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Sunday, December 24, 2006

Christmas Gifts

Ok, so I exchanged gifts with the girls at church today and they opened them - that makes it ok to post pictures of what I made (finally)!

First up, I tried my hand at felting a bag. It is the ballband bag from
Monica's site. I think it turned out ok, but I don't think I did it quite right - I did learn lessons for the next attempt though.

This, to the right, is the before picture. I didn't use very large needles (like I found out after you should use), but instead used the 4.0mm or 4.5mm called for on the yarn wrapper. I didn't know that it should be the larger needles so that the felting process would be better.

Next is the finished product as it is drying. I used one of my text books (Communication Disorders) wrapped in several plastic grocery bags to protect it.

I don't have the sizes with me to record here, but in the height it shrank a few inches, and in width only about an inch. Also, for the handle I just did a simple garter stitch. It is a long handle though, but she's a tall girl so I think it would be alright. I've also informed her that she shouldn't but anything too heavy into it because I don't think the handle would do well under the pressure.

The felting job went not too badly, though I think it might have been a little better had I used the bigger needles. There was still the odd stitch definition here and there, but nothing majorly noticeable.


Above is my other friend's Christmas gift - mittens! I think this is considered Fair Isle eh (though they called it stranding in the directions; my understanding is that the term 'stranding' is now used rather than Fair Isle, but I could be wrong)?

I got the pattern from Knit Picks, and it is this pattern. The yarn I used was Knit Picks Merino Style, and I really liked using it. It is soft and easy to work with. I've tried the mittens on, and they feel so soft and warm.

Anyway, just wanted to post a quick update and show the knitting gifts I made for Christmas now that they have been seen by their recipients.

I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas filled with joy, peace, and love! God bless!!

16 comments:

Prayerful Knitter - Shelly said...

Shelley, the gifts are wonderful!

Merry Christmas. : )

Janice said...

The gifts are great!! I like how the ball band bag came out!! And the mittens are beautiful!!

Merry Merry Christmas!!

Anonymous said...

wow! love the gifts! esp those mittens!! =) merry christmas! =)

Anonymous said...

Nice job on both the bag and the mittens! They look great.

Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Love the mittens (bag too). Gosh, I just placed an order with Knit Picks also & would have ordered the pattern if I had seen yours first. Love the colors too. You did a great job. Hope you're having a Merry Christmas!

Karen said...

Those are wonderful gifts. I think you did a great job on your first felting. I love the colors in the mittens, so bright and colorful.

lexa said...

The bag turned out awesome! Very nice, I love the colors. Love those mittens! I've never done much colorwork. I have the yarn to make Center Square from Knitty. I'm not much at working with more than one color, but at least it's double-strand on big needles and will knit up fast!

Hope you had a great Christmas!

Charity said...

Great finished gifts, Shelley, you did a really nice job! :0)

Anonymous said...

I love the bag. It appears to be a slip stitch pattern. Is that right? Looks perfect to me.

Anonymous said...

I think the rule is, all Fair Isle is stranded, but not all stranded is Fair Isle. I guess the Fair Isle people are getting upset that people keep calling non-traditional patterns their name.

Great job on both projects, they are both beautiful.

monica said...

They look great. I love the mittens, those are nice, bright, cheerful colors.

Anonymous said...

Seriously? You think that bag came out only OK? I think it looks fantastic! I really love that pattern, and it appears to me, anyway, that you executed it perfectly. And the mittens also came out great -- very lucky recipients.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, Shelley!

Lisa said...

I love the bag and the mittens. One of my goals for next year is to learn fairisle or colorwork. I get all those terms confused too!

Anonymous said...

Great!
God bless
Maria in the UK
www.inhishands.co.uk

Amy said...

I love the bag!

Pooch said...

You did beautiful work on those mittens! They are so pretty! Your friend must have been so excited to receive them!!

:)