Dumpling Done

According to Mona Lisa Smile, it used to be every girl's dream to own a washer and dryer. A Wellesley education was all well and good, but true satisfaction could only be found with domestic appliances. I'm tempted, right now, to think they were right.

About 1:00 this morning, I decided that none of the plans I had brewing for machine-felting my dumpling bag were likely to work out anytime soon, so I might as well go ahead and finish it. That meant spending 30 minutes over a dishpan full of hot water, thinking about how nice it would be to own a washer and dryer. Is it weird that the only time I think about wanting my own washing machine is when I have something to felt? Well, it would be good for washing socks, too - you can't trust them to the laundromat, but they tend to make it through the delicate cycle. Hmmm...it might also help with dyeing, which would make a washing machine a very practical home appliance!

So 30 minutes, sore arms, and some seriously dry skin later, here's the finished product. I was afraid that it wasn't felting enough while I was working - it looked like I could still see the knit stitches - but it seems to be in good shape now.

You can see that it stands up on its own. Max thinks that's pretty cool!

So now I'm free to devote my attention to finishing the embroidery on Dumpling #2. It's about the same size as #1 was before felting, so now I have some sense of what to expect. I can't find the second yarn that was supposed to go into Dumpling #3, so it may be on hold for awhile. I'll just have to decide if I want to finish other projects, or start Dumpling #4. Yum!