Posted on 12/01/2021 6:42:31 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
Wool will shrink with washing and pull away from the denim.
I’ve wet and dry felted for 40 years.
I may have to stitch around the edges of a cellulose/poly patch by hand, but I’ve been needle felting cellulose for a few months, now and it is responsive.
I did a needled wool patch I wet felted and then needled on to acrylic felt that has held up after hand stitching to denim, but it is showing wear after several wash/dry cycles.
I have also been working with silk on wool on acrylic needle felt for several months (acrylic won’t distort with working, the wool provides a substrate, the silk is translucent and reflective and it also tends to form long straight strands). Very strong, too. I don’t wet felt these as it flattens the effect of light I am after. The cellulose handles like silk and is also quite strong. I know the polyfil will really compact if I use a multi-needle tool.
All non-wool fibers do dull the needles quickly, though.
Pine Crochet Christmas Tree Skirt Free Pattern
We need a Christmas tree skirt .... not for this year (too busy on that stocking!), but I can see doing this for next year.
Simple, but pretty .... not sure I'd use exactly the same colors (outside edge - brown).
Deer Stocking Update ....
I just spent a considerable amount of time figuring out how to get the nose on. After realizing I had some sort of error that was just compounding as I went along, I had to cut all the “nose” stitches off that I’d worked (trying not to cut any stockinette stitches!) & start from scratch. I discovered a missing brown stitch which is next to the nose stitches (nose in black - like stitching blindfolded) which I thought was the cause of all the trouble, but there was another issue as well. All got sorted out & the nose is now on.
I’ve got enough of the head done that I’m noticing a disturbing trend, especially with the nose worked. The stocking head appears to be ‘wider’ and I think it needs to be taller, based on the pattern pictures, which means it could be distorted. Not good. So here’s what the plan is:
Finish the deer head on one side, at least enough to see if it’s going to look weird. If not looking weird, continue on.
If it looks weird, that will then be The End of the deer stocking. I saw a cute crochet stocking that can be this year’s present (the little guy is only going to be 7 months old at Christmas) & I can work on another ‘heirloom’ quality knitted stocking during the year & have it ready for next year’s Christmas.
Here’s the crochet stocking ... looks pretty cute & if I get the right yarn in some great colors, I think it will be a good ‘first’ stocking, until I can get something more elaborate knitted in the future.
Country Cottage Stocking Crochet Pattern
https://theturtletrunk.com/country-cottage-stocking-crochet-pattern/
I love the texture on this stocking .... it involves FPDC – Front Post Double Crochet I am NOT a fan of ‘post’ stitches, but I’d rather be doing ‘Front’ than ‘Back’ Post. Also, I could work this up in about 2-3 evenings, which would take a lot of pressure off ... we have a 99th birthday coming up this month (my dad), so plans for that are beginning to take up time, too.
Her work is SO neat in the pictures, which are terrific for instructional purposes!
—”All non-wool fibers do dull the needles quickly, though.”
I attempted repairing a comfortable Herman Miller chair by needle felting over the wear spots on the front of the seat cushion.
The seat and back are one-piece with a welt at the side/top edge. No easy way to open it up and sew on a seat cover.
It quickly abraided away.
Next, a nice bit of felted wool coat covering the top of the seat, lasted a few months and became loose on the edges.
Finally, I hand sewed the cover down, in places the factory adhesive holding the fabric to the foam was extra thick and I bent the curved needle stitching the cover down, using a needle holder.
That was two years ago and still holding.
I may have posted something about this artist a couple of years ago. She is well known even internationally. She specially treats dried leaves and then uses the tiniest crochet to bring them together into amazing art. If I remember right she has a website and Facebook page. This article is the first thing I found,
https://www.boredpanda.com/dried-leaves-crochet-art-susanna-bauer/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic
Red Heart Interwoven Cabled Chic Shawl, Scarf
Several more pics at the link so you can really see what the shawl looks like.
