Wool Felted Dryer Balls

I just recently made some dryer balls by felting. I used my DIL's (Daughter-In-Law's) instructions. I had some wool roving that I could have done this with by needle felting, but also had some wool yarn, so I used the yarn. This will not work with washable wool yarn.

You just make a yarn ball the size of a golf ball, then throw it in the washing machine with a load of towels or something that you can wash in hot water then dry well in the dryer. Next you wrap more yarn until you have the size of a baseball and wash again in hot water and dry. I didn't make mine large enough they should probably be the size of a softball instead of a baseball.

To add scent to these you can start out with a scented sachet and wrap the yarn around it. These is suppose to reduce your drying time and soften your laundry.

This is the first step of felting the small ball,
the larger ball is finished but has not been through the last felting yet.


These are the fully felted and finished smooth balls.

Followers

I currently have four superior, intellectual people following my blog. I know that there are more of you out there who are ashamed to admit that you can't get through the day without reading about how many eggs I gather each day.

I would like to welcome Punky to my Follower's list, it was very brave of you to own up to reading my blog faithfully. If you don't know what I am talking about, you just need to scroll down a little ways in the right hand column of this page until you see the "Followers" area, then click on "Follow this blog" to add your name to the list. Don't be afraid, no one will know who you really are if you don't use your real name.

Also, just in case you are interested, we were away from home most of the day today. I went with my DH on one of those quick trips to pick up a fuel tank/tool box combo for the back of the new truck. Of course we actually came home with a fuel tank/tool box combo, another bigger fuel tank and a 6 ft. yard box. The only reason that we didn't make it home with a new rifle was because the man who had it for sale wasn't home.

These quick trips always last most of the day and my DH comforted me with the fact that I got to stop at one yard sale. The one yard sale that I got to visit was actually where we bought the fuel tank/tool box combo that we had gone after in the first place, so that was pretty painless for him.

I did buy three pairs of shoes, a purse, assorted ribbon and yarn and two teddy bears, so the day wasn't a total loss. Plus I got a Heath Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

The chickens were locked out of the barn/house today, which means that we don't know where they laid their eggs. We had a short egg hunt before it got dark and found only one out in the yard and a few in the goat/chicken shed but where the rest of them laid, we do not know. I added this last paragraph for those of you who love my egg reports. And by the way, I do have a couple of faithful egg buyers now, who are good for two to three dozen eggs each week.

I will also add this for those who need some goat news, Calico is giving one and one third quart of milk per day now. She would give more if I milked twice per day but I am not willing to put forth that effort, since we aren't using all that she is giving now.

Spinning Wheel

I brought my spinning wheel home from my Mother's last night. It belonged to my great-grandmother, I believe. We bought it from my Uncle many years ago and took it to a wood craftsman who refinished it and repaired some of it.

It did have one spindle on it that had been replaced by my Grandfather, he had whittled a replacement for it with just a knife. That is what makes it extra special for me, because I stayed with my Grandparents a lot as a child and I remember my Grandpa whittling. I told the man who repaired it not to touch that spindle.

I loved my Grandfather very much and I loved spending time with him, he was an incredible man. He taught me so much about everything. My Mother worked, so my Grandparents who lived right across the road, babysitted me. I helped with their garden, helped do laundry with the wringer washer, my Grandmother taught me clothesline etiquette. Knowing the proper way to hang one's laundry on a clothesline was very important back then. Knowing how to witch a well was also important and my Grandfather taught me how to do it.

I played with this spinning wheel when I was young, all of the time and I am just thrilled to be able to own it and spin with it. My oldest Granddaughter's favorite Princess is Sleeping Beauty, and since the spinning wheel is such a part of the Sleeping Beauty story, I plan on passing this one down to her someday. I also hope to be able to teach all of my Grandchildren how to spin.

Still Spinning

After spinning a good length of yarn with my light weight spindle, I unloaded my spindle onto the back of a kitchen chair then tied all four sides with short pieces of string. I then slipped it off of the chair and put it in hot tap water for 20 minutes.

I towel blotted the yarn dry and stretched it back over the chair to finish drying. This is done to set the twist of the yarn. When I took it off of the chair for the second time, it was no longer trying to unwind itself.

My first hand spun wool yarn is uneven and bumpy, but I am proud of it. Now I will spin another length of the same wool and then twist the two together to make a two-ply yarn that I can actually make something with.

Spinning Yarn

I spun (is that the right word?) my first yarn tonight, I read all of the tutorials that I could find on the web, I read the instruction book that came with the Drop Spindle Kit, I watched the online videos but nothing helped. I finally put all of that information together and kept trying again and again. I eventually made something that vaguely resembled yarn.

I will try again in the morning and maybe then I can actually call myself a spinner.

Who am I?

1. Wife of a wonderful husband
2. Mother of two grown children
3. Mother-in-law to my children's spouses
   
4. Grandmother of perfect Grandchildren
5. Certified Babysitter
   
6. Servant of my Lord, Jesus Christ
   
7. Admirer of a huge herd of horses
   
8. Shepherd to a small herd of dairy goats
9. Keeper of a few chickens
10. Gatherer of eggs
11. Milker of goats
    
12. Food provider for my pets, herds, flocks and Family
    
13. Shoveler of manure
14. Microscopic Fecal examiner
15. Equine and Caprine Midwife
    
16. Amateur Graphologist
17. Amateur with a crochet hook and knitting needles
18. Owner of my Great-Grandmother's Spinning Wheel
19. Future Yarn Spinner
20. Animal Lover
21. Killer of any animal that threatens my pets, herds, flocks or Family
    
22. Expert with a .22 rifle
23. Fencing Expert (repairing broken fences)
24. Knot Expert
25. Designer and Caretaker of around 20 Websites
26. To be continued....
    

This list in not in any particular order and certainly not in order of importance.