A Different Direction

Things went in a slightly different direction than I planned yesterday.  

I picked up my needles and dug to find yarn colours to start with

And away I went.  I cast on 75 stitches because I would rather have to cut off the felted end product than find I made it too small.  I knit three rows and started to worry.  My thumb thingy was gently starting to make me face up to a problem.  

I am quad stranding this so my fabric is thick once felted.  My hands were never going to manage the weight or the needles.  What to do?  

I went to look for my largest remaining crochet hook.  I once had a 9 mm hook but got rid of it years ago.  My biggest remaining seems to be a 6 mm needle.  Oh well.  It will work.  

It went fairly well though I found I got bored of the browns fairly quickly.  I picked out some purples.

The chair pad will be striped and that is okay by me.  

This is where I am at this morning.  Nice wide stripes and nice loose crochet will make a decent chair pad.  It will also use up a fair amount of a yarn I don't really have a plan for.  That matters to me.  Plus after the first full day of use, my leg feels much better.  No more chafing.  This yarn is now the chair pad yarn and is suddenly useful and important to me.  

At one point, I was going to sell this yarn or give it away.  And suddenly it has become a big part of things that matter to me.  Funny how that happens.  When your direction changes you just never know what will be the right thing.

Maybe knitting

Big needles.

Big bin of wool.

Let's see what sort of wool chair pads we can come up with.

Felted wool

More not normal knitting.  Again!  

Old sweaters.  What to do with them?  When a sweater is worn out or I am bored with it, my usual treatment is to felt it.  I usually cut it into squares of various sizes depending how I will use those felted squares.  They make great hot pads and coasters.  The last batch of old sweaters had no specific use planned though I was leaning to using them together for a blanket.  I cut squares of various sizes to get the most fabric out of the garments.  

And they sat for months.  Which I'm glad for now.  I could use some chair pads to make life more comfortable.  I made a small one a few weeks ago to alleviate some pressure on one spot, and it has made a real difference.  Maybe wool chair pads are the answer and that's what I am using all these squares for.  

I start with larger squares and make a well sewn together base.  Then I layer 

smaller shapes on top.  They get sewn on and are attached on all sides.  You can see there is a bit left to do on the center square.  I would like to knit a nicer looking top layer and have stash yarn in mind to do it with.  In general though, I just need a good thick wool pad.

That's the woolly stuff I have been doing lately.  It's not much but it will make a big difference in my life.  

I do have some fun stuff too.  Remember how I spoke of spending time looking at stitch markers and progress keepers?  I said I was going to make my own?  Ha.

I fell for some from an Ontario maker.  Cupcake cuteness and stones.  They aren't stones, just acrylic or resin faux stones.  But they are a reminder of so much of my life with Brian.  There is beauty in all the small things including ordinary stones.  Thse would be more than ordinary if they were real but as a stitch marker, these are the perfect weight.  It's just what I was looking for.  

There is so much to do today.  In the heat things have seemed to pile up.  Oh well.  One chore at a time and it will get done.