Let's Face It

My bear has dried. 

He looked a little funky . . . so I took a mohair brush and gave him a nice combing. If you don't have a mohair brush, you can use any soft bristled brush.

As I brushed him out, I cut any pieces that were stiff feeling.

Then it was time to create his face.

I'm not very good at embroidery . . . so I decided to take the easy way out and I bought plastic 'animal eyes'.

I took a couple of pins and placed them where I wanted the eyes to be.  That way I could move them around until I found the perfect spot.

Once I found the perfect spot, I grabbed my scissors and 'poked him in the eye'! Since the felt is pretty thick, I had to wiggle the tip of the scissors around a bit to make a hole.

I put his eyes in . . . 

and here is looking at me!!

Next it's time for the dreaded embroidery . . . otherwise he will not have a nose . . . and he won't be able to smell the roses . . .or honey.

Here he is with his nose . . . and I figured I would give him a heart while I was at it. Yes, I cheated and sewed a button on for his heart!!

I stuffed him with fiberfill . . . .see it peeking out of his belly??

Next I just need to sew up his tummy seam. 







But I'm told he needs a sweater . . . or a vest. I guess I know what my weekend project will be!

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

Monday Night Knitting

It's not a hat . . . it's a palm tree!!

Monday Night Knitting is always fun. Fun enough that even if some of our members go to Florida for the winter . . . they check in with us!

But do they have to put the palm tree in the background?? When it was about 10 degrees here?? I decided to forgive them since they were knitting.












Look at this cute sweater that Peggy finished.













But there were plenty of us that weren't in Florida.







Pat came with her spinning wheel. I wish you could feel this . . . it's llama!!

So soft! She is thinking of perhaps knitting a shawl with it.

Martha also came with her spinning wheel. She is creating a yarn that is going to fluff to uber softness once it is washed.
















Lizzy did a little finger knitting . . . 














. . . by the end of the night she had a scarf all done!!

Joan modeled her finished scarf.

The 'other Joan' had finished baby sweaters.














The 'other Liz' had lots of finished hats!!








Of course there were more knitters . . . but many of them are camera shy! (Which is why there are a lot of heads missing in these photos!)

Come and join us . . . then you'll get to see all the faces.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

BEARy Wet

Okay . . . Saturday morning I felted my bear. If you've never done any felting here's a few tips.

• Set your washing machine for the smallest size load and the hottest temperature.
• Add a little bit (and I mean a little bit) of soap. The soap will help those fibers relax a little!
• Add a pair of jeans (or if you are like me . . . and your jeans will never-ever-ever fit you again after being washed in hot water . . . add a pair of sneakers. You just want something to go through the cycle and 'hit' your piece. It helps with the agitation.
• Check the item before your machine reaches the rinse cycle. If it isn't felted enough for you, turn your machine back to the beginning of the wash cycle. (It will save on your hot water!!)

Here is my bear after it went through the first wash cycle. I took him out to see how much he felted. He was still a little too loose for the fabric I was looking for, so back in he went.

Here is a close up. You can see that it is felted . . . but unfortunately you can't feel it. You will know when it is just right . . . kind of like Goldilocks knew.

Once the piece has reached the consistency you want, take it out of the wash. Don't let it go through the spin cycle . . . it could end up with folds that are hard to get rid of . . . and it could affect your ability to shape it.

Here he is all nicely felted. I took him upstairs to my kitchen sink and rinsed all the soap out of him with cool water. Now it's time to get him ready to dry.

This is the time to squeeze his toes to a nice shape, press his cheeks out, play with his ears . . . make him start to come to life!

I cut up an old towel into strips and stuffed it into his legs and his arms . . . and into his head . . . and into his chubby tummy. 

The material will help draw the moisture out and also helps for him to dry in the right shape.

Tomorrow I will take the towels out and let him finish drying. Then it will be time to give him a face and stuff him. I better start thinking of a name for him!

Come back again to see him get his face!

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

BEARy close

My bear is getting closer to completion! He is all knitted up and ready to be felted. 



Here he is . . . just to give you an idea of his size before he is felted. He is about 19 inches long and about 17 inches from one paw to the other.

He is all sewn up . . . except for a vertical seam going down his chubby tummy where he will get stuffed with fiberfill.










To keep the seam from getting felted shut, I tacked it down with a piece of cotton yarn.


Okay, here is where I will confess. There are some short rows in this pattern . . . which are easy enough . . . if you pay attention. If you don't pay attention . . . like if you are watching Downton Abby and you are worried about Mr. Barrows and you are wondering if Carson will stop be nit-picky about his new wife's cooking . . . or your wondering who Mary will end up with . . . well, you may miss a wrap. 






So look what happened to my poor bear's nose!! A slight hole!

But one thing about felting, it's VERY forgiving. Everything is going to 'smoosh' together and create a fabric that is like . . . well, felt. 












So I simply took a piece of yarn and worked it through his nose and  . . . 


Now there is no hole!!

If I didn't tell you I messed up, you'd never have known!!






Come back on Saturday . . . I'm going to felt him. We'll do it together.

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.

Making Snow BEARable

In between my snow shoveling moments I have been working on my bear. 



Here he is so far. I have just joined his little arms and I am about to start the decreases that will lead up to his neck.


You can't really tell from this picture, but I am using size 10 1/2" needles, with worsted weight yarn.

When you are felting it's important to knit the pieces very loosely for it to 'shrink' to the correct size.




You can see here that I am getting a gauge of about 3 stitches per inch. 




Hopefully it won't snow anymore and I can spend my time finishing him up . . . and not shoveling! 

Stay tuned to see him finished and for the felting process!!

Until next time, keep your nose in a book or your fingers in fiber.