Bag #6 is finished! Well, ok, it still needs the handles to be kitchener-stitched together, but that requires concentration with no distractions, so I haven’t got to it yet, but otherwise, the knitting part is done! And it’s beautiful, if I do say so myself. I like using the variegated stranded with a solid color. Sadly, this has made me less enthused to do a bag in a single solid color, which is not good, as I don’t have enough variegated and novelty yarns to mix things up. On the other hand, I think I’m now sufficiently motivated to try beads on the next purse. I have a little bag of 300 pony beads I picked up almost a year ago that should do the job nicely to dress up a Booga Bag. Now I just need to decide which color to use with the metallic gold beads–olive green, forest green, mustard yellow, or brick red?
In other news, I hand felted a purse for the first time yesterday! It was the turquoise and white clutch, and I used a bucket and plunger in the tub. I beat that sucker for about 25 minutes and just couldn’t do it anymore, even though it could’ve used another 5-10 minutes. It’s felted, but you can still see the stitch columns (not the rows, though). I haven’t decided if I’m going to do it again, or wait until I have access to a non-coin-operated machine. I think I’m waiting to see how my back feels tonight (it usually takes my muscles about 24 hours to protest new activities). But the finished product is still cute! Needs some rhinestone buttons for embellishment, though.
For my final ramble, I’m still undecided on what to make for the young girls in my life. The Elann birdhouse scares me a little, because it requires embellishment techniques that are new to me, and therefore scary to try on something that will be gifted to someone else. Perhaps I should abandon the idea of felted purses and make them the kitty hats from Stitch ‘n’ Bitch? I’d really like to do purses, but I just can’t find the perfect pattern.
This is the part where I’d appreciate any ideas or links from you, my reader. (Bolded to catch the eye of those (like me) who only skim posts without pictures.) My intended recipients are girls ages 3, 5, 6, 8 and 10. And maybe the two-year-old, too, I haven’t decided. I prefer felted purses because I’d never get around to lining an unfelted purse, but non-purse ideas are welcome too. No sweaters, because I need something quick.
So far, I’m loving the beads! They’re doing a very good job of jazzing up an otherwise boring, single-colored Booga Bag. My smallest crochet hook only just barely fits through the pony beads when it’s holding yarn, and not all the beads are exactly the same size, so there’s some struggling with the pulling and twisting and trying to force some beads onto the yarn, but otherwise it’s working quite well. I’m a bit concerned about the yarn, though–I was stupid and forgot to make the i-cord handle first, so now I’m worried about running out of yarn–but it’s a small worry, and cannot dampen the sense of accomplishment I get when I look at the rows of pretty beads. 
