it figures

I got up early, went down to work out and my Jillian Michaels Wii game is messed up..... WAH

OK... tonight is DD's GS Christmas party (yup it's early.. not the leader's fault tho) so I had to scramble to make a gift that was suitable for those ladies...


Recycled felted sweater trees didn't take much of the sweater at all... the two tone one is from two sweaters. The center is a piece of a wire hanger and I glued some posterboard on the bottom to cover the hanger







I think I'll make a big one for here at home. I grabbed the perfect star for the top from Ollies yesterday..... with some beads sewn on it it coud be fab! But I didn't have time... between the baby sweaters and everything else this month brings... YIKES!

I hope they like their little decorations.

ho ho ho

Tonight I made this:


It's from 3 different recycled sweaters. I used the middle and a bit of the bottom of one sweater (the top and toe and heel) and a sleeve from a green sweater and the front of a red sweater. I got the idea from Betz White's book warm fuzzies. I adore that book. As well as her blog. I mean it... I want to be one of these folks who thinks this stuff up!

Anyway it's for the daughter of a woman who subs at my school. BF gives me wool sweaters to frog or felt and keeps my spirit in it's free zone.

I changed the pattern a bit by opting to line the stocking. You can see the Christmas calico in this picture. Then I blanket stitched the calico and top of the stocking together since I didn't attach the cuff the way Betz suggests in the book. I think for next Christmas everyone in our family will have a new stocking. So simple to make and I love how it turned out... and so does DH..... I won't pressure myself to have them finished by this year.

Violet's kimono sweater was finished about 20 minutes before we saw her. I was knitting on the way to church and on the way to their house.. .then seamed it up while we were on the turnpike... sewed on the buttons and wrapped it up. And so the picture I have is a lousy phone picture because I forgot to take the camera along.... (this is the 2nd week in a row... i have to attach that thing to my body or something!) The visit with the cousins was amazing though... the kids all got along great and I love seeing my family... wish they lived closer.

comtemplating NaBloPoMo for this month... how crazy is that????

less important things

I've been harvesting yarn like crazy this weekend. Really feeling quite lazy of late. I have 100% cashmere, a blend of 85 silk/15 cashmere and 3 different blends of lambswool/angora rabbit hanging in the downstairs bathroom drying. lovely fibers reclaimed from thrift store sweaters :-)

So last night DD and I started the felted wool wreaths. I found the link here and decided to try ones that were all green. I'll decorate them with red felt flowers and a red ribbon. But that step has yet to come (stole the green idea from my cousin... thanks sarah!) I needed more green because I didn't care for the army green mixed in with the regular green, so we dyed some more sweaters today with food coloring.

All of the sweaters were purchased at thrift stores mostly on half price color days. I didn't get the steal on the rings from Joann's like Sarah did, but really, I can't complain about the cost of these gifts. DH says the jury's still out for him on whether or not he likes it. What do you think?


Just a word of caution. You need to be careful with those rotary cutters. I think this is the 3rd time I've rolled my finger as well. I also really can't be trusted with scissors of late. My poor fingers.





I leave you with the stack. That gives me another idea for a different twist with this idea! Hopefully we'll have enough for a smaller one yet. They are so fun and easy to make. Try it with your kids!

hmmmm... will this really work?

water bottle sock by ME!
yarn: some cheap yarn (100% wool and very scratchy) bought from ebay
colors: apple green and turquoise
needles: US10 dpns (set of 5)


I've had a few requests for the pattern so here you go! I wanted to post a .pdf file, but don't know how to do that on blogger. Any body give me some advice?

Be prepared to do some math.

Use your yarn scraps to knit up a nice sleeve for your bottle to protect your furniture and keep a firm grip with hands dry

My bottle measures 9.25” in circumference
The height from the bottom to where I wanted the cozy to end is 3.5”
The radius of the base is 1.5 inches

Use a needle 2 to 3 sizes larger than one that you would usually use for your desired yarn weight. This gives the knitted fabric room to shrink.


• Knit a swatch. I CO 30 stitches on US10 needles and knit until my swatch was 4”
tall, which was 18 rows
• Felt said swatch
(mine could have been felted more, which means I need to felt my cozy more as
well I think)
•Measure the swatch to get your felted gauge.
In my case the swatch after felting measured 7” wide by 3” high

Now it’s math time. Proportions to be precise


CIRCUMFERENCE
7/30 = 9.25/x Here x = 39 with a remainder
width of felted swatch/# of stitches CO = circum./# of stitches needed
I rounded up to 40 stitches for CO to make the decreases in the bottom more even.


HEIGHT
3/18 = 3.5/x here x =21
height of felted swatch/# of rows = height desired /# of rows needed
I rounded up to 22 to make a Fibonacci series possible


BASE
3/18 = 1.5/x x = 9
This is for the amount of rows needed to decrease to produce bottom.
The larger your bottles radius the more rows you may need



Tools needed:
•DPNs or circular needle(s) in the size you have determined to suit your yarn for felting
•100% wool yarn (or something that will full when washed)
I used 2 colors, you may choose to use more than that or a single color.
•Darning needle for weaving in ends




So for me,

Circumference at sides (like the leg of a sock)
•CO 40 in CC on a US10 needle
•Join in the round, (You can place a marker here if you wish, I just leave the tail and use that as a marker, use whatever method suits you, dpns, magic loop, 2 circs, because the circumference will most likely be small that you’re knitting) and knit 2 rounds
•Change to MC (I carried the CC up the side rather than break it and need to weave in ends) and K 1 round
•Change to CC and knit 2 rounds
•Change to MC, knit 3 rounds
•Change to CC, knit 5 rounds (you can break CC off at end of 5th round and weave in as you knit the next row)
•Change to MC knit 8 rounds

Preparing for Base this helps it stand evenly
•Purl 1 round

Decreases in Base
•[K6, K2together] five times
•K one round
•[K5, K2together] five times
•K one round
•[K4, K2together] five times
•[K3, K2together] five times
•[K2, K2together] five times
•[K1, K2together] five times
•[K2together] five times
•bring yarn end through all five stitches draw tight.
•Weave in ends




Place in zippered pillowcase and fill washer to low setting with HOT water, add small amt of detergent, and place a pair of jeans in washer for agitation. Wash on most vigorous setting. Rinse with COLD water.

I always spin mine out before checking (I know, bad idea, bad habit) This particular yarn took 2 and will need a third wash for my desired amount of felting to occur. Paton’s or Cascade will felt much more readily, so be careful.

To dry, I placed my water bottle in the cozy so that it would conform to the desired shape.

Drink up!

© Carole Burkhardt
All rights reserved.
Please do not post this pattern on any website or sell this pattern without the owners consent. You may link back to this page for pattern distribution
Products made from this pattern may be sold as long as credit is given.