I am desperately feeling a need to get something done, so today, I got out a “to be felted” granny square fat bag that is old enough to be in kindergarten, and I set about finishing the details so that I could at least begin the process of felting it:

To start, I made a chain that is probably longer than what I will ultimately need, and I threaded the partially felted chain through the hyperbolic crochet curlicue tassel:

Next, I ran a piece of plastic through two gaps in the front and another pieces of plastic through two gaps in the back of the bag; I tied a secure knot with each. This will prevent these “gaps” from felting completely and will allow me to install the closure more easily.

Then, while I got a load of laundry together, I soaked the bag and all of the pieces in a tub of warm water with half-a-cup of vinegar.

By the time I tracked down a load of laundry, the pieces were thoroughly wet, and I threw them in the wash with the clothes and half-a-dozen dye-catchers.

An hour later this is what I had:

While progress had been made, the bag was not remotely close to done, so after I put up the first load of laundry to dry, I quickly started a second load so that I could get one more photo before sunset.

Just over an hour later, the future felted fat bag had been through a second cycle:

and as this detail makes clear, substantive progress was made, but  there is still a way to go before the bag is sufficiently felted:

The hyperbolic crochet curlicue tassel:

and the chain:

will also both need more time.

I didn’t totally succeed in getting something done, but with two loads of laundry now out of the way and a couple more loads waiting in the wings, this bag might just be done before it’s old enough to start first grade.