Create: A Soltice Gift

I am not making very many handmade gifts this year, I just don't have the time or energy.  I have a few planned that may get done but that's it.  However, this year I decided to make the Kiddo a Solstice gift and begin the tradition of gift giving on the holiday. 

Due to my new fascination with weaving and a few wonderful local SCA weavers, I am making woven felted bags.  The Kiddo plays D&D and Magic: the Gathering, both games that require dice that he keeps loosing.  What better way to help him stay organized than to make him a dice bag?

The pattern for this bag is a simple over under weave.  The trick to making it seamless is how it is wrapped around the board.  Here is one tutorial on how to make a seamless bag.  Instead of cutting into the board, I pushed in pins all along the top then wrapped the yarn around it.  This allows you to keep going until there is no more space and then remove it from the board easily. 

Unlike the tutorial, I used wool yarn.  Once the bag was done, I throw it in the sink full of hot water and swish it around like crazy.  The tutorial that I read, and that I now cannot find, used a potato masher as an agitator.  This youtube video suggests a new, clean plunger. 

I wove ribbon into my bag, just like in the first tutorial, for the ties.  But once your bag is felted, you can use a needle to pull a cord in and out around the bag. 

Now the Kiddo is wondering what is in the package and can't wait to open it!