Knit One... Purl Two

so.. do you knit?? I can do the basics and a few years ago spent lots of time knitting wool bags to felt. It was a slight addiction I think. My piles of Black Sheep wool can attest to that! But then sadly the lure of the sewing machine siren became louder than the lure of the knitting needles and I have been woefully negligent of my yarn stash...

but...then this gorgeously tempting photo arrived in my inbox



it is a new pattern available at knitwhits or for free in the fall issue of Knitty

so...tell me...does it tempt you too???

mango moon madness!

when we were in Aspen, Klem asked if I could make him an ear flap - pilot style hat...in PINK! so when I stumbled upon this luscious yarn...carnation dreadlocks.... from Mango Moon I knew it was just what he was looking for.....the pattern is Nelly from Rowan and was knit on size 17 needles ... it took about 45 minutes start to finish!

when we got home the other kids really wanted one too but we were unable to find the mango moon locally so we headed off to the local yarn store and they choose some nice super bulky wool...

I never FELT better....

last night I finished knitting my backpack to be felted...whoo hooo...if you have not tried this yet I will warn you that it is addicting!

For some reason I seem to do a lot of it in the summer...yes, pictue that, sitting on a beach chair ,90+ degrees...under a pile of wool yarn! Not sure why other than the fact that it is a portable craft and heaven forbid I sit and do nothing!

This is the second backpack I made this summer - the first turned out a little smaller than I wanted, so I knit a monster one...or so I thought. It is important to remember: do not fall alseep while felting...whoops, i closed my eyes for a few minutes last night after putting it in the washer and it ended up going through a full cycle, including the rinse &spin!

Oh well..now Eily has her eye on it in case my things don't fit inside ; )

So..here are the pictures...

(note cell phone for sze reference in before and after photos)