Magic Treetop Bags

This weekend is easter weekend, which means a lot of free time. And the sun is shining and I was feeling brave enough to try something new: felting!

I got this really course yarn from a co worker, I think it was spun straight from the sheep because it even had twigs in it :)
Not really suited to wear on the skin...
So bags it will be, and then of course one designed by Tiny Owl Knits. Yes I do love her whimsical designs, I admit.

When I started with this big floppy bag and the warning on the interwebs that felting is really hard to achieve when you have a front-loader washing machine. But after a few good spins on the highest temp it became this really cute bag: Kawai! (cute in japanese..) ♥

And I had enough yarn left to make TWO, yes.... two, more!

I was laughing all the way, felting is quite an artsy and organic process. You never know what will be the end product. I was quite surprised to see that the yarn became darker in the process, but it looked really good :)

So this afternoon I went to the park and made some pics of the first two bags in my fav tree. Then I had lunch on a bench in the sun with a really good fish salad: good times ♥


PS: I love my new shoes, They're from El Naturalista, a shoe company which is completely eco friendly and recycles. I love the look and walking in them. LOVE

And a random pretty flower photo taken in the park:

Vision for Maris

A few weeks back Mariska was nice enough to come with me to the yarn store. While she was there she found the most perfect shrug in one of the Rowan books. Can you make this Mariek? Sure, no problem. And I was looking forward to working with the luxurious Rowan kid Silk haze. Which is like the lovechild of a silkworm and an angora bunny :) lols

But.... boy, oh boy, I detested making the thing every step of the way! Don't get me wrong it is a great design and I am absolutely in love with finished piece...
First off the big circle was so easy it was really BORING. I had to push myself each night to do another repeat.
And then I thought when the fun was coming, meaning lace, I love lace. Nohooo the lace was written and not charted! And Rowan uses other names for certain stitches! AAAAARGH!
I kept losing my way even though I have done the exact same lace pattern on socks like a month before :( Not a happy camper on that one.
By then I wanted to finish it so bad I pushed on, but if it had been for me it would have gotten a one way trip to the frog pond pretty fast, rippit rippit..

But as I said the finished thing is gorgeous and looks fantabulously good on Maris.

For me it was a lesson: I will not knit for other people unless I love them dearly, my bff got her shrug purely out of the love I feel for her.
Imagine finishing something you detest for someone you hardly know? I wouldn't, so I learned my lesson: yay for me!