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.

Goofiness

This weekend was full of  goofiness.  And it was not my fault.

One of the little things I had to move through the floor replacement was my Lego Botanicals.  Keith gave me a set for Christmas a few years ago and they lived among the blue and white china collection.  It always bugged me that they weren't displayed with the focus on them.  

While they were stored, a couple of the individual pots were broken.  I brought them out and Keith found instructions online to rebuild them.  And then he grouped them on a shelf.

He also tucked in the wee squirrel that a friend made for me a few years ago.  I loved it and jokingly said "He needs a watering can."

And that's when Keith got ... well, odd.  His eyes lit up and he went for the lego box.  

He  couldn't find what he was looking for so

It was like watching him at 6 and 7 and 8 years old again.  I just laughed.  And before you know it

Watering can.

I had to add a bit of something so I used some extra pieces from the kit and made a few flowers.

Pretty soon, Mr. Squirrel has his own complete garden and I am utterly charmed.

I may have to make him a rake and a hoe or maybe a trowel.  It was just fun.

Lots of water

I got all my planned chores done yesterday but for the blue and white china.   Yay for me.  There is still so much to do though.  I did pull out a pair of pants and am partway through pinning the waist band on too.  That was an extra thing I had not figured on.  I did some yarn things but no knitting.  

Today will be another hot day according to the weatherman.  I am wearing lightweight clothes but my head is all about winter sweaters.  Seriously.  In fact I'm wondering if my decision on Lunan is because its time to start finishing up the winter sweaters I have on the go.  

I pulled out my Hiraeth sweater.  

 

I want to knit on this so much.  It got set aside for all the summer knitting.  In a way it's a bit like my Shalom.  Hiraeth has the same round yoke and I am planning for my Shalom to have bands of the twisted rib at the bottom and at the cuffs in a similar way to Hiraeths bands of corrugated rib.  Everything is different and yet a wee bit the same.  

I was also digging my fingers into the bag with my Staffin sweater.  I can't wait to get working on that gorgeous deep red.  It will be a total restart to resolve some errors but I knew that going in.  First try was just practice and now that I understand the set up, and what she is doing I can go ahead and enjoy the knit.

I am also looking for a speedy finish to my Kauni sweater.  

Some progress but not a lot since spring. It's the sort of sweater I will wear a lot as summer turns slowly to fall.  This sweater is nice straight forward knitting.

Today I am going get the pants finished.  Both pair just need the elastic waistband and as I mentioned, one pair is already half pinned in.  I do have a hemming project to do.  That's more fussy work than anything else but it's something I am looking forward to.  And then I hope to get in a bit of knitting.  My hand is feeling much better so I will give it a go.  

Add to this, lots of water.  Lots and lots of water.