A Felting Experiment

So I'm working on a felted beanie...

First time ever.

And I have NO IDEA how it will turn out.

 

In a way, every time you felt it's a bit of an experiment.

I mean - you never seem to know just quite how your yarn will react to the process.

It's sometimes even a complete mystery whether it will felt at all.

Of course, you could always felt a swatch piece...

But let's face it. I never do that. And I like to think that I'm in the majority on that one.

(Although I could be wrong).

And this time I'm trialling something a little different.

I'm using two yarns worked together: one strand is a navy feltable wool and the other one is my Crazy Yarn. The Crazy Yarn is made up of short leftover scraps all knotted together. I have no idea what fibre most of it is. In fact, it would be safe to say there's a little bit of everything in there. Some of it is definitely cotton, some is bamboo, some is acrylic. None of those fibres will felt.  So what will happen when they are put through the felting process with a 100% wool?

I have no idea.

But I'll do it anyway - Just for FUN!

 

I also have no idea if the beanie will fit a normal adult head after felting...

But it can always be a kids hat...

Or one for a GIANT.

Where are you Ashley W???

So I used the Random Number Generator to chose... and # 20 was the winner.

According to my calculations: Ashley W left the 20th comment over at the Beanie Giveaway, so she is our winner...

 

"Kiss Kiss and Bumpy Bits are my two favorites. I actually just moved to Alice Springs, so I can't wait to see these in person. I know nothing about the Beanie Festival, but I'm looking forward to it next month. Ashely W"

So Ashley - now you need to email me your choice, and the address you would like it mailed to!

Yes... And I don't know.

YES...

I am still collecting tea bag strings.

I DON'T KNOW...

What I will make with them yet!

My ball now weighs 76 g.

 I've been feeling like it just doesn't seem to grow. No matter how many strings I add to it, that ball just seems to remain the same size...

But then I looked back at my last blog post about it.

And guess what?

IT HAS GROWN!

Last time it was only 22g...

And I still have another 67 g of untied strings.




So the madness continues.

And a Dresser Stool...

Remember Astro Boy?

Cute enough... but not the RIGHT kind of cutie for Little Miss Katie's new bedroom.

But look beyond the cartoon to the stool underneath...

Can't you just picture it with a full-on crazy fluffy white cover instead?

I certainly could!

The stool itself came from one of my Wonderful Work Buddies. Not that I actually work there anymore, but I still think of them as My Girls. And I'm sure I'll go back again, ONE DAY!

Jo-Jo had been having a clean out at her place - and she just KNEW that Little Miss Katie would love a Girly Stool. She also knew that I would be up for the challenge of revamping it.

I thought that it might have been a bit tricky, but then I flipped it over and saw that the previous cover had been attached with STICKY TAPE... and I figured I would manage just fine...

So I armed myself with a Powerful Staple Gun and some Fabulously Fluffy Fabric.

Did I mention that the Fabulously Fluffy Fabric makes a Freakingly Huge Mess?

That's the leg of my pants in the photo. I should have worn a different colour...

It was an incredibly quick process once I got started.

A simple matter of covering the base, and then covering the cushion.



Job done!

And I'm sure the clean up took longer than the project itself...

And Now For The Curtains

Well...

Of course the room needed new curtains, right?

And of course I wanted to UPCYCLE something in the process, right?

These double bed sheets were perfect for the job!

I love their "Vintagey Vibe". They feel just like the kind of sheets that I would have had on my bed when I was eight years old - and Little Miss Katie loves them too. In fact, they came with a couple of pillow cases... so we've already snaffled them for our beds.

Each sheet had a couple of small holes - but they were right near the edge, so I was able to just trim a length off without causing any problems.Which was quite a relief, since I hadn't noticed them until I started ironing...

Man there was a lot of IRONING!!!

I'm not much of a Sewing Legend, but I did want to line the curtains... 

So I used this tutorial here for the basics and then stitched header tape to the top to gather the curtains...

 

For the lining, I recycled an old doona cover.

(Now for all of my non-Aussie readers - that would be a duvet cover or a quilt cover!)

I hadn't realised until I came to use it, that the top and bottom of the cover were two different prints. Mind you, they were exactly the same colour - so I just went ahead and used them anyway. But it does mean that there is a slight difference between each one...

Take a peek at the left curtain:

And now the right curtain:

See what I mean?

Different. But not different enough to worry about. 

So now the curtain are done, and the room is coming together nicely...

You can't see from the photos, but three of the walls are painted white and one is lilac - the same colour as the mirror. So the Vintagey Vibe curtains work beautifully!

We even found a place for the Blooming Flower Cushion I made a year or so back:

PS. The Girl was away on camp when I took this photo, which explains why the floral pillowcase is missing from the bed - and also why the room is actually CLEAN!!!

Branching Out

I'm trying to branch out a little.

I love recycling yarn, and always will - but there are so many other ares where we can UPCYCLE.

During my blog absence, I revamped Little Miss Katie's bedroom with a fresh coat of paint on the walls and ceiling.

My timing is not always smart with these things. For starters, Mr Goldfish was away. He's a Scout Leader - and he was interstate for a fortnight at the Australian Jamboree. So I was home on my own with all the kids. That's three school aged kids - all on holidays and expecting to be entertained... PLUS a toddler! Oh. And we were in the middle of a heat wave. The kind of heat where your paint starts drying on your brush between dipping it in the tray, and painting it on the wall.

But when you're in the zone - you're IN THE ZONE.

So you push through the barriers and just do what you have to do.

(If only I could do that in all the other areas of my life. But that's a story for another day.)

Anyway.

I wanted to add a chest of drawers for the bedside.

So of course I went Op Shopping to see what Second Hand Delight I could discover.

To be honest, there wasn't a lot on offer...

But when I saw this fully functioning chest of drawers for $1 - I could hardly say NO.

Yeah.

I know.

There's a handle missing.

And the top is kind of gungy and covered in ickyness.

Plus a dinosaur, courtesy of The Toddler.



But I figured we could get around all that...

So I set the kids to work with some sandpaper and a drawer each.

Well - they were asking to be entertained, weren't they?

And The Toddler just kind of supervised... In between juice breaks.



The dinosaur was useless, but kind of majestic looking.



So.

With a bit of scrubbing and a light sand, followed by a couple of coats of paint and some fresh handles... We have a winner!

Not bad for a $1 chest of drawers, hey?

That mirror was a makeover job too - but I forgot to take photos.

And how gorgeous is that Rag Doll?

She was made by a dear friend of mine, the Incredibly Artistic Anna.

You can check out more of Anna's work on her Facebook page - Swallowtail.

Beanie Giveaway.

I've been having a blast making beanies for the Alice Springs Beanie Festival...

The problem is - I can only send ten hats up - and I've made eleven.

Which means that one hat needs to stay behind.

So here's the thing...

I want YOU to tell me which hat I should SEND TO YOU instead!

Just leave a comment here on my blog telling me which one is your favourite.

Anyone can enter. Go and tell your friends...

The winner will be chosen by random selection on Sunday May 19th - so you have five days only to vote for your favourite.

(Of course Little Miss Newspaper will be staying here with me).

Here they are:

#1 - Slouchy Stripes


#2 - Purple Haze


#3 - Grape Fizz


#4 - Bits and Bobs


#5 - Fuzzy Wuzzy


#6 - Spring Garden


#7 - Rainbow Hat


#8 - Bumpy Bits


#9 - Nice and Natural


#10 - Kiss Kiss


#11 - Moody Blues