I like to knit, oh yes I do. I like to knit, how 'bout you?

I like to knit. I learned with a do-it-yourself book and basic needles. The first thing I made was far from perfect. The last thing I knit was far from perfect. But I have fun. I absolutely love that a simple ball of yarn can transform into something usable and dare I say ... attractive.

(By the way - thank you to the person who bid on my hand- knit scarf at Jeni B’s auction. You are supporting a good cause and lifting my spirits in one fell swoop! Somebody bid on the scarf, somebody bid on the scarf! Thank you, thank you!)

My latest project is a felted bag - The Constant Companion. I’ve made three of these bags thus far. The first was given as a diaper bag. The second, assuming I sew the lining before Saturday, is also slated as a diaper bag. The third is mine, all mine! It’s for my knitting supplies of course as they're my current baby. I’ve decided not only to line it but also to embroider it.

Now, I can knit. I’m comfortable with that. But my machine sewing skills are suspect. And embroidery? Never done it although I do a lot of hand-sewing at work - we call it suturing. The suture patterns I frequently use are simple-interrupted, simple-continuous and ford-interlocking (which looks suspiciously like a blanket stitch - I’ll bet ‘ol Ford stole that one from Grandma and put his name to it).

Anywho - Friday I finished knitting my bag and felted it. We have a front-loader and felting is a bit more difficult but it can be done. I usually end up finishing it in the dryer which has the added benefit of being more dry that with machine felting alone. I blocked it overnight and took it with me on our weekend trip to my folk’s house. I wanted to embroider a bird on the front to match the lining.

But here’s the catch. I can’t draw. However I can use a camera. So I took a picture of the lining, blew it up and printed it out. Then I traced the outline on waxed paper and voila! We have a bird. So began my adventures in embroidery. I probably should have looked up some stitches but no, I decided to wing it (get it? wing it?). And really it didn’t come out too bad. It does resemble a bird. We’ll just call it folk art.

I think the bag needs another bird and maybe a branch. Today I decided to seek professional help. I googled basic embroidery and found this site. Look at all the wonderful, new and fun stitches to play with. I may be hooked.

Don’t be surprised if the next time your dog goes in for laceration repair he comes out with a fancy closure. Maybe this, or this, or this.

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And now I have housework to attend to. It seems that while I was gone (a mere 30 hours) the dust bunnies had a party - a rager to be exact. Happy Monday!