Thinking Ahead

As summer winds down, I find myself thinking of the season ahead, which is why I suppose I got the urge to knit up a few pumpkins. I might be rushing things, but not by much. Fall is only a little over a month away.

Miniature Felted Pumpkins

The pattern, Miniature Felted Pumpkin, is one I came up with a couple of years ago. It's a quick knit on double pointed needles. Many people are surprised by the pre-felted shape, but never fear, a pumpkin it will become.

Before Felting

The yarn I used for these three pumpkins is (left to right): Cascade Pastaza-Burnt Orange, Monos del Uruguay-Persimmon, Brown Sheep Lanaloft-Orange Confection.

I suggest knitting several and felting them all at the same time. My method of machine felting is detailed in the pattern instructions. These shrink quickly, so check on them every five minutes until you get the look you want.

After Felting

It's not until stuffing is added and sections are created with lengths of yarn that these oval pouches look anything like a pumpkin. A knitted stem is the final touch.


It doesn't take much yarn to make one of these pumpkins, so it's a great project for left over bits and pieces of yarn you have no idea what to do with. I've used traditional pumpkin colors for mine, but any color goes. Check out the Ravelry Project Gallery for inspiration.

Think ahead and start knitting for fall.

Mason-Dixon Felted Box

From Start to Finish

Begin with yarn suitable for felting. Whatever you choose should be equal to two strands of bulky weight held together. I used one strand of Caron Felt-It and three strands of White Buffalo Canadian Unspun.


These colors look good together: Adobe and Goldenrod.

Get out your copy of Mason-Dixon Knitting and size 10 (6mm) needles. Turn to page 60 and follow the simple pattern. In just a few hours you will have knitted the whole thing.


That didn't take long at all!


Clever "fold lines" are the key to square construction.

Time to sew it up. You'll need a crochet hook for this part. Don't fret it though. No special knowledge of crocheting is needed. Step-by-step illustrations take you through the whole process. It's easy!


Looks a little crooked, but it will all straighten out in the wash.

Machine wash in hot water on the lowest water level setting with a little soap and a lot of agitation. Take it out when it looks right to you. Shape and allow to air dry (this might take a day or two). Trim off excess fuzz with scissors (my preference) or a disposable razor. Fill with treasures of your choice and enjoy.


All finished. That was fun!

This is the small box. Mine turned out to be 4" x 4" x 3". Just right for holding an assortment of Post-It Notes.

Before and After

BEFORE CLEANING
How did it get this bad?



AFTER CLEANING
Much better.



BEFORE FELTING



AFTER FELTING



Pattern: Eyeglass Case from Felted Knits
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool
Needles: US 10 circular

I like the way this turned out. The fabric is nice and sturdy, but the size is larger than I need for my reading glasses. It's better suited for sunglasses, I think, so I'll give it to John. I promised him a case a long time ago.

I found some free patterns for felted eyeglass patterns that I may try next time:
Horizontal Design with Flap
Veritcal Design with Flap
Wet Felted Case

That Looks Better

Last night we decorated the tree. Our tradition has always been to do this as a family. Getting everyone together on a night that we didn't have other things to do was a challenge this year, but it was worth waiting for. Matt's girlfriend, Barbara, was even able to be here. We shared a nice supper, trimmed the tree, then sat around enjoying our time together. Matt played his guitar and John joined in on the mandolin.

Our tree is decorated with a hodgepodge of ornaments: a felt bag filled with balsam needles sewn together by John's mother, star burst ornaments made from the spiny fruit of a sweet gum tree, a bendy Santa toy that the kids creatively hang every year, ice skates crafted from felt and paperclips, dollar store finds that look like antique ornaments and peppermint candy canes that can be picked off and eaten at any time. The oldest thing on the tree though is the angel on top. It was given to me on my first Christmas forty-six years ago. It is worn and ragged now, but holds memories of Christmases when I was just a little girl and it topped our family tree then.





And though I didn't plan on knitting gifts for Christmas, I ended up making a few. Here is one that is safe to show.



The pattern for this set is in the book Felted Knits. The oven mitt is knitted from Jazz by Artful Yarns (50% alpaca, 50% wool). It's been in my stash for a couple of years. The dark blue yarn is White Buffalo. John has pronounced this oven mitt and trivet "the coolest thing you've ever made". A free pattern for a similar mitt can be found here (for the pdf file and picture, be sure to click the link at the top the pattern).

