Felted Bowl

I have been looking at the felted nesting bowls all over the internet, on blogs and etsy, and really wanted to give it a try.  I made my first felt bowl last week, washed it, shaped it and I think it turned out pretty awesome!
For anyone who is looking at giving this craft a try, I have included some tips that I couldn’t find online and had to figure out.
First…. the bowl!

I visited our local yarn store, and purchased a red and a white ball of 100% wool.  You can buy wool in different types.  This was not spun into a single strand made of several smaller spun strands.  It is just one string.  I think this makes a difference.  I was looking at several samples in the store, and this variety looks the most “felted”.  Now, also very important… you need a top load washing machine to felt.  Fortunately, i have one.  Apparently, it wont work well at all in a front load.
This bowl is felted twice.  Or, I washed it twice in hot water both times.  Because I wasn’t happy with the results after the first wash, I not only did it again, but I also boiled the kettle and dumped a full kettle of boiling water into the already hot water.  I got a much better result.  I have made 2 bowls since then, and tried the second and third with out boiling water and had to do them 3 times, with boiling water in the third load.  I recommend just trying it in the first load and see if you like the results.  I will be trying this with my next effort. 
I cant give you a pattern, because I didn’t use one myself.  I started with 6 stitches on 4 needles and increased every 2nd stitch for several rounds then every 5th stitch until it was the size I wanted and then continued in a tube until I cast off.  You have to knit a lot longer than you want it, because it shrinks about 30% over all when you felt, but that isn’t even in length and width, it gets a lot shorter than smaller around… keep that in mind. 
This is the “hat” before felting:


It is actually a pretty fun craft, I recommend giving it a try!

Jamie’s Hat

I finished Jamie’s hat last week, but forgot to post it.  Here is the pic… its hard to get one with the detail.

I will try to get one with it on his head… outside, maybe the detail will show up.

Bits and Pieces… but nothing getting done.

Today…. I finished the first sock on the teeny tiny needles.  There is going to have to be a pretty special occasion before I ever think of starting a project like this one again.  I might just as well have knit an afghan, it would have taken the same time!!  Anyway, they are really nice.  I tried on the finished one, and they are nice and cozy. 

The pattern is pretty easy, really, just time consuming.  I will post the pattern under DIY shortly. 
Otherwise, while procrastinating about finishing the socks, I did a little embroidery.
I stitched these cute teabag characters snuggling with their strings wrapped around each other. I intended to use them as part of a patchwork tea bag wallet. I found some really cute teabag wallets on several blogs and thought it was a great idea. However, I misjudged some measurements ended up with a bit of a mess.... well not really a mess, but not what I intended either. So, now I have to rip some seams and do some touch ups. I thought I would share the embroidery with you in the mean time, as it is cute for Valentines Day coming up. :)

Now I need to think up some Valentines Crafts for the kids!