Ornaments again

I gave my sister and brother-in-law gift certificates this year, and I wanted to add something handmade to the gift. Quick, stocking hat ornaments to the rescue! I used yarn left over from my dad's wine cozy ("wine koozie," he calls it, being from Texas) and they turned out pretty cute. I wrote up the pattern in Ravelry notes last year, if you're interested.
I've still been thinking about those Christmas ball ornaments knit with leftover sock yarn, designed by kalamazooknits. I figure that now is the time to obtain the balls, as they aren't available year round. After perusing the Ravelry project notes, I decided that I wanted plastic balls (aka "shatterproof" or "nonbreakable") rather than glass balls. The first few places I looked, I couldn't find anything but glass. So I put a couple of friends on the hunt, too, and ended up with a LOT of balls (I bought some myself, too) - 75 balls, to be exact! These ought to keep me knitting ornaments for many months. I envision these as perfect gifts for teachers, coworkers, and hosts/hostesses.
I took both of the above photos in my house with no special lighting AND NO FLASH. I used this nifty little portable tripod that my mom got me for Christmas. I didn't even ask her for it, but it was something I was thinking about getting. How fortuitous! I can't believe how well it works, even with my inexpensive point-and-shoot camera. I'll post about the felted bag tomorrow. I finished the knitting last Sunday and felted it straightaway. It turned out almost exactly like I wanted it to - except for the strap. I guess because it's so skinny (11 stitches wide), it didn't behave like my swatches did. It's too long. I'm still musing on whether I can continue felting it without touching the rest of the bag (they're already sewn together). If you have any insight about this, please speak up. I want to fix this before Christmas, if possible!

The sewing of the lining will probably happen after Christmas, though.