More Felting & Sis-in-law's Purse

Test swatch in Paton's Classic Wool Merino, needle size US 10. Hand-felted, took forever:

Coaster in 3 colors of Paton's Classic Wool Merino, needle size US 10.5. Hand-felted, took even more forever:

Sis-in-law's cool purse (she crocheted it, not me):

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How I made the coaster:

Cast on 80 sts. in yarn color A to US 10.5 DPNs using long tail cast on method.

Cast on counts as round 1.
Round 2: P all sts.
Round 3: (K1, K2tog, K 14 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 4: P all sts.
Round 5: (K1, K2tog, K 12 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 6: P all sts.
Round 7: (K1, K2tog, K 10 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 8: P all sts.
Round 9: Switch to yarn color B. Then (K1, K2tog, K 8 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 10: P all sts.
Round 11: (K1, K2tog, K 6 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 12: P all sts.
Round 13: (K1, K2tog, K 4 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 14: P all sts.
Round 15: (K1, K2tog, K 2 sts., SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 16: P all sts.
Round 17: Switch to yarn color C. Then (K1, K2tog, SSK, K1) 4 times.
Round 18: P all sts.
Round 19: (K2tog, SSK) 4 times.
Round 20: P all sts.

Bind off by running yarn through remaining 8 stitches and pull to close.

Weave in ends then felt, felt, felt. Block in spiffy octagon-ish shape.

A's Purse Is Finally Done

Poor A has been suffering, purseless, for a few years now. Maybe more. I meant to give this to her for Xmas some time back, but I got stuck on the sewing-it-together part.

I had a guy at work who was going to do the sewing for me in exchange for some knitting, but his sewing machine died. I like to think I passed this project's curse on to him. And since the curse was gone my luck turned around and my sister-in-law, AD, sewed it together for me last Sunday.

AD used dark blue canvas for the lining and she suggested the nifty buttons in the corners. And she used the magnetic clasp and straps I purchased previously. I used a grey mystery yarn Mom sent me for the actual knitting. It's approximately DK weight. The cable pattern is from Viking Patterns For Knitting. The back of the purse is the same as the front.