Can She Finish?

I feel like Dory from Finding Nemo...



Just keep knitting. Just keep knitting. Just keep knitting, knitting, knitting.

(Just today and tomorrow left in the Knitting Olympics!)

Felted Purse Session II: Recap

The second session of Get Knittin'@the Library: Felted Purse was last night. Not everyone from Session I returned, but there were also a couple of newbies. 24 total.

The class was a little more fragmented than I would have liked. The students were all at different stages. My overhead presentation went over how to seam up the purses, but not everyone had completed pieces to seam up. Some of them were still working on their knitting, or needed "triage" done on their pieces. So I put the seamers at tables, and the knitters in chairs. I went through the presentation, gave a felting demo (using a coffee cup cozy), and then showed them samples of customizations for finished purses. Then I just spent a lot of time running around doing various things...I think I got a little scatterbrained. I hope that the students were not overwhelmed, and I especially hope they don't feel I neglected them.

On the positive side, I have heard back from two people who have already felted their purses, and they seem very pleased with the results. I am going to start collecting pictures of the finished products to put up in an album here on the blog.

I didn't finish all of the samples I intended to before the class. I only got 6 done, and I had 8 planned. Here are the six:

A. Felted Bangle Bracelet Bag with Silk Flower Embellishment



B.Purple and Lilac Striped Purse with Flap



C. Rust and Black Purse with Variegated Ribbon Accent



D. Variegated Standard Purse



E. Black and White Two Tone Purse with Button Flap and Scroll Pattern Button



F. Large Mocha Brown Purse with Flap and Stone Button



[By the way...all 6 of these are going to be for sale...if you are interested, please email me.]

PLUS SIDE OF CLASS BEING OVER: IT IS NOTHING BUT MOHAIR CINEMA SHAWL UNTIL SUNDAY NIGHT'S CLOSING CEREMONIES!!! I REALLY REALLY REALLY WANT TO FINISH THESE KNITTING OLYMPICS!!!!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

My class is tomorrow...

...it's only a day away!

(Get Knittin' @ the Library: Felted Purse Session II is tomorrow night at 6:30...5 samples done...2, possibly, to go!)

The obnoxious thing is that I made a completely amateur mistake on one of the purses! It is too late to fix it properly, I should have noticed it sooner. I can "fix" it still, but it will involve changing the design a bit. I think I will leave it until after class so that I can use the sample as a sort of warning to my students.

And, after tomorrow night, it is all cinema shawl all the time in the Knitting Olympics!

Why I Love Housesitting

I have access to a laundry room with a large sink and full size dryer in which I can felt a parade of purses!

...also, I have the constant joy of warmblooded company.

(Sadie tends to ignore the knitting process, but Tara tends to get curious!)

Knitting While Petsitting...

...has its difficulties.

I have to convince Sadie that german shepherds are not lapdogs, and Tara that cats are not supposed to sleep in my knitting bag!

Still, at least I have cable...I can finally watch the actual Olympics while doing the Knitting Olympics!

Becoming a Bi-Athlete

Just as the real Olympics have the biathlon...my knitting Olympics are also swiftly turning into a combo-event. Only instead of skiing and shooting, I am juggling multiple projects.

I initially signed on to knit the blue mohair cinema shawl for my Knitting Olympics project. I waited patiently, and then cast on during the And it is progressing at a snail-slow but steady rate.

However, at the same time...I have a stack of felted purses to finish as samples for the class I am giving next Wednesday at the library. And by stack, I mean seven...which are at various stages of done-ness. (I couldn't count the purses as my official Knitting Olympics project because many of them were in progress before the Opening Ceremonies.)

I have been alternating back and forth...mohair shawl, purse a's strap, mohair shawl, purse b's body, purse a's strap, mohair shawl...etc.

Now I am starting to worry that not only will I not complete both tasks by their respective finish dates, I might not complete either one.

AAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!

(I comfort myself with the fact that the shawl doesn't have to be done until the 28th, and the purses (finished or not) can be set aside after the 24th. That gives me FOUR WHOLE DAYS of non-stop (except for work and school) shawl knitting to play catch up in.)

Multitasking

I spent the majority of today:

-Working out on my exercise ball

-Reading a biography of John and Abigail Adams for the senior book club I facilitate

-Drinking coffee

-Listening to the mellow saxophone sounds of the Nuclear Whales

-Knitting felted purse samples for the second class session at the library next week

What's more...

I did all of these things simultaneously!