Felting fodder

Ye Gods!!! I have fallen into The Felting Forest



Felting is some kind of weird challenge for me. It is a real joke around here at work.

I've shown examples in previous blog entries, and after all this time, I remain mesmerized at the magical change that takes place when the wool hits the wash, but I can't quite seem to tweak the process so that I have a consistently useful product when it is all over.

A while back, I saw a beautiful felted purse that looked like it was done in a self-patterning yarn, and it was.The purse was unique and really neat. I wanted to make one BAD.

The skeins were about the size of your fist and it would have taken 6 or probably 10 to make a purse and they were ten bucks a piece so no go:-(

Later, I bought 5 skeins of my usual cheap wool yarn and I made my own skein by tying lengths of different colors together. I made the giant purse last weekend and it came out of the wash looking like a yoga ball that had been deflated, then runover by a car and cut in half.

The handles, were oh so creatively designed by me. I made two, then crossed them over each other and they came out blobbed together.

Then, while drying on the dining table, one of Liza's cats peed on it. When I came to check on it in the morning, hoping the elves had somehow transformed it into a useable object, there it sat, the smushed and sliced yoga -ball- wool -felted -bag- wannabe.

The colors looked great... bright and cheery. They camoflaged the pee, so when I picked up the bag to take a look, the pee escaped and down the front of my clothes. I had to change for work.

The bag went to the trash.

The good news and lesson learned was that the felt holds water, and I liked the tied skein effect.

I've started another.The thing is ,I follow directions and each purse still comes out different.Therego the appropriate name of my pseudo pretend business:

Accidentals, inc. specializing in Melanizing.

I finished a baby hat and booties for a couple at work who are expecting their first child. I got kudos from two pals at work when I finished the hat- they were no doubt thrilled that the baby hat turned out a size suitable for a human child. I imagine it was refreshing to see a completed product that wasn't fit for gnome or some prehistoric sized creature, for once.

When I finished the booties, and gave them to the new dad at staff meeting, they mouthed the question across the table to me. "Are they the same size?" Maybe I should have been insulted by this whispered inquiry, but these two love me to my heart, and they have no rose colored glasses on when it comes to knowing my true self, so I wasn't insulted in the least. Oh, sure, I glared. I looked hurt. But I was had. I whispered back,"No, but they are close". Then I told the new dad later that no two feet are exactly alike and that is a special skill that you can expect from Accidentals, inc. We accomodate the real.

sigh.....