Sunday, March 23, 2008

Taters Sack

My girlfriend has two dogs she calls her "Taters." One day while I was knitting she asked me why hadn't knitted her a Tater Sack to use when she takes the Taters to playgroup. With the hubris of someone who has no idea she is about to embark on a roman a clef of knitting that will teach her to see she is small in the world of fiber arts. I said, "No Problem."

You can guess the problems were epic with the biggest problem being me. I tend to think large, larger than life in most cases. This sack is exactly what I am talking about. I totally disregarded the direction and knitted on more stitches than I needed thinking, I want it big! Okay maybe not this big. I kept thinking it would felt down. And with lavendergrrl's help it did, but maybe I should have boiled it in a vat to shrink it down to the reasonable size I wanted. In the end it was 20 wide and 12 tall. So instead of a tater sack, I got a tater messenger sack.

Next came the desire to put a name on the sack. So with a sturdy needle and some stencils I struggled through the embroidery work of putting Tater Sack on the bag. Once my fingers were sore from this effort, but the task complete, I felted the sack again. It did shrink a little, but still this sack stayed huge.

Okay, lastly came the attaching of the strap. At this point the gods of fiber showed mercy on me and I recognized my weakness. I knew I needed the big guns. I went once again to my friend, lavendergrrl, and she attached a belt for the strap. Done the Tater Sack is mostly what I envisioned it to be only wider. I am so glad this sack is out of my life. The recipient of the Tater Sack is very happy with her bag. So happy in fact I have yet to see her use it. And yet from this task I did not learn my lesson. If you don't believe me see previous post.

2 comments:

Rachel said...

The tater sack looks great! Have you ever tried needle felting? It might be easier than embroidery, although not if you poke a needle through your finger. Ow.

Tempest ina Pot of Tea said...

Decided against needle felting because I was more comfortable with the concept of embroidery. I have been doing satin stitches since I was 5.