Stuff Just For Me

I just wanted to show off two of my latest creations.

The first is my attempt at the Wren pattern. I used some Lorna's Lace Shepard Sock Yarn in Hermosa. I like how it came out, but I may reposition the button.


The second item is a tam, just for me to sleep in. I have heard that sleeping in a wool hat will help them dread... so bingo! That what I want to make! I used Fisherman's Wool from Lion Brand in Nature's Brown. The yarn was different to work with... as it felt at times slippery or greasy. I dont know how to explain it, but the final product was just fine. Maybe it was because it was 100% wool and I had never worked with wool like that. I started out using a pattern from a book I had, but pretty quicky I went off the 'chart' and just went free form. It still worked out just fine.

Dot's New Bed

Months and months ago I went looking for some wool sweaters at the local thrift stores for some needle felting projects. I found a few, but before I could try my hand at all of them, one of my kitties (Dot) decided that one of them were here. For weeks she lovingly covered this gray XL sweater with her hair. I figured, since she was so attached to it, she could keep it as a bed. A few days ago, I found it (it had been buried by some boxes... long story) and the thought occurred to me to turn it into a proper cat bed. Dot doesnt use the one we bought her (we actually use it to keep her from sleeping on our towels...), but maybe she would sleep on this one since she already "claimed" it.


First I cut off the sleeves, which I actually have plans for, and hand sewed them shut along with sewing the bottom shut. I hand sewed because not only is our craft room full of boxes, I would have to clear away all of my beading and painting stuff to get out my sewing machine. It was just easier to hand sew it. I debated on putting some decorative stitching on top, but Dot has a funky toe which cant retract it's claw and I dont want that getting stuck in the stitching on accident. I loosely stuffed the body with just one bag of eco-friendly stuffing to give it some fluff, but not a lot of bulk. Dot doesnt like bulk to sleep on. Once I broke it up a bit, after it was inside the body to keep it from getting fibers everywhere, I sewed the neck closed, but below the collar. I did this so it still looks like a sweater that I folded lovingly, but before I could put it away, Dot got to it!

And so far, she seems to like it!

Dread Tutorial

I finally got off my bum and worked up a video tutorial on making wool double ended dreads. I just posted it on youtube. I hope it gets a lot of views, not only because wool dreads are fun to make, but also because I am trying to win a great contest on DIYscene.com! So come and check it out, and help me along in the process!

Taking the Dreads Out

Well, my handmade wool dreads made it a little over a month. I think if they would have been installed a bit more securely they would have made it two months. I think maybe the texture of my hair makes it hard for stuff to stay in... because these were double secured and some of them still slipped down with in a week. Getting them out took a little under an hour. For some reason, I love the way my hair looks when I take extensions out. If I could just keep that half dready piecey look I would. The next part wasn't so fun... my husband brushed out the knotty mess that was my head after a month of being tied to wool. Man, that hurt a bit (but not as much as putting in real dreads, trust me) He had to clean out the brush several times because of all the hair that was coming out. For those of you who think that is a lot of hair, take these factors into consideration.
1. During the whole month my dreads were installed, the hair that would naturally fall of my head couldn't.
2. Putting the dreads in and taking them out puts some extra stress on hair too.
3. You didnt see the tub after I finished washing my hair, so you only see about half the hair that came off my head!
Anyway, brushing it out came me quite the hairdo! I hope you like all my embarrassing pictures! And, yes, my husband is a saint for doing all this for me. He is just glad he can run his fingers through my hair again!

Update... its been a long time!

Man, it has been a long time since I blogged. Sorry about that everyone in cyberspace. There have been some interesting things going on in my life, plus I wanted a little down time before my summer semester started up again.

First off, the Amazing Technicolored Dream Hat sold a few days after I listed it, and that was super exciting. I have another one that is almost ready to list and I hope that one goes just as fast. I also whipped up another similar hat but it uses different granny squares, different colors and is smaller. I hope to list that soon as well.

We have a new addition to our home, and her name is Mesha and she is about a year old. She is really uniquely colored, and her eyes are the color of the sky. We got her about two weeks ago from the local humane society. She is still very shy and skiddish, but when she decides to come out from under the bed all she wants to do is be petted and loved. Her purr box is very loud! Our other cat Dot is still working on adjusting from being an only cat to sharing the love. They occasionally get in each others faces, but it is quickly over. I hope that all these little scuffles disappear soon.

