Knitting and Felting

I've started my first felting project. I'm knitting a "project bag" so I can carry around all the other things I'm working on. I'm making up the pattern as I go along in a simple stockinette stitch. I love the color combination of green and purple.

The plan is to make the body of the bag in green with the sides and strap in purple. I have a test swatch to felt as soon as I catch up on laundry. That will give me an idea of how much shrinkage to expect and how much felting I want. I love the idea of changing a simple knit into felt.

On another subject, my Mom decided to buy me a new sewing machine for my birthday/Christmas/everything gift this year (I am sooo spoiled!) Yesterday I went to test drive machines at a local quilt shop. Of course I fell in love with a Bernina activa - what a machine! It practically puts the clothes together for you. So what if it's over four times the price range we're looking at..... Seriously, I'm looking at the Bernina bernette 90e. It has all the features I'd want (and many "luxuries" I'd never get if I bought a sewing machine for myself).

The most exciting thing about the test drive is I learned Bernina is releasing a computer program for garment construction that will act like a virtual dressmaker's dummy! After you input your measurements, the program will alter any pattern to fit you precisely. No more pinning and modeling twenty-times! The funny thing is, I turn to computers for everything: from filing and cross-referencing at work to photo albums. And yet, I never thought of a virtual dressmaker's dummy. I'm saving my pennies for this program!

Time to clean bunny cages....