At Least There Are Presents

The tree is not decorated yet, but most of the presents are wrapped. Here's a little gift I put together for my neighbor.

Gingerbread Coffee Creamer and Felted Coasters



Jean shared the recipe for this tasty creamer on her blog recently. I decided to try it and I really enjoyed the spicy flavor. I used it in a cup of coffee, but it can also be added to hot tea. If you like your coffee or tea extra sweet, you will probably want to add more sugar. I liked it just the way it is.

The coasters were knitted from a pattern in Felted Knits. They are worked on circular needles back and forth in garter stitch and then stitches are picked up all around for the border which is also worked in garter stitch.

You can find a free pattern for felted coasters here. They are round instead of square and worked in stockinette stitch.

These coasters are a great way to use up leftover bits of yarn. Also, you might consider knitting one as a test swatch for a larger felted project. Not only will you get a good idea of how well the yarn will felt, you will also have a finished object to add to your list.

Why Stop Now?

This picture shows three miniature pumpkins ready for felting. If you try the pattern don't be surprised at the pre-felted shape. I know it looks more like a football, but in the end it will look like a pumpkin. I promise.

I decided to make one of these into a pincushion. I did a little research and found that a pincushion can be stuffed with anything. It's really a matter of personal taste. Pincushions are often filled with sawdust, but you can use cotton batting, wool roving, poly-fil, emery (metal shavings) or fine sand. I read here that wool roving was often used in combination with sawdust. The lanolin in the wool roving keeps the pins from rusting.

I wanted the one I made to be solid and firm, so I decided to use sawdust. Since I needed only a small amount, I bought an inexpensive tomato pincushion, cut it apart and used the sawdust inside. This cushion also came with a strawberry emery, which I left intact and sewed inside the stem of the pumpkin.

You can see the pumpkin pincushion below along with some new pumpkins that have been added to my pumpkin patch.



And I'm not sure I'm done yet.

The Pumpkin Patch

I'm on a felting kick again. This time it's pumpkins. The large pumpkin is made from a pattern I picked up in Utah. Even though the pattern was free, it's copyrighted so I can't share it. But, I can share how I made the small pumpkins since they are creations of mine. They are about the same size of the ornamental gourd pumpkins you can buy in the store this time of year.


MINIATURE FELTED PUMPKIN



Pumpkin:

Yarn: Use any natural fiber yarn that will shrink when washed. I used Cascade Pastaza in Burnt Orange.

Needles: Double point needles in appropriate size. Use a couple of sizes larger than recommended for your yarn. The goal is to create a loosely knitted fabric. US Size 11 is usually good for worsted weight and is what I used.

Cast on 15 stitches and join in the round.
K 2 rnds
Inc 1, k1, inc 1, k2. Repeat to the end of the round. (21 sts)
K 3 rnds
Inc 1, k3, inc 1, k2. Repeat to the end of the round. (27 sts)
K 10 rnds
K2tog, k3, k2tog, k2. Repeat to the end of the round. (21 sts)
K 3 rnds
K2tog, k1, k2tog, k2. Repeat to the end of the round. (15 sts)
K 1 rnd
K2tog around to last stitch, K1 (8 sts)
K2tog around (4 sts)

Cut yarn. Draw through remaining sts to close. Weave in ends. Leave the top of the pumpkin open to add stuffing later.

Felt in the washing machine until desired size is acheived and stitches are no longer visible. There are many ways to shrink your knitting. The way that works for me is to use hot water, a small amount of soap (Eucalan Woolwash), high agitation and the lowest water level setting available. I also throw in an old pair of jeans to help with the agitation. When the felting is finished, I set the machine to the spin cycle for just long enough to remove the excess water, but not long enough to set permanant creases in my knitting.

Stuff the pumpkin while it is still damp so that you can shape it as you want. With a tapestry needle and yarn, sew a running stitch around the opening and draw closed. Using lengths of yarn, form sections by wrapping yarn around pumpkin and drawing tight to shape. Tie knots on the top of the pumpkin. The knots will be hidden by the stem.

Stem

Yarn: Worsted Weight

Needles: US 6 Dpns

Cast on 12 sts. and join in the round.
K 4 rnds
K2tog around (6 sts)
K2tog around (3 sts)
Work I-cord on remaining sts until desired length. Bind off. Weave in ends.
Using a sewing needle and thread, sew stem to top of pumpkin. Use a little stuffing to fill in bottom of stem if desired.

