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!

Creamy Sweet Potato and Squash Soup

First of all, cut three sweet potatoes, one acorn squash, 4 shallots in half and put cut side down on an oiled roasting pan. Toss in 5 cloves of garlic and bake for 45 mins at 350 degrees.

Then, scoop out the potatoes and squash and toss into a pot with 3.5 cups chicken stock along with peeled garlic and shallots. simmer for 30 mins. (looks kinda yucky here…)

Next, scoop out veggies with just enough broth to liquefy in blender, strain everything and return to pot.  Season with salt and pepper… and add 1/2 cup of light cream or milk, bring to boil again.  Serve.  Makes about 6 bowls. 

Things to do today:

 

I have one whole day off in a row this week!  Generally this means that i will start several projects, finish none and leave a big mess for my next day off.  Today, however, I am determined to get some stuff done.  Here is the list:

1. I am making a sweet potato, squash and garlic cream soup.  I hope it is yummy… I haven’t made it before.

2. I started embroidering a little felt tissue holder last night, and plan to finish it off today.

3. This morning while I was in town, I stopped at the wool store and got a ball of red and a ball of white 100% wool for felting.  I am going to make and felt at least one little bowl today.  This is a trial. 

4. I also picked up a big bag of peaches, and I am going to try to squeeze a peach pie into the mix…. this might be pushing it.

I got all my shopping done this morning, got a load of laundry on and made my rounds in the blogging world.  Now its noon, and I have to pick the kids up at 3!

Ready…. Set…. Go!

SNOW!

 

I just wanted to share a picture of the yard today. We have gotten soooooo much snooooow this week, and they are calling for another 15 cm tonight. I think its a good night for staying in and drinking tea!

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!

Chicken Soup and a Plans for a new Project

I have 3 rounds left to go on the last pair of Jamie’s socks! Technically, they are the last pair of Christmas socks that didn’t get finished in time for Christmas.  I am enjoying the quiet morning, drinking tea and updating blogs before I finish them up and get on with all the other tasks of the day.

The striped sock has only grown a couple inches, but has a heal! I will keep plugging away at them over January.  I am looking for another knitting project this morning.  I recently registered at ravelry.com, and there are so many patterns there.  I am looking for a mans hat but finding all kinds of pretty hats for women.  Here is a pretty one... http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/selbu-modern We will see…

I am also working on a big pot of Chicken soup, because everyone is sick.  Just after Christmas, we bought a big book of soup recipes, and decided to make them all.  We wont of course, but we have had the tomato, which was good.  And yesterday I made a big pot of chicken broth, part of which will be Chicken Noodle soup today, and the rest will be frozen for soups later.  I have to make a big batch of bread today too to go with the soup.  Yum.