The yarn is Chic Sheep by Marly Bird. It's expensive ($9.99/skein at Michael's), but it's a "4" and substitutions should be fairly easy .... details on Chic Sheep:
Weight: Medium (4)
Contents: 100% Merino Wool
Skein Weight: 3.5 oz. / 100
Yardage: 186 yds. / 170 m
That shawl is gorgeous! I’d use something better than Red Heart if I was making it, too!
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The Country Cottage crochet stocking in lieu of the knitted deer head stocking (out of time .... may not work out) is “meant to be”!!
The pattern is for 5 Bulky yarn. I have a beautiful skein of Loops & Threads Charisma which is 5 Bulky in the color(s) “Holiday”. I bought it years ago ... the colors are burgundy, sort of a rose pink that blends, hunter green, sage green, bone. I love the colors - haven’t been able to find it since.
Anyway, if I use the Charisma Holiday for the toe, heel & cuff, and could find a color that blends for the main stocking body, that is the goal. What I hoped to find was the ‘sage’ green, solid color that will show the texture of the stitches. Lo & behold, there were only 3 skeins of sage at the local Michaels, exactly what I needed, color & amount. On sale, too! :-)
So that’s what I’ll be doing this weekend, working on the stocking. I also stopped at Hobby Lobby & found flower buttons for the horse blankets .... had to wait a LONG time in line ... they were crazy busy. I think I’m in ‘good’ shape again for Christmas on the kids’ presents. I’ll still work on the knitted stocking, but that won’t be until Christmas is over & I am not super pressed for time.
Glad you found a new pattern to use. I am taking pictures right now of my finished afghan to share...and I just had a brainstorm for the next color pallet:
I'll use the same pattern ('Spectrum') but will shorten up the bigger 12-row sections so I can get more colors into it without making it 20-feet long, LOL! I'll have Beau do the cipherin' for me - he loves that stuff. I'm seeing eight color changes, there.
I LOVE those colors .... I am always admiring the various colors/shades of eggs. All of ours are brown right now (last Arucana is no longer with us), but even the brown ones ... dark, medium, light shades & in between. I think doing things in shades of nature is always a winner.
Deer head stocking is not “dead”, just on hold. I need to finish the head & see if it looks wonky - if not, I’ll soldier on. If it is out of proportion, then the stocking will be dead.
Can’t wait to start the new one in a few minutes ... had to go to the hardware store first. Loading up on tea, checking out my available podcasts & I’ll be off & crocheting ... something easier than what I’ve been doing.
BTW ... my favorite podcast while knitting/crocheting? It’s “The Pirate History” by Matt Albers. I love history & the podcast is a LOT of history, pirates have always fascinated me, and then there’s Matt ... or should I say Matt’s “voice”. BEST male voice in podcasts. :-)
As you know, I needed a substitute for the deer head stocking that I had to put on 'pause'. This 'Country Cottage' stocking (link on comment 23) is what I ended up doing. I started it Friday evening late, got the stocking part done by last evening & started a knitted cuff (got about halfway), then did the other half/just finished this evening. BTW, the pattern calls for a crochet cuff, but I really don't like crochet 'ribbing', so I picked up the stitches and knitted the cuff ... my own little 'spin' on the pattern.:-)
I just love-love-love the texture on this stocking - being in a 5 Bulky yarn, it really shows up. There are other patterns on the website using the same texture - sort of a designer 'signature'. How to do it? Easy ... FPDC alternated with DC ... on the next row, you DC in the FPDC & FPDC in the DCs. It's easy to get confused on the beginning/ends of the rounds - I marked the first/last stitch every round & it helped a lot.
Moving on to finishing the horse blankets!
Gorgeous! You. Are. Amazing! That is so pretty! The cuff is perfect and I’m sure an improvement.
I took pictures of my afghan today and I will have them up tomorrow or so. Pretty happy with how it turned out, but always up for suggestions. I think ‘Spring’ is underrepresented.
I’m not averse to pulling out some rows...
That’s way cool. Smart Grandma!
Couple of “to do” items today .... done!
