Battle Bowl, The Happy Afterword

Finishing off the Battle Bowl was a snap. I followed Liat's pattern without a pause or problem. I knit one strand of the Manos silk blend into the round of 40 stitches for a bit of highlight.

I like the subtle gradations of the Cascade 220 yarn (9872-Thunder) color way. This picture is pretty accurate.

The finished bowl was almost nine inches in diameter and quite floppy. I tried it on as a hat and it looked very silly, though vaguely Elizabethan. The contrasting Manos silk blend showed strongly against the dark wool.

After two cycles in the washer on hot-hot-hot, it was still pretty limp, so I ran it through once more for a total felting time of about 28 minutes. At some point in the third cycle, it felted. It felted like a yurt. (I think that's going to be my felting motto.)

It came out smaller than I expected, about six and a half inches in diameter, with creases in the bottom where the Möbius twists pulled at the structure of the bowl. I stuffed it with a saucer for shape and a couple of dry cleaner bags for bulk and let it dry overnight.

The felted Battle Bowl lost most of the lovely color spectrum and the Manos felted right into the wool, showing very little. I think it looks like a rock.

But that's okay, the Engineer is getting it and he works in geoscience, so it's apropos.

Lessons Learned

• Use larger needles next time for a looser fabric. I think this may decrease the pumpkin-like appearance of the bottom of the bowl.
• Brighter colors, more contrast between body and rim of bowl - so much of that was lost in the felting.
• Manos Del Uruguay Silk Blend felts easily, but the gleam of the silk is lost in the process - so don't felt it.
• Pin it out on a blocking board in the first place instead of turning into a screaming maniac trying to pick up the stitches freehand.

Blocking, Blockhead, Something Like That...

The Civil War shawl is finally blocking in the primary guest room. (Are the Engineer and I weird? All of the rooms in our house have names.) KC, who is one good cookie, has said she will model it for my camera tomorrow, so watch this space for further photos.

I went on Ravelry to look at some of the 1354 versions of Susan Lawrence's Forest Canopy shawl just for comparison and was amazed at looking at how quickly so many of the people who knit this pattern turned it out. A couple of days in many cases.

Took me a month.

I think I must be the world's slowest knitter.

Or maybe I just make and fix the most boo-boos.

Knit Accompli

In my infinite folly, I decided to cover a few minor stitching boo-boos on Ember's Gossamer Scarf with clear glass seed beads. I knew the scarf wouldn't run where my stitches were lacking. Heck, I couldn't have frogged the thing if I'd tried what with all the little hairs of Moe happily mating with each other. But I love my Mother-in-law-in-law and wanted her scarf to be the best possible.













I spent three days sewing seed beads onto that scarf; probably about 400 in all. It looks damn fine, like dainty little drops of frozen water sitting on the soft green lace.

Will I ever do it again?

Hell No!

I also knit three wash cloths of Sugar 'n Cream cotton as cabin gifts. They are practical, not pretty, and they certainly helped keep my hands and brain from trembling with seed bead overdose.

Baby Kimono Jacket

Finished the baby kimono wrap jacket by knitting a belt that goes from the end of the inner front flap, through a hole in the side seam, around the back and buttons on the end of the outer front flap. I crocheted three loops on the business end of the belt so that it would be adjustable. Found a really cute button too. This is the first thing I've knit that has been seamed. I think I need a whole lot of practice at that before it looks good.

I sure hope that this fits the baby when she arrives -- never having had a baby, I don't know if it still has gorilla arms or not.

Tah-Dah!

Finished the evening wrap. Had to bind off twice because the first try ended up being too lose. That was a new one for me; I usually do everything too tightly. It is, as I suspected it would be, one big piece of knitting.

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Now to get on with the projects I'm part way through:

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Finish up these two scarves -- I don't like the yarns, so it's a chore to work on them.

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I've sewed the gaudy purse together, now I need to make the liner and put on a button and it's done.

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I knit one and a half baby booties and the baby outgrew them.
Yes, I am a slow knitter.

All is not lost, however. Another friend has become pregnant and is due with a girl in November. Surely I can finish half of a bootie by then.

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And last, but not least, the ScarfieBeanie. I have the beanie knit and half of one scarf. Should take no time to finish up a scarf and a half.

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Unless, of course, something more interesting calls my name...