Six Hats and one Monster

and it is only a little past two in the afternoon. That is a pretty good days work for this elf. I reached the limit of what Mom's sewing machine can do with the last monster. Each one of these monsters broke at least one sewing machine needle. But, I now have four monsters all ready for gifting! Although they are pretty cute all together--it will be sad to see them separated. I'm NOT naming them before I give them away. I'm having a hard time picking which two will stay here with Joseph and Alex.

Two of the six hats will stay with us. The other four are gifts. The one in the front right and the one in the rear left of the photo have a piece of cashmere lining around the bottom. You can just see that on the photo of the hat in the front. It makes the hat very comfortable. The bright yellow one will be mine. The stripe one is for Dave.

Teacher tokens

I won't call them teacher gifts, because it is just a cookie. However, I like to remember all the teachers, aides, therapists, etc. that work with Joseph and Alex each year. For Joseph the list includes 11 names, for Alex 10. We do a gift certificate to Dave's company for the lead teacher for each boy as well.

These photos document the process this year! I had a bit of trouble with the cookies. The first trays were under baked--then I forgot to set the timer for the second set, so they were overbaked. I ended up making a second batch of dough. Now we have extras for ourselves. Dave actually likes these this year. It is the first time in seventeen years he has liked my sugar cookies.

Monster!!

Should this Monster be under the tree for Joseph or for Alex this Christmas? I'll make another for the other one--so it doesn't really matter.

I think I've found my medium for creativity. This wool felt is such a forgiving fabric. And making monsters is just my speed. If I make a mistake, it just adds to his monsterlyness. I was inspired by similar toys I saw on Etsy, so I can't take credit for all the creativity. If you can see his mouth, you may be able to tell that it is the pocket on a sweater vest. I stuffed him with scraps of wool felt, so even the stuffing is recycled. I love how soft he is. He should also be washable, since I already washed all the wool in hot water. He may gather lint, so I'll need to clean him off every once in awhile. I also like the fact that I made him in under two hours! Off to browse Etsy for more ideas. Well, maybe I'd better get everything else done that I need to do today before I let myself disappear into Etsy.

recycled wool felt Christmas stockings

Yep, I'm getting a bit obsessed with wool felt. I made these last night. Dave and I have old stockings from our youth, but I think we need nice new ones. These will be perfect. The boys have quilted stockings I made years ago. I found this sweater at Goodwill yesterday. I thought it too beautiful to pass up, and decided on the way home it would be perfect for Christmas stockings. I even lined them with cotton so trinkets from Santa won't get caught in the yarns on the inside of the stocking. They are about 14 or 15 inches long. There is an old button sewn on by the hanger, but you can't see it in the photo.

FYI 3.29 for the sweater, and I have about a third of it left. 2.00 for the two "fat quarters" I used to line the stockings.

A flock of birds

This is how I spent my Thanksgiving weekend.

I love my sewing room. Mom just gave me her 25-year-old sewing machine and I love it. I didn't think it would be that much better than my old machine, her REALLY old, 50-year-old, machine, but the "new" one is fabulous!

I love felting sweaters. If you have any old 100% wool sweaters, send them my way. Especially if they have interesting colors in them. I made the "robins" by using the part of a striped sweater that has brown and orange stripes. The robins are only shown on the photo of all of the birds... I'm not planning to keep all of these. I'm going to try to sell them at an event at Alex's elementary school--and donate the money to the school's holiday fundraiser.

If you want a bird, let me know and maybe I'll send one your way. Be sure to tell me which one is your favorite!

Felted Hat

My second felted project is a hat. A different sweater, with beautiful cables. It felted better than the first one, and I couldn't bear to cut up the cables. It would not have made nice birds... But it made a great hat. Not ready for primetime, but very, very warm. It fits Joseph perfectly. I have the back of the vest to make a second hat for Alex. The boys don't often wear hats, they prefer the hoods on their jackets, and it just doesn't get that cold that often here. However, I may borrow this hat to walk the dog on cold nights. I may fuss to make the shape a bit better, or I may just let it be kind of "rustic."

I made a few more birds--I copied the pattern at 80% to make a smaller version, and I really like that one. I'll keep you posted and post a photo of the whole flock when I am all done.

Felted birds

Here is my latest craft project:

I felted an old sweater. I knit several sweaters and vests 20-25 years ago. They have not fit for about 15 years, but I've kept a few favorites. I finally found a project to recycle/upcycle them. I felted the wool. Basically, shrinking the vest in the washer on purpose. See internet for information. I'm not happy with the way the process went for me to want to share. I'm doing my sweaters and vests one at a time, hoping I figure out how to make nice, tight wool fabric that won't unravel when it is cut.

Out of half of the first red vest I've made three birds. Two are shown here. I'll use them as decorations on the tree, I think. I'm not happy with the tails, but can't figure out a better way to do the tail, so for now, blanket stitch it is.

The pattern for the bird is from Spool. Maybe someday I'll have a whole flock and a fancy mobile like the one shown in the Spool link. The pattern is VERY simple and streamlined. Easy to make, but hard to make "perfect."