Onsie for baby Kubat-Painter

Finally finished and ready for their May 2nd shower is the onesie i made for Mark and Claire's baby. The idea for this came from the last issue of Wondertime magazine (http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/crafts/science-project.html) To make the circles i started by using an old t-shirt and putting a cup inside the shirt. I then wrapped a rubber band around the width of the cup, so that it created a taught circle. I then drew a design on the shirt using sharpie marker. For the circle pattern i drew a series of concentric circles, but i also made some neat designs just using dots. I then let the circles dry, run them in the dryer on high heat for 20 minutes. After that i sewed them onto a onesie.

Felt Ball Success ... Woohoo!

I finally figured out how to successfully make felt balls and it was actually as easy as they said it was. Why is it that when you figure out how to do something it all of the sudden seems so easy. I now feel a little embarrassed that it took me so long to figure it out. So here is what i learned:
- i had more success just using roving (although the balls i made using wool yarn turned out well and i plan to use them for another project)
- You have to wrap the roving around itself, just like you were wrapping a ball of yarn.
- Roll the ball of roving between your hands (like rolling a ball of clay) gently at first then gradually pressing harder.
- Add a little warm water and soap as you roll the ball between you hands.
And there you go, it is that easy. I would still like to try it in the washing machine and see if i will have more success using my new technique. My plan is to take the felt balls i made today and make them into a necklace.

Finished Mittens

I am great at starting things, getting half way through them and then never finishing. I have a house full of half done things and having a child has only made this worse. Now i not only have half done projects but i also have half done chores, i.e. laundry that never makes it to the dryer. I am hoping that this blog forces me to be a little better about finishing things. However, in the past week i have started three new projects and not finished anything. So last night, in an attempt to finish something, i cut out my other mitten, needle felted on the pattern and then sewed both mittens. Success, i have a great pair of finished needle felted mittens. All Todd could say was "that used to be my sweater." Inspired by the success of my finished mittens i then went and started a pair of baby mittens, which are now sitting on my table half done...