Friday, October 05, 2007

Felting & Fixing

I was thinking about felting yesterday. Since felting essentially creates a fabric out of the wool,why would you need to reknit something? Couldn't you just shrink the sweater you were planning to unravel first and then cut and shape it into whatever you wanted to make?

To answer a question like this you need to go to a place where the frugal fold gather. I started by checking Dollar Stretcher but had no luck. Next stop, Thrifty Fun where I hit the jackpot. Check out the Cheater's Felted Purse if you're a non knitter and still want to give felting a try.

Here are instructions for felting using a washing machine, which is the prefered method. Here are hand washing instructions for felting.

My project is ready to be washed but I'm having a hard time finding the time to do it. (I feel guilt about running the washer and I don't have time to hand felt.) There's a good chance it may sit until next week sometime. I didn't really look at what I was knitting as a whole before finishing it off and I've just noticed it looks like my purse will be very wide and very skinny. Maybe I subconciously made a knitting needle carrying case instead! I'll see what happens when I actually felt it.

I feel this urge to create things right now. I'm just enjoying seeing projects begin, come along and finally come together. Sometimes short term projects, like last nights backpack zipper repair, are really gratifying.

Kyle has a double zipper on the top of his backpack. Both of the ends of the zipper had begun to unravel and one zipper pull actually fell off yesterday. Getting the zipper pull back on and the teeth of the zipper lined up again proved the most time consuming and frustrating portion of the process. Once it was reattached, I sewed across the zipper so the pull couldn't go that far down again. Then, I proceded to sew in all the frayed edges. After half an hour, we had a functional backpack, a happy child and a victorious mother.

When I embark on a repair project my mantra goes something like this:
I can do this!
I mean I should be able to do this.
There's got to be a way to do this!
Isn't there some way to do this?
If _____ can do this, then I can do this!
Oh, this is how you do this!
Next time, I'll be much quicker at this!

6 comments:

Marvie said...

Just do your felting the next time you have to wash jeans or towels. As long as your wool item is tied up in a pillow case, it'll felt just fine and won't leave fiber all over your clothes (and in the guts of your washer, which is a Very Bad Thing!)

I usually go grab my son's jeans when I want to felt something. He's always got at least a few in his laundry basket, and since they're usually A) too big for him anyway and B) filthy a couple of runs through the hot wash cycle doesn't hurt them. (I'd never use my own jeans *g* I have enough trouble with them "shrinking in the wash" as it is ;)

Chile said...

Katie, I've nominated you for a brand new blogger award called "Change begins at home"! Come check out the details here.

James said...

I've nominated your site for the new "Change Begins at Home" award. I've been reading your blogging entries for over a year, sometimes I've posted comments, but I do look forward to reading about your ways of making things work for your family. I too am strict vegetarian, frugal, and trying to make a better life for my family through gardening.

If you have time, take a look at the following link: http://bean-sprouts.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-awards.html and reply if you want to.

My blog is http://simpleincomplex.blogspot.com/
And I've been doing LOTS of gardening this summer.

Take care,

James

Ruthie said...

Katie ~

I love your mantra!

Melanie Rimmer said...

The trouble with that is my kids now bring me all kinds of things and expect me to be able to fix them. Smashed plastic toys can very rarely be fixed, broken glass cannot be fixed and neither can dead furry animals.

Katie said...

Hi Marvie,
Its funny you should post that because it was exactly what I was thinking about doing. Thanks for the tip. BTW, I'm keeping my own jeans out of the mix as well!

Chile & James, I'm speechless!! (Imagine a blabber mouth like me speechless but its true!) Thank you both so much. Its so great to know that our words and experiences can inspire others!

Thanks Ruthie!

Oh Melanie you gave me such a chuckle! I've been asked to fix all those things as well! I swear I'm going to have to find a use for broken glass. My 15 year old daughter is forever breaking glasses. Its at the point where I buy glasses whenever I see them at the thrift store and just have her pay me back. BTW, thanks for creating such a great award!