Tuesday, October 21, 2008

my first knitted project

My favourite pattern in the Ladybird Book was this 'handy bag'

pattern picture

... and this was the result

my bag

Guess what? I just realised that my obsession with making bags obviously started in my childhood!

Over the years the bag has not been cared for very carefully and some felting has occurred. It's actually a very good example of how different colours of wool can felt unevenly.

Each of the colours used in this bag were the same brand and type of wool...

Each of the stripes were originally the same width...

stripes

But, as you can see... the darker colours have felted better than the lighter ones... and the white has not felted at all. Apparently the chemical process involved in lightening the colour of the wool can affect the ability of the fibres to felt. Just something to keep in mind if you are ever working on a felted project using multiple colours... it's definitely worth felting a test swatch of each colour.

close up

I'm pleased to announce that my seaming techniques have improved from the early days...

questionable seaming

I know that many knitters dislike seaming, but over the years I have learned to quite enjoy it. The 'finishing' of your work is so important... it really makes all the difference, so it is really worth learning to seam well. It seems a shame to put so much effort into the knitting, and then make a mess of the seaming.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too cute. I can't even remember what my first project was.

I too believe in putting the time and effort into good seaming. Took me a while to be bothered about it though. I could never put my finger on why my work just didn't look as good as I wanted, till I realised that half of it is finishing it off well.

I didn't know about the colours felting differently, it's good to know thanks!

Alicia @ Oh2122 said...

That was your first project?

Woah.

It's wicked cute. I wish I could remember what my first was.

heklica said...

Wow! This is so pretty. Don't you love the 80's? I remember the times when bags like this were all the craze. It's great that you have kept it.

Sam said...

My first project was a humbug softie, made from two squares of stocking stitch. I ended up making loads for my friends too.

I too like seaming to look good, which is why I ended up with so many projects left in pieces!
Recently I've only worked on "round" things, with no seaming required, but if anyone would like to do a "finishing" tutorial...

laughing purple goldfish said...

jacqui - thanks

oh2122 - yep! my very first one... before that, it was just 'practice knitting'... knitting up the same ball of yarn over and over again until I was ready for a 'real project'

misha - there were times over the years when I wanted to throw it out... after all, it just sits in a drawer doing nothing! but I couldn't quite bring myself to get rid of it... and now I'm pleased that I didn't

sam - next time I am seaming a project, I will take some step-by-step photos for you :)

Cats-Rockin-Crochet said...

You are a good knitter too, well done, kudo's to your Dad.

laughing purple goldfish said...

cat - thanks...

Needle Worker said...

That looks really cool! I like the uneven stripes

laughing purple goldfish said...

needleworker - thanks :) I think I'll make another one, when I find the time