Booga J

I figured it was time to get down to business and really LEARN about knitting, so I splurged at Amazon and got these:

Sweater Design in Plain English by Maggie Righetti
Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti
Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann
The Knitter's Companion by Vicki Square

I have quickly looked through them and I think they are exactly what I was looking for. The Righetti books came highly recommended by Theresa and they are packed with tons of info. I'm very eager to sit down and read them cover to cover. The Elizabeth Zimmerman book was recommended by a woman in my local knitting guild. I just got in contact with her and will be attending my first meeting next week. I'm so excited because she has over 50 years of knitting experience and was easy to talk to on the phone.

These aren't "pattern" books and they don't have glossy photos. What they do have is information -- information which I hope will make me a better knitter and help me to start designing (gasp!) my own garments. I am a born learner -- I love school and classes and books. I just wasn't aware that these types of books were out there. I'll let you know what I think of them as I read through each one. Time to go snuggle up on the couch with some tea and a good book!

The constant Companion is dry and ready to go. I'm very happy with it and would highly recommend this project to anyone. The felted fabric is thick and sturdy. As you can see, it stands up all by itself -- even when open:

And it is very roomy. I'm sure a whole sweater project could easily fit in it. Another bonus is the double handle. If you pull each handle out, you end up with two long handles instead of four short ones. Wonderful!

99.9% Complete:
Here it is after felting! It seems very thick and sturdy and I can't wait for it to dry. I put it through the wash on a hot wash cold rinse three times. The first two times it was in with a bunch (3-4 pair) of jeans. After the 2nd wash it looked like some fuzz from the jeans was sticking to the bag, so I left only the most washed out and faded pair in for the thrid wash. I used Tide in the first wash, nothing in the second and Woolite in the third.

When I took the bag out of the washing machine, it was very rounded and lacked a shape. In order to get a nice flat bottom on my felted bags, I always stuff them with boxes that are inside plastic grocery bags. You can see how I did it in the above picture. First I put in the two large boxes and then I SHOVED the little box inbetween. It was a struggle to get it in there, but you have to do this to get a good shape. So, now it's drying -- pictures of the completed bag soon!

Here is a close up of that i-cord bind-off. The bag is currently in the washer with 4 pairs of jeans -- updates soon!

Well, I've made it through the triple i-cord bind off and man does my hand hurt. I think it will give the top edge of the bag a lot of added strength though. Now I just have to knit the 120" of black i-cord for the handles and then I'm ready for felting! I'm really getting jealous of everyone's Suki bags. That might have to go on my list after the Fuzzy Feet. Isn't Knitty great?!?