another convert

I taught my friend Sarah to knit today, and she's a natural. Her stitches are beautifully even, as you can see in the picture below--I'm so proud. I cast on 20 stitches for her, and she got quite a lot done before leaving our apartment 3 hours later. She's working a garter-stitch scarf in some brown merino aran I picked up at Stitches West for $3 a skein. There was no label on the yarn, but it looks hand-dyed, and there are ligher brown/reddish bits. It was a bargain, and I knew someone would be able to use it. Perfect for a new knitter, as I think everyone should start with wool, and merino is softer on the hands. I can't wait to see the finished product.

I have a couple felted items drying in my living room right now knit from a new Fiber Trends pattern for a heart-shaped basket, tray and coaster: a cotton-candy-pink heart basket in Cascade 220, and also a red coaster from leftover Gryffindor yarn... though I didn't quite follow the coaster pattern, which is often the way with me and patterns. I decided to felt the items by hand, rather than in the washing machine, since the pattern gave both options. Hand-felting is a bitch. It's like whisking something for 20 minutes, only you're using your bare hands and you're in constant contact with really hot water. I was also (rather stupidly) doing this while bent over the bathtub, so now my back aches along with my arms. And still, they're not as felted as I'd like. I might have to throw them into the machine with the next batch, but I'll let them dry before I decide.