Also, about 2 and a half weeks ago my husband and his sister installed my roving wool dreads, and you can see how they came out. I like them and they are very light. They are slightly easier to clean because you can wring them out, which you cant really do with synthetic dreads. The next batch I made is going to be longer though.

I also bought an old wool sweater from a local thrift store and did some needle felting on it. While the colors arent my favorite (I never wear pastels) I think it is cute. I also hope to list this, but I think I am going to try and sell in on Vampire Freaks first. I hope it sells, because it was a blast to make!

Wool Dread Extensions: Part 4

That looks nasty...
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I know that you are thinking... wtf is that picture?!? Well, I just finished dying my dreads and I am giving them one final rinse in the bath tub. I cant wait until they are all done and are dry. Then I can start making arrangements with various relatives to install them! I am so excited! I have never made anything for my hair quite like this! I have brown, red and some brown with red tips. I think they look great for my first try, but I will have to wait for a final judgment until I install them. They are on the short side because I knew I would be walking around campus a lot and I hate to be too hot. Tell me what you think!

Wool Dread Extensions: Part 3

Well, I am almost done! These are my dreads as of right now. Right now my total is 66, so all I need is four more to meet my total of 70 dreads! They are over powering the plastic hanger! I took a picture zoomed on the dreads. Now I just have to make the last few and to dye them. I have been making dread bands like crazy and picked up a new crochet book with lots of hat ideas. I cant wait to make a mess of new dread accessories! I even made a pair of pony tail things tonight.. but they arent quite done yet, so I cant post pictures, but I will once they are done. There is a great pattern for a total head wrap thing that is just awesome that I cant wait to try! The only issue I have with this book is 80% of the patterns involve elastic cord, which I dont have. Guess that means another trip to the craft store.

Premium Personal Bacon

Bacon1
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I am now the proud seller of a line of felted bacon products! As of right now I have 6 pieces of felted Peruvian wool bacon and I am slowly posting them on my etsy shop. I love contributing to the bacon frenzy that is blazing across etsy! I know I personally have bought bacon fudge, bacon lip balm and a bacon scented candle from etsy (a few of which I also blogged about!). There is also an "I [heart] BACON" necklace made by Lady Spleen I am coveting too...

I hope to photograph and list more bacon and head bands soon, but with my brand new camera I need work out the bugs with it.

Enjoy the joy of bacon!

Wool Dread Extensions: Part 2

I thought I would show a little update on my progress. It is slow going, but today my husband helped me a little bit. We now have a total of 26 done... only 44 more to go! I am thinking I may dye a small batch of these ones red to see how all that works. I can then do some needle felting too! I think if I have any dreads left over I will make some dread falls on elastic bands and sell them on my Etsy page.



I have also started crocheting a bit to break up my time. I was looking around Etsy at dread bands and it inspired me to make my own. I have made two so far, but this camouflage one is my favorite by far. I will probably make one or two more. I have made a gray one and plan additional colors like black and/or red.



You can also see my old hand-me-down couch. I look forward one day to buying my own furniture!

Wool Dread Extensions: Part 1

Here is the start of my felted roving dread adventure. I haven’t ever made dreads before, either synthetic or wool, but I love the way dreads look. The last extensions I had were pretty long for my tastes (32 inch double ended dreads, so 16 inches once they are folded over). I thought this time I would try short little dreads to see how that looked. They are going to be roughly 17 inch double ended dreads, so about 8.5 inch dreads once they are installed. I am going to make the majority of them skinny (about 1/4 of roving width I got) with some larger ones (1/2 of the roving width) so there is some variety. I will eventually dye them brown to (hopefully) match my hair. I was thinking of dying a few red to mix in there too. I am also going to experiment on a few dreads with needle felting designs on them. It should be a fun experiment!

Anyway, here are some of my photos…I am going to try and document the whole thing. Please feel free to leave me comments!

Splitting the roving. I have already pre cut most of them (probably all of them). I think that 70 DE dreads should be enough to fill up my head. I still don’t know if I am going to leave any bangs.

After soaking it in a bowl of hot soapy water (I used a ancient bar of Dial and shaved some off with a potato pealer) I started felting. Here is an action shot. I found that pulling the hair out before rolling it worked well. Also, rewetting and rolling again seemed to get them tighter.

Here are three finished dreads, one that is 1/2 the roving, and the other two are 1/4. I also rolled them on my lap after dipping them one more time in the soapy water. I seemed to get water all over the place with all the palm rolling… oh well.

Here is a small one for a size comparison.

Okay, tell me what you think!!!