26/365 - A Visit From St. Nicholas in January

My three year old has decided to play St. Nicholas (not Santa Clause...St. Nicholas.  He wanted this to be very clear) this morning.   He left me some wool balls (in my oldest, yuckiest looking shoes-sorry).    It has been some of the most entertaining play to watch as he has gathered up all of our shoes that he could find and left his toys in them before riding away on his horse.  It just goes to show you never really know what is going to become the 365 photo for the day, but this was too good not to document!

25/365 - Felted sweaters

I received three thrifted wool sweaters in the mail today from a  kind someone who knows me very very well.  What else could I do but felt them all up with the one that I had planned to do last weekend?  So many possibilities here.    I'm thinking the red ones would be wonderful to make Christmas stockings out of.  There should be a bit of all of them left to make quilt squares and we shall see how the inspiration strikes for the blue and the orange ones once they are all dry.  So many possibilities!

24/365 - Background

This needle-felted piece will be the background for the story "The Snowdrop" that I plan to tell to the children from our playgroup next month.  I am planning to make a story apron using this as the top piece with layers of white and brown silks attached to the bottom for the skirt of the apron. I  Now I just have to dye my silks and attach them and the straps and this part will be done.

23/365 - Another Sick Day

I guess it was bound to happen eventually.  I wear wool socks most of the time.  Well, the stomach bug I had over the weekend decided to return today.  Luckily it was DH's day off and I was able to stay in bed most of the day.  When not napping, I spent a good bit of the day working through some online photography tutorials and installing Photoshop Elements on my computer.  This picture is a result of not wanting to leave my bed (hence the wool socks on my feet were the subject matter) working through some tutorials on focusing and the rule of thirds and playing with PSE.  Hopefully I'll be on the mend soon and the the photos and subject matters will become a little more interesting than my Darn Tough wool ski socks (my current favorite socks by the way-these things are designed so so well...even if I don't ski they are the BEST).  Sorry this post is a little rambling...clearly my illness has affected my brain...

22/365 - A Bulb House For Snow Drop

  

I am continuing to prepare props for the story I will be telling our playgroup next month. You may remember a little while back I made this little Snowdrop Doll for the story.  Today I made a bulb house for her to live in under the earth during the winter.  I cut the bulb pieces out of heavy wool felt which I gathered at the bottom and stitched them together.  I have a few more wool props to make for this that I will be sharing in the future.  I'm really looking forward to sharing the story with the children.

21/365 - Where's My Phone?

I made this case for my cell phone (along with a little money/card pouch and sunglasses case) last winter.  It's been out of commission for a while but I think I am going to start using it again.  It was made from a felted sweater which I cut out and needle felted the design onto.  I then used a blanket stitch to sew it up and put on a button to fasten it.  I like keeping my phone in here.  It protects it from bumps and falls.  It also makes it a little less attractive to a certain little boy who is very drawn to this device.  This was actually the reason I made the case last year after talking about phones and toddlers with the teacher and parents in our class at our previous Waldorf school.  Lastly, I'm known for never knowing where my phone is (or having it charged---*blushes*).  Keeping it in this case at least helps me keep track of it a little better somehow even if it still isn't charged.

20/365 - A Cloud of Wool

This is the wool batting I was using to fill a mattress and pillow set I made for W's doll (who I think now has the best bed in the house by the way).  I love how it rests in big fluffy cloud-like puffs.

Been Sick

I've been sick for the past couple of days.  I'll be honest, I didn't touch a camera.  I'm going to "cheat" a little and try to get some extra pictures today to put up in order to make up for my sick days.

19/365 - Just A Sweater?

Perhaps not the most thrilling photo today.  (I'm exhausted and it has been a really hard day with my toddler so this is as good as it gets today folks).  Anyway, what do you see when you look at this picture?  An ugly orange sweater?  There was a time when that's what I would have seen.  But today, I look at this picture and I see inspiration and potential.  I'm not sure what this sweater will become, but at this point it's like a blank canvas for one or more projects I have swimming around in my brain.  Sometime this weekend, I'm going to felt it in the washing machine.  Once I see the final size I'll decide just what to do with it.  Could it become another toddler vest or jacket?  Yes, it could.  Or, it might become a sleeve for my laptop with a needle felted design on it, or part of it might be cut out to become a background for a needle felted wall hanging in my bathroom.  In any of these cases, left over parts are likely to become part of a felted wool quilt that I hope to start in the near future.  So, so many possibilities.  After my hard day, the creative juices are starting to flow again, and this sweater is providing oh so much inspiration!

18/365 - On The Farm

This afternoon Will found this wool farm playmat that I made for him this past Easter.  He set it all up with his wooden farm animals and  tractor.  He hadn't ever played with it too much before but he has made up for it this evening.  I wasn't sure what today's picture was going to be.  I love when something like this  happens spontaneously and there's my picture for the day!  Unfortunately this all happened as the sun was setting so this was another experiment with low-light photography.

