My first felting project was a Lady eleanor Stole gone wrong. I was 2 balls of Noro Kureyon into it when it occurred to me how warm it was sitting in my lap, and how inescapable that warmth would be the more of it I knit. Kureyon is wool and a worsted wool at that. That means it’s heavy. A little too heavy to get much use in Houston.

As I folded what I had already knit in half, the knitting was covering my laptop that was on the table in front of me. I knew from reading about felting that most things shrink 30%. this seemed about a third bigger than my laptop…hmm…

I made the decidion to sew up the sides of my bag and give it a try. She turned out pretty good and I learned some things about felting in the process. I also didn’t have to rip out all that knitting. the bag was a perfect fit for my at the time new Mac iBook. Now that the iBook has a new home, I use the bag as a knitting bag or sometimes as a lunch bag or just…a bag.

More recently, I knit this Lady E as part of the Gratitude Project for my friend Beth. This one was in a bulkier yarn and soft and luscious in shades of pink and black. I tried knitting a basic striped wrap with this same yarn and it looked like barf. Lady E was the perfect solution.

About three or four years ago, I had some extra birthday cash that coincided with a less than pleasant dental appointment. As a reward for keeping the appointment and making it through it, I stopped and bought some Noro Silk Garden Lite that was intended to make a Lady Eleanor that wouldn’t be interminably hot for the Houston clime. There was a sale involved plus a quantity discount, so I ended up with 14 balls of the same color and dye lot. Woohoo. I think i was in there choosong for more than an hour.

I thought the yarn was various shades of pinks and browns. I think I even remember the blues peaking about. I had no idea about the lime0ish green, or even the mossy green, but I have to say I absolutely love them. With noro, there are often color surprises hidden deep within the ball making it necessary ro look closely to know what you are getting. I am sure I didn’t know this then but really, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

This Lady E is color way number 2014 lot B. somepeople, when knitting with Noro, will painstakingly cut and splice so that they have a continual progression of color patterning throughout their garment. That. Will. Not. Happne. Here.

I am about halfway through the second ball and finding it rather addicting. L O V E it.

The final day of color week was a choice of either white/grey or rainbow. You might think I would play the gay card and choose rainbow, but since a lot of my other knitting was more than just the color of the day, I decided to go with whites/grey instead.

The white tam is called Snow  Star Hat and is from the first issue of St-Denis magazine and by Veronique Avery. I couldn’t find her new yarn Nordique and substituted Nashua Creative Focus from my stash. The hat was a challenge from some knitter friends. We challenged each other to be out of our knitting comfort zones. Cabling makes me a little manic, so it qualified. I think the weight of the yarn itself was okay but I should have used a smaller needle. The hat is, umm, big, but Elizabeth says she likes it. I still think maybe it should be reknit a little tighter.

The scarf is a basic fisherman’s lace stitch with some not so basic yarn from out trip to Alaska. While there I bought a few luscious skeins from anindie dyer, Raven Frog Fiber Arts. If you ever cruise Alaska, you will find her stuff everywhere. I think this was called twisted and it came in a lovely 8 ox hank. I made three of these scarves with her yarn, one going to Sally as part of the Gratitude Project, and the other two living right here with me. This colorway is called Glacier. You have to be in good light to see even the slightest hint of blue in the mostly white and greys. Definitely would like more of this yarn.

Stuff is in the mail. Almost all of it. the only remaining thing that needs to be in the mail is a sample of some yarn I have to send to Fleece Artist for them to match and send me back enough to finish a Lady of the Lake sweater I am working on. It was almost done. It was almost going on vacation to South Africa with me. I ran out of one of the yarns just before I finished the second sleeve and still need some for the collar. Truth be told, I would like the sleeves to be longer, too, but I can live with them the length they are (about 3/4) if I only get enough new yarn for the collar. time will tell. but that is what isn’t in the mail.

What is in the mail is the first few items for my ongoing Gratitude Project. Last year I did a meme which I took from Annie Modesitt’s blog. The first 5 people to reply get something handmade by me. They, in turn, post the same offer on their own blog, and Gratitude ripples across the water ad finitum. I really enjoyed participating in that, and since then I have had an ongoing Gratitude List stuck on my keyboard at work. When someone or something strikes me in a certain way, I add them to the list. The list itself is a little one inch Post-It note, so it never gets out of hand, and I just crossed 4 names off it which makes room for four more. So far, it is a good outlet for my knitting obsession.

This quilt square is also out the door. We participated in a group quilting project with some lovely ladies in CT. The only rules were that we had to use 100% cotton fabric, and we had to incorporate a sample provided to us. The two chicks are the incorporated fabric. It’s finished and in the mail. It even has a tracking number!

I also got something in the mail yesterday, a book I had ordered called The wonderful Weekend book by Elspeth Thompson. So far, it’s lovely and I am enjoying it. The focus is on reclaiming the weekend for personal relaxation and balance. The author is English, so it’s rather…Brittish…maybe a tad pretentious…but it is what it is and I find it somehow delightful.

I almost forgot to mention the journal project I am doing. I started a round robin journal project in the Simple Living group on Ravelry. 9 of us are participating and as it is my first time doing such a thing, it feels rather loosey goosey in terms of guidelines. Basically each person starts a journal, whether written, collage, painted pages, whatever, and we mail them to each other every 2 weeks or so. Eventually, if the universe is being kind, your original journal comes back to you.

Time to flee to the Island. Maybe more later, maybe not.