Let's Make a Christmas Wreath

Wreaths are easy, fun and frugal.  At least the kind I make are.  Counting ribbon, wire, and a clothes hanger, I spend about two dollars on each wreath.
So first we head out to the woods to pick a bevy of greenery.

We picked about two garbage bags full and I make three wreaths from this.

Here is the equipment you'll need.  A wire coat hanger, thin gauge wire, and a nipper.

Shape the hanger into a circle.  You could just buy a wreath form, but this is cheaper.  A form will hold more and be more uniform when you're finished.

We gathered mostly balsam boughs, they work the best.  We also collected Scotch pine, white pine, cedar, some cones, red twig (for a little color), and tag alder cones.  This is what's available in our area.  Use whatever you would like to see in your wreath.

Next, I lay the form in my lap, attach the wire and start wrapping the ends of the boughs onto the form with the wire. 

I continue wrapping, layering boughs over each other and work around the form.

I insert various pines and branches between the balsam boughs to make it more interesting.

When the wreath is full, I wire the cones on and put a ribbon at the top.  Very easy. 
So, my first Christmas project of the season is finished.  If you make wreaths, let me know.  I'd like to see what you do.

It's Farmhouse Friday so don't forget to go over to http://www.therenegadefarmer.com/ and check out the farming links there.

T-Shirt Rug

I just finished my first t-shirt yarn project. See    t-yarn  entry.  So here's my rug made in a simple single crochet.  I used about 9 or 10 t-shirts and it measures about 18"x30".

It's kind of bright, but I like bright things.  The little yellow bits you see in the first red part are bits of Sponge Bob, who once decorated that t-shirt.

I'm going to try another couple of rugs, one in stripes and one in granny squares, and maybe a circular one.

Good night, sleep tight.

From Ewe to You #2

So now that the fiber is carded, it looks like this-

I decided to dye this batch in two tones.  I failed to wet the wool before I put it in the dye.  Here's the fluff going into the pot.

Next, I dry it again and end up with this, a little darker than I wanted.

Now the really fun part-spinning it.

Once it's spun, I set the twist by putting the yarn in hot water and soaking for a couple of hours.  This caused the dark dye to bleed a bit more, evidently, I hadn't washed it out as much as I should have when it took the dye.

I put the yarn in an old pillowcase and put it in the spin cycle in the washer.  This takes out all of the excess water.  Then I rewind it around my "winding chair".  I sometimes wind it around my niddy noddy to dry, but this chair works so well and each round is one yard.

The yarn turned out in shades of green and made about 95 yards.

Here is the finished product-

It's single ply  yarn, occasionally I make a two ply, but I prefer the single ply.

So there you have it.  Mistakes and all.

From Glory Farm.

From Ewe to You

I decided to do an entry on my passion-spinning.  You'll see that I did some things wrong, but I thought that I'd post this anyways.

We started with a sheep and we sheared her.  I didn't take pictures of that whole process, but suffice to say, I still need practice.

Here is the raw fleece, unwashed-

I wash it with Dawn and Borax, then wash a second time with Dawn, rinse until the water runs clear.  Don't agitate too much as this will cause felting.

I put the fiber into an orange bag and let it partially dry-

Then I spread it out on a screen to finish drying and fluff up a bit.

Here is the washed wool-

Next I fluff it some more, or if it's slightly felted, I hand card it a bit and then put it on my drum carder.

I think I'll finish this post in another entry.  I have a few more pictures.

So on to post #2.

T-Yarn

I have a site bookmarked on my computer that uses recycled materials to make bags and purses.  While I've seen a lot of wal-mart bags used in crochet, I never knew about T-yarn.  This is taking t-shirts and cutting then to make a yarn to crochet or knit with.  What a good way to reycle old t-shirts.  We get a lot of them. The site is  http://www.myrecycledbags.com/2009/06/05/making-t-yarn-from-recycled-tee-shirts/  .

Here is a picture of the T-yarn taken from that site.A new project!

Felted Boots #2

Wow.  Thank you so much for your kind comments on the boots in the last post.  They really aren't hard to make and anyone can do it.  So I thought I'd do my best to tell you how to do the pattern, and the rest you might want to look up on line.

I bought the book, "Felting by Hand" by Anne Einset Vickrey.  This book has how to felt mittens, slippers, hats, purses, boots, etc.  It starts from the very beginning.  What type of wool, how to layer it, how to make the patterns, how to do the actual felting and the shaping when you're done. 

The pattern for the boots is made by drawing around your foot, a symetrical oval.  Then off of that, draw upwards where your ankle would go and make as tall as you want your boots.  Cut this from a bright colored piece of colorfast cloth.  Layer the wool and place pattern in the middle.  The actual felting would take a while for me to  explain and I probably wouldn't do a very good job, but there are websites that have instructions. 

http://www.squidoo.com/Wool-felting

http://www.gfwsheep.com/flatfelt/flatfelt2.html

 

Thank you again for your kind comments.  Wow.

Felted Boots

Finally.  After several attempts.  I made a pair of felted boots/slippers that can actually be worn.  I hope to improve the style and looks as I get more experience, but these are very soft and very warm.  This is felt from one of my Icelandic ewes.  I think I'll try a pair of mittens, next.  They should be easier to make.

Have a glorious day.

Stupid Sock Creatures

My daughter received a Stupid Sock Creature Kit for Christmas.  The past two days, her and her brother have been busy creating-

What they're good for, I don't know, but my children are sure having fun, with visions of a new business on the horizon.

Carhardts aren't made to come apart...

My honey needs his Carhardts.  They are made tough, but zippers seem to give out long before the things need patches.  I've replaced the zipper on his overalls and today it was the zipper on his old coat.  That thing had four rows of stitching on each side of the zipper!  Taking it out was a major production, putting it back in wasn't as hard.  I have to sing the praises of my old Husqvarna Constitution 200.  It went through three layers of duck cloth and the zipper.

See the stained old coat?  You can't really make out the new zipper.  Honey was very happy. 

If you're thinking about buying a sewing machine, I'm a big advocate for the Husqvarna.

God bless your evening.

Making Mittens (Cheating)

Hey, I made two pairs of mittens in just a day!  Last fall I picked up some 100% wool sweaters at Goodwill (1/2 off).  Washed them in the hottest water we have-lukewarm. Threw them in the dryer and viola!  felted sweaters.  Made a pattern for mittens, cut them out of the sweaters, a little decorating and I have this:

I made them for Christmas gifts, but I kinda like the blue ones........

Now how easy was that?

Happy Christmas present making.