Sunday, May 28, 2006

Busy week!

Sorry I haven't updated in the last few days...whenever I've had any spare time at home, I have been out working in the garden. We have been manually weeding all the beds, and when I post pictures of how big the garden is, you will wonder how we are still alive (I'm wondering right now). And of course it has been in the upper 80's/lower 90's the last few days, tomorrow is expected to be more of the same. We don't have everything done yet, but we have enough done for the things that really need to be planted tomorrow. The rest of it will happen gradually over the next couple weeks.

Here is a photo of the cats, just before we headed out to the garden at 6:30 this morning:
























I also somehow managed to get the iPod holder done. However, I'm having some difficulty felting it. Here it is pre-felting (attempt).












Actually, my iPod looks proportionately smaller in the photo than it really is, so don't think I've gone TOO crazy. Anyway, the pattern says to felt it in a 4-cup Pyrex, using water as hot as you can stand, and slosh it around until it's nicely felted, which should take about 15 minutes.














So, here it is. I used boiling water, and sloshed for 25 minutes, but it still looks pretty much the same except wet. So, the plan tomorrow is to try it again but use my stand mixer instead of trying to do it manually.

Oh, and I sent my first SP package out today. Yes, I know it's Sunday. I went to the automated package sending machine - specifically did it today because I knew no one else would be there. I hate going to the post office, but that machine kicks ass.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cute! I like the colors of the cozy. Sometimes switching betweem really hot and then rinsing in really cold water will help "shock" the wool fibers into felting faster. Good luck.

Michelle said...

Quick update - after about 40 minutes of agitating in the mixer, it has felted a little, but not enough (as in not enough to actually fit the iPod). I did try the cold rinse after reading this suggestion, but it doesn't seem to have done much. I currently have another kettle of water on to felt one more time before I give up.

Anonymous said...

Have you tried putting it in the washing machine with a few pairs of sneakers? That's how I've always felted things. (Just make sure you don't let it go through the spin cycle.)

Michelle said...

I have a front-loading washer, so it usually takes 8-10 hours for me to felt something in there, even if I throw other stuff in with it. Since this was such a small project, it made the most sense to do it in the mixer, and the washer definitely won't have water as hot as boiling.... It's still a little big, but I think I'll just deal with it (it's mostly the length, not the width, so it should be OK)