The Line-Up

I have been hitting thrift shops for the past several weeks, grabbing all the 100% wool sweaters I could find that were of a "winter palette". Soft blues, soft pinks, grays, off-whites. I even scored some great cheap cashmere. It was nice coming across so many vintage sweaters with "made in the u.s.a." and union labels. Quite a few sweaters that are out of fashion, and/or with stains and holes will be able to repurpose themselves in my project.

I have been felting. A lot. Just a note: you CAN felt in a front-load washer. There is a myth it cannot be done. It can.

Only 2 sweaters of the bunch would not felt. I'm not sure how the manufacturers do it, but they can treat wool so it does not felt. There is no way that I know of to be able to tell if the sweater has been made with this process, but since I only ran into this problem twice out of probably what - 40 sweaters - it's not a big deal.

My project is going to involve cutting the sweaters into squares, zigzag stitching them together side by side (not 'right sides together' or overlapping. there will be no seams). Then I'll probably put a backing like a regular quilt. No batting needed.

We'll see how it goes. I'm kinda winging it.

One fulled pot rest coming right up!

Another Christmas gift to chalk off my list!


I wanted to make a nice fulled (we often misuse the term and say "felted") pot rest/pot holder for my dad.

I knitted garter stitch one 12 x 12 square of Manos del Uruguay (gorgeous!!!!!) wool yarn. Color: Eclipse. Size 10 1/2 needles. 40 stitches across and kept going until 12" long. I didn't use up an entire skein. I'm guessing I used 3/4 of it.


After washing 3 times in a pillowcase (hot water with soap, side-loading washer) along with tennis balls and my regular laundry, all the stitches were closed up tight, all the woolen fibers nice and locked together. Aaaaahhh, I LERVE wool! The final dimensions were 9" wide by 8 1/2" long.


Here is the remainder of the ball along with the post-fulled pot rest. See how lovely the colors blended together? Very painterly. The yarn is heavy worsted weight, but you can see that is is thicker in some parts, thinner in others. I do like that, but of course, once you full it, you don't see that difference anymore.

I'm blocking it because I'd rather it be a bit more symmetrical. I do like the 'organic' look, but for this gift, I'd rather it be more squared off.

 

(Look at those pins! I'm a messy blocker. But it gets the job done!)

 

Who's paw is that?

 

I love how cats talk with their ears.

Felted Amulet Bag

I'm making my first venture into felting (well, felting on purpose). It's going to be a gift so I hope it comes out ok.

Hopefully (fingers crossed) it will come out looking something like this:


The pattern is from Judith Durant's recent book. I'm really loving this book so far. Nice projects and what's really cool is they are arranged in the book by yarn weight. I'm a big fan of short-and-sweet projects and this book is chock full of really nice ones.

I love Manos yarn. I just love love love it. Beautiful to work with and the most gorgeous colors.



Most projects almost always teach me something new and unexpected, as this surely did. I didn't realize you could make a tube by knitting on DP's and slipping stitches. I was a little perplexed when I started the pattern, then when I saw the tube magically growing, I said, "WHY didn't I know about this trick before???!!!" It's pretty nifty, I'll tell you.

I just need to bind off and make the cord. I'll keep you posted.....

Let's check in with Biddlepants.

A-ha. He is doing his eggplant impression.


Hi cutie!


Aaaah. Nappies. Zzzzzzzzz.....