My first felted project. A little (um, make that much smaller than anticipated) bag for the fall. Thank you Claudia for the leather straps - I had them sewn on yesterday. I'm such a loser. I can't follow a pattern or instructions to save my life, I seem to be genetically predisposed to disregarding all advice and learning the hard way. I knit about 100 rows of 100 stitches in the round for this thing, just making it up as I went along.
Here are some lessons learned (look away now if you too like to learn the hard way):
Be careful not to twist your stiches when knitting in the round. Knitting in the round means you don't have to purl a row, knit a row in order to have stockinette stitch.
I did seek advice from a friend on the felting process (but ignored it) and threw it in a bag in the washing machine along with some stinky running shoes for a bit of agitation. Alarmingly, it shrank very quickly - much more than the 10% I was expecting and it took about 4 days to dry out. Really?
Determined to see it through to the end, the tote I envisioned is now a handbag. Not sure I will be felting again in the forseeable - unless I learn to deal with seeing my hard work shrinking so much!
Felting can be really unpredictable.
Sorry your project didn't turn out the way you expected.
It's still really cute, if that helps...
Posted by: Jess | October 15, 2008 at 04:07 PM
well done on attempting it - I've never even tried knitting in the round never mind doing that and felting. Well done you
Lisa x
Posted by: periwinkle | October 15, 2008 at 04:17 PM
It might not be as you'd planned, but it is very pretty nonetheless!
Posted by: dottycookie | October 15, 2008 at 05:11 PM
Well it's very cute even if it wasn't what you planned, and at least you planned to felt it - I felted a favourite jigsaw cardigan recently... Hope the thought of my teeny weeny cardigan makes you feel better about your results :)
Posted by: Jo | October 15, 2008 at 05:16 PM
It can get 50% smaller depending of the wool!!! I had the same situation the first time that I felted wool! Your purse is super cute!
Posted by: Claudia | October 15, 2008 at 07:43 PM
It can get 50% smaller depending of the wool!!! I had the same situation the first time that I felted wool! Your purse is super cute!
Posted by: Claudia | October 15, 2008 at 07:43 PM
I love the colors that you chose - they look great together. I know it wasn't how you expected, but I think it is really beautiful!
Posted by: Candace | October 15, 2008 at 08:37 PM
Story of my life. The 'handbag' is adorable. Enjoy!
Posted by: Adrienne | October 15, 2008 at 08:38 PM
shhh... don't tell anyone b/c it looks fabulous just like that :-)
Posted by: trashalou | October 16, 2008 at 04:48 AM
I agree with Trashy!! I love the colours and it looks just right :)
xxx
Posted by: Lesley | October 16, 2008 at 07:34 AM
it's really REALLY cute, though! the leather handles are a great finishing touch.
Posted by: amandajean | October 16, 2008 at 09:47 AM
that's such a coincidence, I just felted a knitted bag and it's now TINY, the perfect size for a mouse............
Posted by: driftwood | October 16, 2008 at 10:05 AM
It looks great albeit smaller than you expected.
Posted by: Thimbleina | October 16, 2008 at 03:05 PM
It's a very pretty bag, even if not quite as large as you envisaged.
Posted by: Helen | October 17, 2008 at 01:29 PM
These colors are great. Nice of Claudia to send you the straps! She is a good egg.
Posted by: apple cyder | October 21, 2008 at 03:09 PM
Ah, but it looks SO great.
My daughter has a rather lovely cardigan that someone felted from a 7 year old size to a toddler size, so I guess I can vouch for more than 10 % shrinkage being possible...
Posted by: Lil' d | October 21, 2008 at 06:24 PM