This has been a fun weekend. Wednesday night I found out I would have surprise company coming on Friday so I didn't go to knitting on Friday morning in Navasoto and I definitely needed some help with what I had done so far this week, so I signed up for a needle felting class on Saturday and spent another wonderful day in Navasoto at my favorite wool store WC Mercantile and ended the evening watching Boyd Bumbera race his tail off (actually the front bumper) at Cotton Bowl Speedway. It was a great race, with great friends.
But back to the class, it was fun, I learned a lot, made this wonderful bird and some great new friends! Yes, he's completely felted except his beak which is Sculpy. I have done needle felting for years, but mostly flat pieces that I use for other things, such as a journal cover or pin cushion, remember the dress and bird I did last winter, anyway, I hadn't ever tried to make things! Don't know how much I will use this new found craft, but I think there may be a few snowmen in the near future. We will see and I learned some things to help with all of my needle felting including using the Embellisher.
While I was there I got a niddy noddy (a tool for taking yarn off the bobbin) and examined some of my knitting from the week. Stephanie was able to help me see what mistakes I was making and taught me how to bind off, so I now have this 3 x 6 strip! Whoopee! My first two pieces with all of the mistakes have been taken off the needles and rolled back into little balls, but I learned a lot from both of them.
Stephanie showed me how to take my yarn off my bobbin and so I did that today. I got approximately 68 yards of yarn and the bobbin wasn't nearly full. I have set the twist (soaked the skein in hot soapy water and gave it a cold rinse) and hung it up to dry. It's a funny yarn (but that's what I want) and so I will take it with me Friday to see how she recommends I knit it. I had a tiny ball of yarn I had spun from some roving I had and so I knitted it today. Not easy it was so many different sizes, but got about three rows and was able to bind it off, so I was pleased. It is totally useless, but it was good training for future knitting. This is probably one of the most interesting things about my spinning and knitting - the practice part! I've always wanted instant gratification, thus watercolor and acrylics vs. oils! But with this it's just fun to do it - no matter the result. A whole new experience for me.
As I've often heard the best should be saved for last, and so I must tell about my Friday company. My "fake" granddaughter (fake part is a long story saved for another time) from Austin came in with her parents and stayed with Bill and I while they went to a dinner in Katy. Kaleigh is 10 and she is a blast. We hosed and fed the alpacas, went out to dinner and had a DQ and then headed to the studio. She wanted to craft! So she looked through my stash and found a tissue holder shaped like a stack of books and she painted it. It was so much fun to watch her pick out the colors and the brushes and just have fun. We have lots of other things planned for her next visit - fun, fun, fun.So this week will be filled with spinning, knitting and felting, with no particular result in mind. Well, except felting as I am going to try and get some pin cushions made and possibly some felted wool dryer balls. I have made three small ones, but have more in the works Sounds like a fun filled week..
