Baby Junk and Felted Things.

I've been up to nothing lately, but very busy. Family from Florida came last week, so I spent a long time cleaning and I'm still not done... Can someone tell me how I have so much yarn? Seriously. I'm going to take pics for you, but I'm lazy and i have yet to organize it all. So far I have two big baskets full of yarn, another filled with my spinning supplies and yarn, and a HUGE bag holding the motherload of my yarn. Crazy. I'm not doing it tonight though. Maybe Tuesday you'll get to drool over my mass quantities of yarn.

I found out my cousin is having a baby. It's a girl. She isn't due until late July or early August, so I have some time. I started knitting a blankie... It's pink and pale pink acrylic with a shiny strand inside. Plain old boring garter stitch. Well, not so boring. I'm knitting it normal and backwards so I never have to turn it. Turning huge pieces on circular needles annoys me immensely. I use mostly bamboo needles because I love the feel and nothing slides unless I want it to. I have some metal and some plastic needles, but I prefer bamboo. So here I am using a US 10.5 29" circular needle. This blanket will be huge. :) I never really measure baby blankets when I make them... I do a good job of guesstimating and they're always big enough to either wrap the baby or cover the carseat. Since she's due in August-ish, I'm making the blankie winter/autumn thick. It's 80 stitches across, and I'll probably make it 120-140 rows... or until I get sick of knitting. :)

On to the fun knitting! I have been wanting to felt for a while now. I have no knowledge of how to work a washing machine. (Laugh it up. 22 year old chick can't do laundry. Ha ha ha.) I had to start with something small. What is small that you can felt? Cat toys. The little mice from SNB Nation to be exact. I used this yarn in Carrot, but I don't see it on there anymore.... hmmm. No bother, I had four skeins. I also have two skeins each of the Heather Amber, Avacado and Pumpkin. Cheap wool. :) I love Knit Picks. Anyways... I used that Carrot color which is a nice deep orange. I followed the pattern exactly, only I used size US 9 needles instead of US 4. I posted on craftster, I read many a website. I was ready. After I attached the little ears and sewed up his butt with the best mattress seam ever (there are pics below of my most perfectest seam ever done by me and my crapping stitching), I filled my sink with the hottest water I could stand (which, since my hands are usually numb, was surprisingly hot). I was too lazy to go downstairs and get laundry detergent, so I just squirted some Dial in the water and swished it around a little. It's a cat toy, not a me toy. I rubbed it between my fingers, against itself, turned it inside out... and it was felting. Slowly but surely it was felting. I couldn't wait, not only am I lazy but I have no patience. I made sure it was good and wet then I held the blob between my palms and rubbed. Soak, rub, soak, rub. All in all it took about 5 minutes to hand felt Mr. Mouse. I dried him on a towel as best I could and since his middle was fairly dry, I decided to stuff him before I finished stitching him up. he's layered. :) His butt is catnip, his tummy is a combo of polyfil and catnip, and his nose is catnip. I finished stitching him up with the long tail I left (I felted it a little so it would blend better, and it looks pretty good I think, especially for my first time). He has no eyes and no mouth... or a normal tail. On purpose. I was inspired by this. Aren't they cute? Mine doesn't look like a mouse-pig though. :) I didn't want to make an i-cord tail, I just stitched up to the tip of Mr. Mouse's nose and shoved the needle through the body and out the butt. Because of the felting, I don't think it's going anywhere, and if it does, it's just a kitty toy. :) I do like the green of the mouse-pigs. I think I'll make some of these to sell in September for the garage sales around my house. I'll have to figure out what to charge. What do people pay for felted catnip mice? WARNING: DO NOT EVEN CARRY THESE AROUND WHEN THERE ARE CATS WITHIN 500 FEET. This particular mouse is for Jiro, the boyfriend's cat. I have three minions of my own... and all of them were mewing at me and trying to climb my legs. These mice are potent. ;) And now for the moment you've all been waiting for....

Pre-felting.


Do you see that seam? That's right. No, you don't. :)


Isn't he cute? Even with no eyes. :)


Post-Felting!


This is him all finished, but before I shaped his nose. You can still kind of see the seam.


Now that I'm back, I can catch up on e-mail and blogs! Yay!


PS After seeing how much yarn I have gathered and collected, I have decided to go on a mini yarn diet. Just until I get rid of some of it. Is this cheating? :)