use her washing machine. Wanna see some pics? This is one I took before I did any seaming to show the full size. You can't see the numbers on the tape measure, but it shows that the length is 40 inches! Toward the end, it was draping over my legs like a blanket.

Here it is after I seamed up one side of it. To make sure the size was right, I laid the Wacom tablet on top of it. It looks like a good pre-felted size, although felting seems like a bit of a crapshoot to me. We'll see!

As promised, I also have pics of the Feline Dim Sum that I made. They didn't come out looking much like and eggroll and a wanton to me, but I think the catnip inside will be what matters to the kitties.

I used various scrap yarns. You may recognize the Cashmerino Aran from my mom's footies (c'mon, doesn't everybody make their cat toys out of cashmere?) and the yarn I used for the catbed. There's also some Blue Sky Alpacas Cotton that I used to make socks a while back. Only the best for my little hairballs.

After Grumperina waxed poetic about the joy of knitting socks yesterday, she got me itching to start another pair. I had a bit of trouble deciding between my lovely pink Lamb's Pride Wildfoote or my fugly Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, but I decided to go fug. I figured it would be more fun. I also used my metal Addi dpn's for the first time and I positively hate them. They are so heavy and are constantly falling out of the stitches, leaving me to have to carefully put them back on and fix all of the dropped stitches with a crochet hook. I'd switch to my other size 1's if I could, but apprently, Addi's size ones have a different diameter than other size 1's, so I'm stuck with them for now. I know J made a pair of socks where she swtiched to smaller needles at some point in the leg. Maybe I could do that. How far down the leg was that, J? Anyway, isn't the yarn wild? To me, it looks like a box of crayons threw up or a clown exploded or something. Why do I love ugly socks so much? I really don't know, but brown, black and navy blue knitted socks just aren't for me. I'll continue to buy those from the store.

So, an update on Christmas knitting:

Dad's scarf - done!

Joe's hat - done!

Laptop bag - done!

Brother's sock - :( not finished yet. I had a moment of panic yesterday when I realized that I couldn't remember how I'd shaped the toe on the first sock and, of course, I didn't write anything down. We'll see if I can somehow manage to recreate it so it will feel the same. But, with the exception of felting the laptop bag, it's the last thing I have to do! Yay! Well, with the exception of finishing the seaming on Vittadini. Can you believe I'm still working on that?! I hate finishing sweaters, and judging from what I read on other people's blogs, this is a common feeling. However, I set in one sleeve yesterday, so all that's left is to set in the other sleeve and do the neck extensions. Boy, I sure know how to bring something down to the wire. The knitting for this sweater was finished weeks ago. My deadline is Christmas Eve. Wish me luck! Good luck to everyone out there who is still working on their Christmas knitting. Allison, if you're reading this, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you!

Note: I almost forgot to mention - I've discovered Bloglines! What a great service. Now I don't have to constantly check and recheck my favorite blogs to see if they've been updated. I'm sure that it's not news to most of you, but I was pretty excited. I added a Subscribe with Bloglines button to our sidebar in case anyone wants to add us to their favorites or try out the service for themselves.

4 Comments:

Blogger Jeanette said...

congratulations on finishing the bag! Looks great. I switched to size 0 on my socks after about 4 inches. I saw short size 000 (I think) DPNs at A Good Yarn. I think it is the length of the Addi's that is the problem. I had the same problem. Sorry I forgot to mention it. Just make sure that you push the needles down after each section is finished. Placing the stitches in about the middle of the needle at least gives you some time to catch the stitches before the slip off.

2:20 PM  
Blogger Disentangled said...

Congratulations! I'm truly impressed that you are going to have everything done. I am too, but then I only had 2 small projects. I can't wait to see what the felted bag looks like.

I need to do the bloglines thing myself...I just keep putting it off. Glad to hear that it sounds pretty easy. Take care!

2:22 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! I am so impressed! I can't believe you finished it all! Now you can sit back and enjoy the holidays. (I love the cat toys!)

I, on the other hand, will be finishing up sometime next week. With work and family... there just hasn't been enough time to finish the throw. :( I told my DH that I am knitting him a wool thong, but that it's not quite finished. He says he can wait until after the holidays. So, I am shooting for a New Years Day present.

Also- did you get the email about the Grove January schedule? I am definitely in for the combination knitting, and I am seriously considering the sweater class. You?

Have a Merry Christmas!

2:47 PM  
Blogger knitzalot said...

Hey Allison - I'm definitely up for the combination knitting class. I probably won't do the sweater class though. I'd be interested if you could choose your own pattern but...

Merry Christas to you, too! I'm sure you're husband is anxiously awaiting his wool thong!

4:51 PM  

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