Knitters are the sweetest people.....

Wow...what can I say. Knitters are some of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Knitty Chick, a very talented knitter/felter, sent me these wonderful sterling silver stitch markers that she'd made - it's not my birthday or anything! She makes jewelry, as well as knits and felts.....is there anything she doesn't do???? Thanks so much Knitty Chick! You're the greatest!

PS - don't forget to check out her blog (link on the right of this page) - she's made a gorgeous felted crochet bag!

Have I mentioned that I love hedgehogs? I think they're soooo cute. I guess I can blame it on Beatrix Potter (Miss Tiggy Winkle is just so adorable) as well as my favorite Norwegian knitting store - Pinnsvin Design. They have hedgehogs as their "mascots". I love this store - I ordered from them a few years ago because I wanted a book on Norwegian Rosemaling as well as those lovely pewter buttons that are found on the Norwegian sweaters. At the time, it made more sense (choice and cost wise) to order these directly from Norway....plus, it enabled me to make more knitting friends!

I finished this little guy just in time for our Knit Knutz meeting yesterday. My friend Elizabeth just happened to have her digital camera with her and snapped a couple of pictures for me. She's such a sweetheart!

My hedgehog was crocheted using the pattern in the book, "Felted Crochet" by Jane Davis (I'm mainly a knitter, but I do enjoy dabbling in crochet as well). I used Lamb's Pride for the face and a combination of Lamb's Pride and Fun Fur for the body. The process was a bit unusual - first, you crochet about 3/4 of it, stuff it, then finish crocheting. THEN you felt it. It does NOT felt easily and doesn't "shrink down" much at all. I ran it through the washer three times, but it hadn't felted much at all. I then submerged it in hot water and scrubbed it manually, then dunked it in icy cold water. I did this twice and FINALLY got it somewhat felted. I believe I've discovered two things through this process :

1. Crocheting does NOT felt as readily as knitting
   
2. Things felt better "unstuffed" so the friction can do its work on both inside and out.