Be creative and have fun with this pattern. Combine different colored yarns together to get a variegated look. Use up those little bits of yarn you've been saving and bust your stash.

Embellishment

Inspired by Jan, I dug out the needle felting kit that I bought over a year ago, but never used, and tried my hand at adding some embellishment to one of the bowls I made the other day.



Not bad for a first attempt. I found it was easy to position the yarn into a design with a few stabs of the felting needle and then remove it and reposition it if wasn't to my liking. Once it was right, multiple stabs of the felting needle permanantly embedded the yarn into the bowl. The yarn I used was White Buffalo, which is unspun wool. It worked great for needle felting.

Felted Bowls

I had another one of those days where I just couldn't stop knitting the same thing over and over again. This time it was felted bowls, based on the pattern from the book One Skein. I've used this pattern before. Yesterday I experimented with different sizes and shapes. It was a lot of fun. Each bowl took less than an hour to knit. I knitted and felted them separately so I could make changes if I thought I needed to.


As you can see, I ended up with several nice ones. It's interesting to see how various yarns felt differently even if they are the same brand.


The first bowl I made was the charcoal one, knitted from Wool Pak. The blue bowl was next and is made from Lopi. These two bowls were knitted exactly the same and felted to the same size, but shaped differently when wet. I thought briefly about shaping the blue one into a square, but changed my mind. It would work though.


I experimented with stripes on these bowls and I really like they way they turned out. The red and blue bowl was knitted from Wool Pak also. There is quite a difference in texture when you compare it to the charcoal one. Also interesting is that it was knitted to the same size as the two previous bowls, but it felted to a smaller size. The brown and natural bowl was made from Cascade Pastaza.

All bowls were knitted with one strand of yarn on 45 stitches using size US 11 needles except for the brown one which was knitted on size US 10 1/2.

A Few Things To Share

There has been a wonderful response to the Preemie Project Contest! I think you are going to be surprised to hear how many hats, booties and blanket squares have been donated. The number has really jumped since the last post. Check back on Thursday for the totals and winners. It will probably be later in the afternoon of that day before I post anything.

The last several days have been busy with celebrations. On Thursday Matt turned 18 and on Friday evening he graduated from high school. There is so much I could say about Matt and his acheivements, but I'll just simply say that I'm very proud of him! Robyn and James were able to be here from Arkansas. It was great to have the whole family together again. We had a wonderful but short visit. On Saturday morning we left the house at 4:00 a.m. to drive to Lafayette, Louisiana for my nephew's high school graduation which started at 9:00 a.m. We made it in time. Stayed after the graduation for a nice lunch and then returned home again the same day. Needless to say, we were all a little tired.

Things are slowing down now. Robyn and James left yesterday. We are catching up on our sleep. Knitting has resumed. I think I went almost a week without knitting a stitch--highly unusual. Enough so that John even commented on it. What I needed to get back into the swing of things was an instant gratification project, so yesterday I made the felted bowl from the book Oneskein which I have on loan from a friend. I used the unspun wool yarn (White Buffalo) that I bought on my spring break trip to Salt Lake City. I love the results.

BEFORE:


AFTER:


UP CLOSE:


This yarn felted so nicely, that I want to pick up some more on my next trip to Salt Lake City...just around the corner.

Eyeglasses Case

This is a project from the book, Fabulous Felted Hand-Knits by Jane Davis. Because it takes such a small amount of yarn, I was able to use up some leftover Noro Kureyon. I'm guessing it was about a 1/2 skein or less.

This case is constructed by knitting a strip of stockinette, working a few decreases to form the flap, sewing the side seams and then felting--quick and easy! One interesting thing I learned from this project is to use cotton crochet thread to baste down any parts that need to be stabilized during the felting process. In this instance the flap was folded down into position and basted to the front of the case. This helped to keep it from being stretched out of shape when it was in the washing machine. You might think the flap would become permanently felted to the front, but it didn't. It lifted easily when the basting thread was removed.

After everything was blocked and dry, a slit to fit the button was cut in the flap to form the buttonhole, then cotton floss was used to stitch around the opening. I may have to redo this stitching as I just realized there is a special way to do it called buttonhole stitch. I just sort of did my own thing here, so I'm not sure how well it will hold up. I'll get a chance to do it correctly soon enough though, because my husband has requested a case for his fishing sunglasses.

