These are the two knit bags that are waiting to be felted. Actually, they aren’t waiting anymore. I put them in the washer on a hot wash with a pair of Lin’s jeans a few minutes ago. Now we just have to see how they turn out. I might have to run them through the washer a second (or third) time.
The top one is a small Cat Bordhi Moebius bowl. Yesterday I succeeded in conquering how to do her fancy moebius cast-on, as well as how to knit small circumferences on long circular needles. I found both techniques to be mostly a lot of flash and show and not so much useful skills. An awful lot of extra work for no substantial change in end result.
In the case of the moebius cast-on, I could have accomplished the exact same look to the bowl using grafting … or even flat out sewing things together … and saved myself the hassle of a somewhat annoying way to knit. It reminds me of keyboard shortcuts back in the day of the original IBM computers. If someone knew all the keyboard shortcuts and didn’t have to use a cheat sheet, they’d always let you know about it, because they were PROUD of the fact they knew them, and it made them feel SMART. Same thing applies to people who think Cat’s moebius cast-on is the best thing since sliced bread. It’s not easy to learn, not especially easy to use, and in the end only results in making the person who has conquered it feel smarter. It is, in the end, just a gimmick … a fancy knitting trick to show off in front of non-knitters and others who don’t know the secret. I might play with it again sometime, but I’m less excited about it now that I know how to do it than I was when it was one big mystery.
As far as knitting small circumferences on long circulars, I don’t see how it is any easier or better than just using double pointed needles. In fact, as I got the the decreases on the bottom of the bowl, I found it almost completely intolerable. If I had size 11 double points, I would have switched out and saved myself the aggravation. Alas, I don’t have that size yet. It might come in handy here and there in a pinch, when I lack a specific size in double points or when I only have to do minimal decreasing. Other than that, I will stick to doing it the “hard” way with four or more needles.
The bag on the bottom is another Booga Bag like the one I made for my mom last year. I have been wanting to make myself one since I gave that one to her, and now I have finally gotten around to getting that done. I tried to make it a little larger than the first one I made. Of course, since it’s felted, it’s hard to tell what exact size it will be when all is said and done. Since I am used to carrying microscopic purses anyway, I’m sure all my junk will fit into it no matter how much it shrinks up. It can’t help but be a few orders of magnitude larger than the tiny little pink thing I have been carrying the last few weeks.
You’ll notice that neither of them are dyed yet. I couldn’t decide how to color them. It’ll be interesting to dye them after they have been felted. I haven’t tried that yet. I have a few ideas for some interesting effects I hope to achieve … with Kool Aid, of course. In other words, expect them to end up being vibrant and bold in color. Or black, should I make a total mess of everything. :D
I better go have a look at how the felting is going. Not that I am the sort to fuss over it. They aren’t shoes or hats, so the end size and how much they felt doesn’t really matter than much to me. I haven’t felted Fisherman’s Wool in the washer before though, so I might ought to check in on it … just to see what it’s doing.