The tale of the Second Hedgehog.

Yes, friends. I have another FO, and yet another stuffed hedgehog. Only this time, I documented the entire process. So, without further ado:
Here is the knitted-up, un-felted hedgehog. Poor thing, doesn't know what's coming.A watched pot never boils. Or does it? And is this going to turn out a bit like Schrodinger's cat? (I'm probably misremembering that...)

The tools of hedgehog torture--the shampoo and a potato masher. Don't worry, my friend. It won't take too long. I hope.

Since I shall refrain from quoting Macbeth (too easy), I shall instead quote The Goons. "He's fallen in the water!"A partially felted hedgie. Elapsed time between this picture and the last one: 1.5 hours. Yup.
And here he is, all finished!
Specs:
Everything is the same as the last one, except that I used both Copper and Chocolate Fun Fur for the back.
Comments: He didn't felt nearly as well as the last one. I don't know whether it was because I got sick of trying to felt it, or because I used Burt's Bees shampoo rather than dish soap or because of the much thicker fur on his back, or a combination of these. He is rather more huggable, though--I used up all my polyfil on him.


In other knitting news:
Periodic Table Scarf: Through knitting in lectures, I managed to get started on the bottom row of the main part of the table.
Mariah: Slowly working the sleeve again.

FO Friday!

Hedgehog

Pattern: Fiber Trends Huggable Hedgehog
Yarn: Patons' Classic Merino in Natural Mix (body), just under 1 skein; and Chestnut Brown (paws), leftovers; Lion Brand Fun Fur in Copper
Needles: Clover Bamboo circs in US 10.5 and 11
Started: July 2007
Finished: August 6, 2007
My first felted project! I washed the thing three times, and apparently the water temperature isn't high enough to felt anything. So, off to the boiling cauldron of death with him. It took about two hours of soaking in hot soapy water and rubbing the thing to death, but it felted. Eventually. I had to resort to a less dignified (but far more effective) method involving a towel and the family room carpet to get his back to felt under that fur.
Fun fur doesn't seem to have such a thick "eyelash" component as the recommended yarn. Hence the somewhat sparse fur on his back. So for the next one, I'm thinking of doubling it and then going up a needle size for the back.

My parents have dubbed him Ginger...

Irish Hiking Scarf

Pattern: Hello Yarn's Irish Hiking Scarf.
Yarn: The Alpaca Yarn Company Landscapes (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk) in Green Acres; just under 3 skeins
Needles: Bamboo US 8
Start Date: October 2006
Finish Date: August 3, 2007
Another one of those embarrassing range of dates, methinks. Good mindless knitting for lectures, though. I screwed up the cables because I just stopped counting rows, so they ended up being crossed when I thought it looked right, rather than every eight rows as the pattern says.
The yarn was nice to work with--nice and squishy, if a little splitty, but I'm not going to use it again for cables, and it's slightly itchy. There are a bunch of guard hairs in with it. I've found myself plucking them out of the scarf. Sigh.

A close up of the cables. The color's closer to the first picture.

And a WIP:
Gryffindor bookscarf!