The Saga of the Clogs

The challenge: to felt the clog on the left to match the one on the right, but first the saga...

Two summers ago, while on a vacation in Colorado Springs, I purchased yarn and a pattern (Fiber Trends) for these clogs. I was a relatively new knitter then, so I let the store owner figure the amount of yarn I would need for the project. She had made these clogs before and even had a sample on display in the store. I trusted she knew the amount of yarn I would need.

Last spring I finally got around to knitting them and guess what? I found out I didn't have enough of the dark color to make both clogs. Oh well, I would just order more and it wouldn't really matter if it was the same dye lot because I could hide a mismatched color on the inside of the double sole if I needed to. First I decided to felt the one clog, just to make sure it was worth the effort and expense. It felted beautifully.

Finding the yarn (Cascade Pastaza) in the right color was more of a challenge than I thought it would be. Finally ordered some though and was happy to discover on it's arrival that the color was a close match. However, the yarn sat in the stash until just a couple of weeks ago.

Now, almost a year later the second clog is knitted and ready to be felted, which brings me back to the challenge. Will I be able to shrink it to the same size as the first one? I took notes on the length of washing time from earlier, but that probably won't help much since I've bought a new washing machine since then.

Well, I don't know why I had any doubts...

This one took longer to felt for some reason (the new machine maybe?) and didn't felt as evenly at first, but I think it's a good match in the end.

Little Bag

Want something quick and fun to make? Try this little bag. It takes only a few hours to knit and less time than that to felt. The longest part of the whole project is waiting for it to air dry and even that was just overnight. I used the jewelry bag pattern on page 91 of the book Felted Knits by Beverly Galeskas. This is a great book with a large variety of projects and detailed instructions on how to shrink your knitting. The yarn used for this bag is Noro Kureyon (100% wool), knit on US 10 needles. The finished size after felting is 6" x 5 1/4". A piece of leather is run through the eyelet holes and embellished with a couple of charms that can double as stitch markers for a knitter. This bag will be a gift for my neighbor. I'm not sure exactly how she will use it, but I can see her filling it with her embroidery scissors, needles and notions for her next stitching project.

Felted Bags

When going through the yarn stash that I inherited from my mother-in-law, I came across a bag full of tapestry wool. I think she used it to hook rugs. Some of it was cut in lengths, but some was still in the skein. I thought it might be good for felting since it is 100% wool. So, I knit up a little bag and threw it in the wash. It came out beautifully. I used the jewelry bag pattern from Felted Knits by Beverly Galeskas. Since the first bag turned out so well, I tried a smaller gift bag from the same book.

Oh, the fun I will have with this yarn! I think I might even try dyeing the pale skeins into something more colorful.

That's Not A Hat

Oh, I'm still knitting plenty of hats. But, I did manage to find time to knit this bag. I didn't mention it until now, mostly because I forgot to take any "before" pictures. Here it is finished. It is a plain version of Chic Shopping Bag from the book Pursenalities by Eva Wiechmann. I like the rectangular box construction. The size (about 14"x11"x3") will be good for toting small quilting or embroidery projects (I would use it for knitting projects, but it's not for me). I added an inner pocket to hold small items. Also, to give some support to the bottom, I cut a piece of plastic to fit. I read somewhere to use quilting template plastic. I found some for about $3 a sheet, but I decided to use a plastic placemat I had at home instead. I think it probably cost less than $1. Those flexible cutting mats would work well too and they are also very affordable. This bag will be a thank-you gift for a friend who is teaching me to quilt. She is a talented quilter who loves to share her craft with others. She is also very generous. She let four of us use her patterns, thread, needles and raid her stash for our fabric. Then, has patiently answered all of our questions over and over again. What a great friend!

Funny Shoe

Pre-felted objects always make me laugh. I don't know if you can tell how really huge this clog is (about 16" long) Hopefully after it is shrunk, it will be closer to size of the store bought one next to it. Gauge in not really as important in felting as in regular knitting, but it was far enough off from the pattern that I had to switch to the next larger size needle, especially since I want a very thick fabric with no stitch definition. Seems to be the right proportion now. The only hold up--not enough dark brown yarn to knit the mate. There's little chance I will find the same dye lot since I bought this yarn last summer in Colorado. Good thing this clog has a double sole. I can use any color I want to make the inner sole and no one will know but me.