Drying Felted Bags & Booga Finale

Never has the laundry been so caught up in this house. My husband's come to love the idea of felting. Yeah, at first it was "Do you really need another bag?" (yes) and, "Isn't that circular - knitting more bags to hold more knitting?" (duh) But he's with the program now that he's found he doesn't have to ask for clean athletic socks, towels, jeans or sheets.

Here're my bags drying:

The red Booga is after wash three and the others are too many to remember. I think I'm done. I really recommend finding a box and using it between each wash. As the felting progresses it can take some strong-arming to get the shape and having a box form to pull against made all the difference for me. For my standard Booga a Puffs tissue 4-pack (square boxes) still in its shrinkwrap is perfect. That's a small Arm & Hammer cat litter box under the Big Kureyon bag. I probably should have stopped on the previous felting of the funky doctor's bag, which answers the question "Can you felt too much?" - Yes. It's extraordinarily thick and stiff, so I amused myself with shaping weird pointy corners. Still, it's cute enough and I've already used it to carry a scarf project several times.

Here's the red Booga, with a magazine inside for size reference:

It's still damp and will be a little stiffer when it's completely dry - it takes about 12 hours in this pretty arid climate. I'll probably put in a cardboard bottom. I like the way the twisted cord felted. You could choose not to felt the cord - it would look great that way, but I was afraid of little fingers prying my twists apart over time. Those white flicks in the handle are the undyed yarn I was talking about. There's one really noticeable stitch on the other side of the bag. Not the end of the world, but if I was making it again I might leave that section of color out of what is an otherwise vibrant colorway. Overall, I LOVE this bag.

The twisting demo is to come this afternoon. My 2nd grader is all over this. All the way to school this morning she talked about how she was going to manage both the mixer and taking the photos. In 1st grade she listed movie director as her career of choice. She's a little auteur in the making - hates being on stage, but will direct anyone who'll listen.

I did finally answer one of the nice cards from stamping friends I've received this fall. I love making and sending cards (matching the stamp to the envelop gives me a cheap thrill), but it's been hard over this last month.

Comments

[Danielle]

Those are fabulous bags. They are wonderful colors and shapes. The littlest one has great character. Wonderful!

[Sara]

I'm convinced I'll never knit anything but scarves and hats. I'm terrified of felting. :-o

Great bags. :)

[Jaimi]

Oooh, I like the red one...#124, right? That's what I made my first Booga out of, but I like the twisted cord so much better than the icord. *files the idea away for future reference*

[Cami]

I love your felted dr. bag! Have you come up with a pattern? It's weird that I found this post 1 1/2 years after it was posted, but am looking to make this bag or one real close to it. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks, Cami