At this VERY MOMENT, I am felting!
Felting is a process where you punish old wool sweaters until they submit to your will. They are then recycled into new objects like purses, the fate of this poor estate sale find:
I will torture this $2 sweater with scalding water and blistering dryer heat until it capitulates! Feel my wrath, pathetic sheep fiber!
Today’s post stars a guest puppeteer, my very own sister cupCAKE. Not many people know about her advanced studies in the grand art of puppetry. She’s very modest about it, but she’s spent countless years perfecting her craft. Now, for the first time ever, she’ll perform in a new medium: styrofoam.
Why Alan’s Cats Aren’t Good Yoga Assistants
My dog is currently grateful that he’s 70 lbs of big dog muscle. I’m armed with yarn and Lion Brand patterns for little doggie outfits! If only I could stuff him into these hilarious coats!
The real reason my dog should thank his lucky stars:
It’s an honest mistake. One minute you’re walking into Rite Aid to get some scissors for your crochet project, the next thing you know you’re walking out with sparkly purple nail polish.
It could happen to anyone.
Maybe it’s time to start wearing purple.
Yesterday, Alan and I checked out the Asian grocery that opened near his house. It’s impressively large and has a whole AISLE devoted to sugar!
We obtained blueberry mochi cakes, strawberry gummies, strawberry cream-filled biscuits with koalas printed on them, strawberry cream-filled biscuits with pandas printed on them (for comparative purposes), mango pudding, lemon chewies, and a pair of frog chopsticks!
Unpictured: the fancy soup spoon Alan bought.
I can’t wait until we go back so we can buy mochi ice cream and sesame dumplings!!!
How to transform something icky into something delicious:
I don’t drink beer, but somehow through the magic of heat and science, a kind of icky beverage metamorphizes into a dense, moist bread!
The recipe I followed came from Farmgirl Fare, partially because I’m a wannabe farmgirl at heart, and partially because she only uses a tablespoon of sugar instead of half a cup! I made it with half wheat flour for extra health points.
Get your beer on! You’ll need:
A bottle of beer
3 cups of flour (I used 1.5 cups whole wheat flour and 1.5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour)
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
{Fresh dill}
{Leftover shredded cheddar}
Bake it on up in a greased loaf pan at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. I also followed Farmgirl’s tip and brushed on a glaze (1 egg + 2 teaspoons of water) for a crusty finish. The link to her site includes some delicious flavor variations.
End result: The house smelled FANTASTIC while it was baking. It’s a little drier than I expected, but I think that’s due to the wheat flour substitution. I’ve never really made bread before, and now I’m all revved up to get bakin’! Eat and be merry!
What do you know? I bought some roving.
And wonder of wonders, I actually got around to making some beads!
Behold! I have transformed mere wool into FELT!
I think I’m going to make my mom a bracelet. Shhh… it’s a surprise!
In general, I think I’m relatively practical. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m not going to be President of the United States, a world-renowned actress, a professional athlete, or the greatest mind of the 21st century. I know it’s not in the cards for me to buy an island, drive a Ferrari, or own a unicorn. (Although, truth be told, I still haven’t given up hope that I’ll someday have my own cooking show on Food Network, despite the fact that my idea of cooking currently involves frozen meals and a microwave. A girl’s gotta dream.)
HOWEVER, when it comes to crafting, all bets are off. Innocently perusing the 746.43s at the library, I came across a book with surprisingly good projects.
Fully Woolly may be a kiddie book, but it reignited a flame in the forgotten embers of my heart. It reminded me of my fascination with FELTED BEADS!
Naturally, I began searching the interwebs for a good source for wool roving, the critical component in any bead felting endeavor. Thus begat a series of daydreams that escalated exponentially.
Kiki: I’m going to buy some roving and start making beads!
Kiki: I’m going to love making beads so much that I’m going to start giving handmade necklaces to all of my loved ones!
Kiki: I’m going to need to mix my own colors pretty soon, so I’m going to start dyeing my own roving with Kool-Aid!
Kiki: My hand-dyed roving is going to be so awesome that I’m going to start spinning my own yarn!!!
Mark my words. By 2009’s end, I shall have spent hundreds of dollars on my soon-to-be-forgotten felted-beads-phase.
But can you blame me? FELTED BEADS!!!!!!!
