Boat to Tote

Pat finished her tote! She's been working on it for literally years and restarted it several times. Then deposited it into my hands 2 weeks ago.

Her work was dubbed the "boat" by her daughters who thought its size was "overboard." But to get a good size tote, you actually have to go large when you lose 1/3 of the size during felting.

I also thought it would be nice to put the sweater Randy was working on for her daughter in the blog, too, thinking it was finished. (A Jared Flood design called Cobblestone). But it's not finished. It's peeking out from under Pat's boat back in January.

Why isn't it finished? Because Randy has been printing up book markers about her process of knitting. (She made a block print for Three Rivers Crochet several years ago.) They are being sold in Seattle at the Pike Street Press. So it looks like she's either knitting or making art about knitting!
I made the straps for the tote, felted them, and sewed them on. I found the leather button and made a slit in the felt for an opening. You can also see the bag drying into shape over 2 rolls of paper towels.
But the best picture is Pat showing off the tote and I am so pleased that she was pleased with the final product. I'm not sure she really had confidence that all that work would result in something she liked. 100% Patons Cool Wool.