The voice of the frog is calling - the Lopi Einstein is gonna die.


Not much knitting to report, I was on IMs or the phone all night with both offspring until I fell into bed early. I did manage to cast on and correctly join the simple little red hat and indulged in a row or two of knitting in bed. It's going to be a basic 4x4 ribbed cap and matching scarf set. I'm not sure who will want it when it's done, I love the red but it doesn't go with my winter coat, but it's a perfect mindless TV project, soft and easy and round-and-round, and that's the way I like it. It can always go to charity if there are no takers, and the yarn was in my stash. I feel a wave of accessories coming on - I'd like a pair of fingerless gloves for driving and dog walking, and Girlchild has requested that Noro 102 multi-directional scarf, (I can't wait to start that, it's going to be fun) and I'm thinking a hat to match would be nice even if she doesn't really want it, because it did get into the 20s in her neck of the woods the other day.

The new Knitter's came the other day and I haven't had time to really look at it yet, but I did thumb through and see knitted and felted bags. The ones that intrigued me most are the recycled silk bag on p. 87 and the snap tote on 89, but my first thought was that as these felted bag patterns are pouring out from all sources, they're starting to look alike to me. There are only so many original things one can do with a bag, and maybe we're running out of them. The silk bag, however, is definitely colorful and funky, and more suited to my climate, and I may have to fool around with that concept one day.

That snap tote has a nice shape and looks sharp, and I could see it in my beloved Cascade 220, in rich purple, red and turquoise stripes, but after I read the pattern I didn't like the way it was designed, it seems destined for frustration. It's made with two separate pieces, front and back, sewn together before felting - felting is a vigorous process, and if you sew the seams too tightly they may pull and pucker when felting, and if you sew too loosely, your stripes could get off-kilter and felt together that way. There's a reason so many felted bags are designed in one piece in the round, besides convenience - the felting is less suspenseful when you're not dealing with seam issues. And the strap? Knit a huge tube, and then sit stitching a cotton cord into it before felting? Like, what? The cord won't shrink but the knitted tube will, how on earth can that work? It sounds really dopey to me - again, a felted I-cord is sturdy as hell and much easier. A cute bag, but designed for frustration - and why? Maybe because these bags are all becoming so derivative, it's hard to do anything original with them in pattern or technique. It's a nice looking bag, but I smell trouble in the finishing stage. I'd adapt that pattern to knit in the round, go with the I-cord strap, and be done with with it.

The sweaters didn't turn me on at all.

Here's a truly original felted bag shape, and I bought the pattern but haven't decided on the yarn yet, check out Mezza Luna. I love it. I also like her Tote-Around, but that circular bottom thing kicked my butt when I tried it, and I ripped it and put it aside for a time when I had more patience. I have no more patience, but I still want to master that casting on and knitting a circle from the inside out trick.

Christmas ornaments are still in the garage. Maybe I'll get to them tonight. The neighbors' houses are getting decorated one by one, I need to catch up this weekend.