Felting, Part 2

 Ok, where did I leave off? 
Oh yeah.  With the Mad Hatter look. 
The needle felted fiber, is gently pulled from the foam form.  It is still in a rather gentle state.  Into the sink it went, after first placing an inflated ball into it.  Then we soaked and rubbed and soaked and rubbed and turned and rubbed and soaked.  And etc.  Until it felt like it was, well, felt.

Then we rinsed off the soap and sqeezed most of the water out.  And tried it on.

Hmmm.  Maybe it's not quite ready yet.

I feel like I'm channeling Sunbonnet Sue.  Or maybe Strawberry Shortcake.  Am I dating myself?
I don't want to push my luck with the trouble Blogger has been causing.  Tomorrow the finished project.

A Felting I Did Go.

Ok, I'll try this again. I had this all typed and ready to post, but then it wouldn't save or post. This was nearly midnight last night. So I decided to retreat and try again with this picture rich posting.
Friday afternoon I paid a visit to one of my wonderful fiber friends, Evelyn. She had offered to help me make a felted hat, using plain old wool top.
So, with a large handfull of Ruby merino combed top and a bit of pale pink, and a huge pice of foam, I started layering wool on the form. You can see next to the form my 6 needle holder that I used to needle felt it together.

After much poking and punching, I had the form fully covered.  Looks like a giant wool drum.

After taking it off the form, turning and patching thin spots that resulted from my own uneven layering of wool, I had this.  I also took som small pieces of the pale pink merino top to add a few squiggles of decorations.

I can just see the Mad Hatter wearing this. However it was for me. But there was still a lot of work to do.
And since, for some reason, Blogger doesn't seem to save more than this today, the rest of the story to follow.

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Frustration

Nothing is more frustrating than sitting down with the computer, ready to post a picture loaded tale, only to find out I can't get Blogger to upload any pictures.
Dang. Cuz that is my problem right now.
I've tried a system restore, then un-restored it.
Now, I guess I'll have to try tomorrow. And it was going to be a wonderful post.

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I'm Still Around

I guess I haven't been posting much lately.  But I have been knitting, just not taking pictures.
After a couple false starts with the light piney green jacket for Betty, I finally have a handle on it.  The recommended cast on wasn't working for me.  It actually raveled up!  I never heard of such a thing!  Perhaps it had something to do with the way my stitches sit on the needle with the back leg forward.  (That is because of my funny way of knitting--AKA the Improved Allen Cousin Method of knitting.) (Maybe I'll post about it sometime.)
Anyway, I switched to long tail cast on and am ribbing away just fine.  I had to go down a needle size as I mentioned before.  It is a bit loose, but I think when washed the yarn may bloom and fill the spaces.
I will try to get a couple pictures soon.
I also have been working on my Pentecost red cormo/silk shawl.  I don't think I am going to make it.  (Just when is Pentecost this year, anyway?  Those floating dates always get me.
When I measure from the middle back edge to the needle, which is about half the wingspan, it measures almost 24 inches, unstretched.  I would like to have at least 30 on each half, so when blocked it will be closer to 70 or more.  Does not look like it will be happening by Pentecost, since the rows are getting longer and longer.  I only got about 10 rows all weekend on that, besides my other items.
And hey, there are always the socks--3 pair in progress.

Huh?

So I'm wandering through the grocery store, finishing my shopping. And an item in the cooler catches my attention.
Fat-free Half & half. Say what? Fat-free? Isn't the whole idea of Half & half the fact that it is half cream with its fatty, creamy richness?
Fat-free? Why bother?

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