Wednesday, October 10, 2007

After and Before

After two passes through my front-loading washer, the mini backpack felted beautifully. Funny how expensive yarn felts more nicely than cheap yarn. The Lamb's Pride became dense, just right for the bottom and top, and the Yoroi remained supple, excellent for the sides. Here it is in front of my moss-covered wall, blocking on a shoebox.

Backpack blocking

The stats:

     Before: 10"L X 7"W X 14"H (25 X 17 X 35 cm)
     After: 8.5"L X 6"W X 10"H (21 X 15 X 25 cm)

Edges sometimes felt unevenly, so I used non-stretch, non-shrink crochet cotton to confine the top edge. That worked well, although the Lamb's Pride became so hairy after felting, it was a pain to remove. I also coiled and tied the interminable I-cord drawstring to prevent reduce tangling, as suggested at Noni Designs.

Backpack before felting

Now I'm searching for lining fabric. The search is not going well – if I want to take the backpack to Rhinebeck, an expedition to the NYC Garment District may be necessary. At least I have buttons. (CROP Walk donations and pledges currently stand at $170. Woo-hoo!)



Meanwhile, Norma makes home canning look so easy and worthwhile, I thought I'd try it. I've got tomatoes, I've got canning jars, I've got absolutely no experience. [Cue Sorcerer's Apprentice music]

Tomatoes on scale

I did a bit of research. According to the USDA guide Selecting, Preparing, and Canning Tomatoes and Tomato Products, 1.5 lbs (1 lb, 8 oz or .68 kg) of raw tomatoes cooks down to 1 pint (.47 l) of canned tomatoes. So... that's what a pint looks like, before.

10 comments:

MissyJoon said...

Your backpack felted-up so great! I have found lamb's pride to be really hairy, too!!!

Meredith said...

I thought my felting days were over when we purchased a front-loading washer a few months ago. Did you do anything special to get your backpack to felt so nicely? It came out great!

Anonymous said...

Lovely backpack. I hope you can find some fabric before Rhinebeck. I used to can salsa and jams and jellies and pickles every summer. It was good old fashioned fun. If I make it to SNB tonight, I'll bring you my canning book and a jar lifter.

Bezzie said...

Nice bag. I didn't think it took so few tomatoes to make a pint. They must be monsters.

Ina said...

Meredith: Nope, nothing special. The Noni website has helpful pointers for felting in a front-loader.

Bezzie: Yeah, got me thinking about portion control!

Meredith said...

Thanks, Ina. I'm going to have to give felting in my front-loader a try then. And thanks for the birthday wishes.

Zarzuela said...

Love the bag! Good luck with the canning. I'd do it, but I'm not that brave!

Jessica

Penny said...

I'll be looking for your backpack! I'll post a "how to locate penny" wednesday...

Deborah said...

every year I tell myself to can and every year we eat the preserves, tomatoes, cucumbers inside of a week which, it seems, defeats the purpose of canning???

CrazyFiberLady said...

I love the bag!!