Below is my first video blog…  I hope to do a few more of these in the future.  This one is an update on my wool braided rug.  In my pregnant state I didn’t have the energy to put myself together before the shoot, so you’ll just have to enjoy a very “natural” looking pregnant woman!

Wool Rug Braiding from Ingrid Barlow on Vimeo.

This afternoon I decided to get some of the apples from the orchard used up.  I now have 2 Caramel Apple Crunch pies in the freezer and we dove into a warm apple crisp after supper.  I’m glad to have that project completed.  And I’m sure we will be thankful for a fresh pie in a few months!

I am working on a new wool project.  Yay for mindless stitching!

I’m looking forward to a hot date with the hubby tomorrow night.  6 years of wedded bliss!

I’ve been craving a wool project where I can just “veg” out and do some hand stitching, so here is what I came up with.  My initial plan was to take these three mini pictures, 8×8 each, and hang them vertically together for a skinny wall…however, now I’m not so sure.  My favorite parts are the embroidery fireflies on the owl and the french knot sparks on the campfire.

Wool can be expensive, so a cheap way to get your hands on it is to go thrifty for 100% wool clothing items.  Suit jackets, sweaters…throw them in a cycle of hot water and a hot dryer and you have some nice felted wool.

Easy project steps:

-Draw a picture on fusible web. (remember your picture will be the reverse of whatever you draw for your final project)

-fuse onto wool following fusible web instructions.  Cut out pictures.

-fuse onto background wool.

-stitch around.  I just used a very primitive stitch to tack everything down.

So, what’s my excuse for not posting in such a long while??  My answer is that it is very difficult to post on projects that are going to be Christmas gifts come next week.  I don’t want to ruin any surprises! 

Christmas gifts have been coming out my ears here in the month of December.  I have not been to the mall once!  (That might have to change this weekend.  I must say I am looking forward to it.) 

Here is a project I finished up earlier this month. 

This is an Easter kit I bought earlier this fall from Woolen Needle.  It is made out of wool, which is very easy to work with.  One down side to working with wool, is it can get expensive.  One idea to help with this, is to dye your own.  Get yourself some white wool in bulk at a big box store and liquid dye.  Make small batches of different colors following the dye instructions.  Just remember that wool shrinks!  You can also get wool from old sweaters and suit jackets at thrift stores.  You need 100% wool items.  Take them home and wash them in very hot water and then dry them.  This is called felting. 

Hope you are all enjoying the holiday festivities!  Remember to slow down and take it all in.

I don’t knit very often, but when the weather turns cool I get the itch.  I love a good knitting shop where the wools and yarns make you feel so cozy and at home.  I started this project when some of my friends had new babies.  Yes, you caught me…this was actually supposed to be a gift…    When I finished it, I decided that I would rather stick it in my hope chest for my someday baby. 

The pattern is very simple for a beginning knitter and comes from a darling book called Itty Bitty Nursery.