Did anyone say that we have to blog about things we actually do? No? Good, so I can blog about things I might like to do someday. And I can embellish the post with semi-relevant links that you can waste your time following. After all, I have wasted quite a bit of time finding and linking them here.

For years I’ve had a sweater that I was very proud of having knitted. (That part, I actually DID do.) However, it was huge. (I think I was 9 months pregnant at the time I made it.) Recently this book, The Sweater Chop Shop by Crispina Ffrench, caught my eye at the library (I hesitate to criticize any public library for anything, but I do NOT understand why they feel compelled to cover key words in the title with the bar code, especially when the title is as good as this one.) I decided that I would honour my old sweater by “felting” it. I’ve since learned that this process is properly called “fulling“.

Stage one was easy – wash and dry in the machine several times. Now I need some other sweaters to shrink, so I can create something new – maybe a vest, or a stuffed dinosaur, pot-holders or cushions. (These are some of the items that can usefully be made with this technique, which may explain why I probably won’t get around to finishing the project for awhile.)

Today I checked out a thrift store and bought a cheap wool sweater. I was about to toss it in the machine when I thought “Hmmm, this is quite nice. I wonder if it fits.” So I snatched it out of the machine and have a new item for my wardrobe. But the felting fulling project is stalled until I get back to the thrift store for more supplies.

Browsing around now, I find tons of information, for example another library book Felt Frenzy by Heather Brack and Shannon Okey led me to Heather’s website.

I can see how my reliance on library books is very quaint. However, trips to the library often involve the 20 minute walk each way, so I shall continue to do that before sitting at my computer to browse the internet.