Finn Felting Fanatic

Here we are in the Margaret River region, where I don’t have enough holes in my belt to indulge in the enormous amount of cafes, restaurants and wineries, not to mention the chocolate and nougat factories!  Damn, I’ll have to start my diet next week now .. maybe ..

Finn – though it’s only just beginning ..

Look at my fabulous felted finn!  I love et – LOVE ET!  After felting my sampler I thought I’d try a knitting and felting a mug before working on a whole teapot creation with spout shaping bit.  And behold, a before and after shot of aforesaid mug which is felted to the max!!  I was seriously considering making a hairy cup of coffee in it, then thought that I should really test its liquid-tightness properties before filling it with scalding water and sitting down on a chair with it in my lap.

A pre-felted beer stein sized mug … fingers crossed this baby’s gonna felt right down …

Woo hooo!!! Very happy it stayed in the proportions I was hoping for, felting more in length than width …

… down to an espresso cup size

Sadly (thou fortunately for my lap) it held the water for about 30 seconds before it started leaking.  I was devastated! – it failed the basic test.  After pondering if it should be knitted with double yarn before felting it next time, I then thought perhaps it’s time to stop this madness of trying to create a felted liquid-retaining vessel and just move on, knowing I’ve been beaten.  Nonetheless, perhaps a teapot knitted in an argyle pattern, or even one sporting warts – would make interesting kitchen accessories.  This then means that my friends when they do come to visit, may have to suffer a refreshing alcoholic beverage poured from a normal teapot instead of a felted one.  However, the felting qualities of finn yarn really are fantastic.  Thank you Maureen at Fairfield Finns, your 8ply is beautifully soft,  quick to knit up and, most importantly, a fabulous felter!

Stitch Maps to knit by

Recently I came across an interesting way knitted patterns can now be read and created.  Stitch Maps means we’re no longer restricted to the rigidity of a fixed chart or graph, seem to be really easy to use and some can be created for free.  Increases and decreases visually flow, rather than step, through a pattern.  So if any tinking or jogging is required, the map easily shows how the stitches impact each other – so re-doing is less of a problem (at least that’s my interpretation on seeing the stitch map site).  I think using these maps may make it easier to create my teapot patterns.  I may buy it, and will let you know how I go if I do make the purchase.  There’s also a Stitch Maps Ravelry group if you want to check them out.

Gloves in hot weather

And here is a little teaser of Asa Tricosa’s Mio gloves I’ve decided to foolishly knit in 43 degree heat, possibly because they just look so cool!

.. and just had to apply different versions to some egg cosys as they are such fun!

Sweet meandering cable wandering down the back of the glove

The meandering cable down the back of the hand and thumb make them both fun and interesting to knit and look at.

My challenge is if I can actually finish TWO gloves, and not start on a little ‘inbetween’ project – or 2 or 3 .. and never end up finishing the 2nd glove.

 

Hoping your projects are working out (and finishing!) as you want them to.

 

Many kind regards,

Cath