#1 - Wash & block the stocking. Boy, was that thing heavy soaking wet!! Fortunately, I could fold it & support it with both hands so the stitches didn’t stretch out while making the transfer from the sink to a big towel on the kitchen table. To block the cuff, I took the cardboard I used for the picture, rounded off the ends & wrapped it in plastic wrap - it slid right in. Last night, the corners were ‘catching’ a bit - had to be real careful. Now, the next big question: will all the bulky yarn/stitches dry by Friday evening? I need to give it away on Saturday. It’s in a room where the ceiling fan runs all the time, so hopefully, that will do the trick.
#2 - Mail two pairs of mitts to a friend across town. She asked for two pairs to give as Christmas gifts & said at the time “surely we would see each other before she needed them”. The way the schedule is starting to shape up, I decided to mail them & get them off my mind. I go to a little ‘country’ PO 6 miles away ... the most people I’ve ever had in line before is 3. Today, I was third in line & while I was standing there, 3 more folks came in with packages .... there was hardly room for a line! It’s worth the trip out there - beautiful drive, the clerks are not surly .... several of them sort of know me by now since I mail any prayer shawls, baby blankets, etc. from that PO.
Extra:
A neighbor stopped by & offered (out of the kindness of his heart ... I think he’s sincere) to help my dad. He ended up getting his big trailer & hauling all the old fence posts/boards taken down due to dad replacing the fence, to the dump. His trailer (12-15 ft with 3’ sides) was full & then some to the point he strapped everything down & used a cargo net. I helped him load - probably loaded 1/3 of everything. Dad is happy - me too ... I don’t have to hook up our trailer & load/unload all that stuff myself! Bonus points - I got my weight lifting workout in while loading :-)
Productive day! Very nice of your neighbor. He needs some mittens, I think, LOL!
The neighbor won’t accept payment (we had his cell number & called) - we know he had to go across the scales at the dump & pay by weight ... what he had on the trailer wouldn’t pass for “household” trash, which is only $3. I drove around the neighborhood & found his truck so I know where he lives. Dad wants to get him a Christmas ham .... I hope he’s not a vegetarian (he doesn’t look like one) LOL!
I have adopted a more aggressive drying strategy & now have a box fan set up, blowing directly on my stocking. It’s tilted down/propped up so the stocking is getting a lot of air ... those stitches are really thick & quite wet, despite rolling the stocking in some thick towels. The “buckling” around the heel is gone ... just hope the cuff blocks into the wider shape.
Dr. Heather Heying writes very thoughtfully about many subjects. On the last podcast (DarkHorse, hosted with her husband), she was talking about a beautiful handmade scarf she had been gifted by someone who had noticed she loves scarves and also wanted to show their appreciation for the podcast. She mentioned her next weekly ‘writing’ would be on gifts. She mentioned how special handmade gifts are and I thought those on the Fiber Arts Thread, who often make their gifts, would appreciate what she says about it.
From Silk to Pastries
Gifting Traditions Across Time, Space, and Species
https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/gifting
The whole thing is worth a read, but here are some of her thoughts on handcrafted gifts & those made by your own hands:
Gifts, therefore, that indicate true attention to the other — a knowledge of what drives them, what skills and interests they have, what they are thinking about—are more likely to be well received than are generic gifts. Unlike in Iran, the WEIRD world does not tend to explicitly recognize the difference between private gifts, and public ones; as such, we move between those boundaries with little awareness that they might even exist. Gifts that are not mere commodities indicate attention to the gifted particularly well—the promise of a shared experience: a walk together, a simple meal (or a fancy one), a trip. Handcrafted gifts, in part because they cannot be easily replicated, in part because they are often of higher quality than their mass-produced counterparts, are lovely as well. And gifts made with your own hands, with your own thoughts and warmth built right in, are the least fungible of all. This makes them high risk: What if the recipient doesn’t like the hat you made, or the bowl, the jewelry, or the cake? With high risk comes the potential for high reward, though, and even if something is not exactly to the recipient’s taste, that does not negate the affection and effort that goes into creating something with your own hands.
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