The Felt

Remember that yarn I bought from my winnings last weekend?  Yeah, that yarn.

I've been knitting with it. It comes in hanks of 100 grams, I already figured out where to buy more, and it's become a much-loved commodity in the house. Of the eight skeins I bought, I've already used two. I figure I need two, at most three more to finish the jacket-thing I'm working on. Which leaves me with about three skeins, maybe four, left.

It's untreated wool, and it felts. How do I know it felts? Partly because it says 'hand wash only' on the label, along with 100% pure sheepswool, which is usually a big hint, and partly because I tested it when I came to the end of my first ball of yarn. For the first time in my life, I did a felted join.

It's one of the least wasteful joins in knitting, requiring you give up one, maybe two centimeters of your fresh yarn. It requires no weaving in, no cutting, just a bit of spit water and some elbow grease as you rub it vigourously together. You can do it at the beginning of your row, the end of your row or even in the middle of it. It's glorious. I'm in love. The sad part about the felted join is that only works on yarns that can felt. Which means pure, animal (or human) fibre. The only chemicals allowed are colorants, any superwash treatment effectively kills the magical felting abilities.

And the yarn was cheap. I mean really cheap. It calculates up to two and a half euros for fifty grams. We're currently living in a paradoxical universe where it's cheaper to buy superwash than untreated yarn, unless you're willing to spin it yourself. True, Coburger Fuchsschaf, the golden-fleeced ball of joy that grows this magical yarn, is by no means an alpaca. The yarn is definitely not for those allergic or looking for something to wear close to their skin. But neither is the feltable yarn I saw in the stores today, which is thicker (less patterns for it) and more expensive.

I may have looked up a pattern or two (or three, or four) for feltable projects. And reread the article on how to felt things you've knitted. Oh, and hunted down the website for buying more of the yarn and other sheep-breeds' yarn online. Their prices are just unbeatable.

Which cannot be said for the two knitting paraphenalia I've been drooling over for the past week or so. A ball winder and a Denise Kit2go. I love my pink Denise needles, which were the best 70 euros I've ever spent on a hobby. They get used, abused, reused and savagely protected, so I thought a little travelling kit might be nice. And a ball winder, I've wanted for ages. I mean as soon as I ever saw one. And nearly a hundred dollars, shipping to Europe not included, is a bit... steep. But I've saved this month, and I can either buy knitting stuff or jewelry. Keep tuned for that one.

So now I'm already looking at feltable projects. There's indestructible dog toys, there's slippers and there's little felted bowls with bumps and nupps sticking out. I want to knit them all.

In other news, the gel nails had to succumb to my wish to have short nails. I savaged the gel off last night and cut them, feeling immensely relieved. Today I bought a nail file to buff off the damage I inflicted when doing that.

And while we were in town, we bought a second summer duvet. Boyfriend and I have not exactly been fighting over the one we have, but Boyfriend admitted he likes sleeping under it and I like sleeping wrapped around it when I'm hot and under it when I'm cold. One duvet, two people who want to sleep under it, no room under it for two people. You see the problem. The one we bought was only eleven euros (yay summer sales), and will serve to guarantee bedroom harmony in our little household. If it ends up sucking, I'm ordering more yarn and knitting a felted dog bed with the duvet for stuffing. I can't lose.

Another thing that happened is that Boyfriend bought me the most romantic present ever! (Okay, maybe the most romantic present of the month) Remember my collection of bottles, which gets rotated and used and is still as perfect in use as it was when I got my first bottles? He bought me the gray/black one. I have all the colors now. A complete set. There is a sense of peace settling over me as I think back on it. Aaaah.