Boxes of Yarn

No, not a mail delivery… felted boxes!  I just love this pattern from the first Mason-Dixon Knitting book.  It calls for double-stranded bulky yarn, and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky works great.  (I’ve also tried double- and quadruple-stranding worsted weight yarn, and it didn’t work very well, so skip that if you’re tempted.)  These nest and look useful for any number of things, don’t you think? I made some of these back in 2008 and really liked them.  Let’s revisit them and see what they are up to, shall we?

I found the large one in the living room, holding interchangeable needles and a few notions:I found the medium one in the library, holding sock darning eggs, extra tape measures (you can never have too many), various buttons, etc: And I found the small one in Boy2’s bedroom, full of something I may have lost years ago: The red boxes are a bit smaller than the blue/green ones due to the needles I used.  The book edition that I have had a nasty misprint in it and said to use size US 10 needles (which I did – ouch – on 2 strands of bulky).  The pattern should have read US 15 needles (which I used on the next ones – much more comfortable).  That lesson has not been lost on me – I always check Ravelry for errata now before casting on!

I used 3 skeins each of Scuba and Oregano and only had 39 grams of yarn left (14 of green and 25 of blue).  Great project – fast, fun, functional.

Green Box for Spring

Green Box
Originally uploaded by JLW in PA

I decided to whip up a felted box as a Mother's Day gift for my mom. I have a lot of worsted weight feltable yarn in stash, and I thought this project would use some of it up. Her favorite color is green, so I pulled out all my greens and decided on these two: spring green and evergreen (both Nature Spun Worsted).

I've made this pattern (from the first Mason Dixon book) before, and it calls for a double strand of bulky weight yarn. I thought I would try it with worsted, just to see if it would work. After all, the Fiber Trends felted clogs are made with a double strand of worsted, and they hold up great.

I made the largest of the 3 sizes in the pattern so that the finished box wouldn't be too small. It was awfully floppy before felting.

I had to felt it for a long time. I let it go through an entire wash/rinse/spin cycle because I had given up on it. In the end, though, I pulled and prodded and I think this is a giftable box after all. The walls aren't as sturdy as those in my other boxes - you can compare wall thickness in this photo. If I loaded the green box up with needles like this red box, the walls would bow out too much.

I'd like to experiment with this pattern a little bit more, perhaps with a triple strand of worsted weight yarn. Or... even quadruple? And I think I might go back down to the medium size box.