This was my third time attending the festival, but the first time we actually made it an overnight trip, and the first time I took a class there. It was a great weekend. First, I was able to make some decent progress on my fourth "first knitted sweater" - Radiate from Knitty's spring 2009 issue. I'm to the point where I am actually thinking and believing that I will finish it. Look at it! I could bind it off now and have a... very weird cap sleeved bolero thing. But still a garment! It is very exciting to be this far along and not, a.) hate it, b.) have a mistake gnawing at me to the point where I must unravel the whole thing, or c.) be so bored with it that I must start something else. This is incredible progress, people.The class I took was on needle felting. I have been wanting to learn this ever since last year's festival, when I came across a booth with all kinds of needle felting supplies and kits. It turns out that the booth's owner, Esther Bechler was the one teaching the class. If I had known how easy this was to do, I would have started the second after seeing her booth last year. It was a great class - and here's the project so far...
The bag itself is felted - it's a great (and free!) pattern from Knitting Daily. I made a couple of minor modifications - lengthening the handle a bit and removing the foldover button closure. I had no idea what I actually wanted to felt onto the bag, and then I came across a pattern book during our class with a lot of fun paisleys. The cloth in between the bag is a water soluble fiber - a great idea Esther came up with for those with less than desirable (or, in my case, NO) freehand skills. We traced our patterns onto this cloth, taped it on and went to work. I'm making progress, slow and steady, in between working on my sweater. I can't wait to see what else I can do with it.
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