17/365 - Toadstool Vest And The "Pocket Gnome"

W and I enjoyed the afternoon sunshine outside today.  I let him run around a little without his heavy coat on (he has very warm woolies on under the shirt) to snap a few pictures.  Here he is using a giant stick to try to get gumballs off of the sweet gum tree in front of our apartment.  This has been a favorite game recently.  I made his vest over the summer by cutting a wet felted wool sweater into a vest, blanket stitching the edges with wool yarn and then needle felting toadstools on the back and on the pockets I stitched onto the front.  W loves his vest and decided he needed a "pocket gnome" to put in his pocket. You might remember this gnome from the stint he had on our nature table earlier this year. You can see the top of the gnome's hat at the bottom center of the picture.  To see a better view of the vest click here to see my post on Under The Old Oak Tree about making it.

16/365 - On The Needles-Boot Liners

I have a confession, tonight's post almost didn't happen.  I realized a half an hour before my scheduled bedtime that I hadn't done my photo for today.  I dug out one of my knitting projects and tried to get a decent shot in my house with not so great lighting.  It's okay.  Sometimes I learn more about my camera  trying to get these more difficult pictures than I do with the ones taken outside in beautiful natural light.  It might not show in the photo I take at the moment, but I love how these lessons transfer to photos I take a day or a week later.  After all, I have three primary goals with this project.  1) To learn more about photography. 2) To experience  more creativity working with wool fiber in various forms.  3) To stick to my commitment to do this one small thing every single day for a year.

So I get to bed a little late tonight...I'm also still on track with my project and I'm still learning!.

15/365 - Woolly Bugs

I made these wool balls quite a while ago and they continue to be favorites around our house.  The bee and ladybug are both solidly needle felted all the way through.  The ball in the back was wet felted in the washing machine.

14/365 Scrappy Hat

This scrappy wool hat may not be my neatest knitting project to date and it could use some blocking, but on a cold day like today, W was very excited to put it on going out to play.  I love that it's so cozy not only over the top of his head but covers his ears and neck well too.  Best of all, he loves it because it was made with love by mama.  Now he needs a new pair of scrappy mittens to go with it!  It was also a great use of stash yarns.

13/365 - Say Cheese!

Readers of Under The Old Oak Tree might remember this camera that I made for W over the summer.  I had planned on using it as a Christmas gift but gave it to him for his birthday because he kept grabbing my camera to play with at that time.  Well, at the time it was a total flop!  He was just totally not interested in a make believe camera.  He wanted a "real" camera.  It wasn't until DH and I got our DSLR for Christmas that W picked up his wool felt camera and started playing with it.  Now, he loves it and plays with it all the time.  He has assigned a wooden box to be it's case and his wooden toy snail is sometimes the battery and sometimes the lens-cap cover.

12/365 - Scrappy Gnome Hoodie

W's long gnome hat has caused quite a stir on the playground at school.  He's had quite a difficult time with his friends grabbing a hold of the end.  It is tempting and I guess for three-year-olds it is even more so.   He gets quite upset about it and  I've decided that perhaps it is time to make him a new hat and perhaps a a matching pair of felted mittens that keep the cold and wet out a little better than the ones he has currently.  I'm using this pattern for the hoodie and I'm using scraps of yarn from my stash in shades of blues, greens, browns and blacks.  It should go nicely with his coat and fit well under the coat hood too.

11/365 - Snowdrop

This little snowdrop (pattern from All  Year Round) is mostly made from wool felt (and a little cotton stockinette).   I am going to use her as a prop for telling a simplified and revised version of Hans Christian Anderson's The Snowdrop for the children of our playgroup next month.  We usually read/tell this story as a part of our Candlemas celebration at home.

10/365 - A Valentine Heart

I hope to make a number of these red crocheted hearts to hang on the nature table tree for Valentines Day!

9/365 Mitten drying

W's mitten, still slightly mulch covered, drying today after playing in the snow yesterday.

8/365 - A Gnome Hat In The Snow...

W in his mama-made wool "gnome" hat and mittens playing in the first snow of the season!

7/365 - Toddler Tweed

My little guy wearing a wool tweed jacket I found at a thrift store a while back.

6/365- Sebastian the Shepherd

I needle felted Sebastian, the Shepherd and his sheep out of wool on to a piece of orange silk.   This piece graces my son's playroom and my kitchen as the curtain valance over our shared window.  He makes me happy each day when I look at him.

5/365 - A Gnome In Winter

Santa left this little guy in W's stocking.  I'm told he was made by the elves of the handwork group at W's school.  He's such a sweet little gnome and is perfect on our nature table.  He's made of wool felt and filled with flax seed.  On a cold day he can be warmed in the oven and stuck in a pocket to use as a lovely little hand warmer for a certain little boy!

4/365- Wool at the source...

My son, W,  and I love visiting the sheep (and other animals) at Mount Vernon.  Today we went to see the sheep.  W's love of sheep is quite in keeping for a son of someone who loves all things wool so very much!

3/365- The "Alice" Shawl

One of my current knitting projects...the "Alice" Shawl in Plum/Green Malabrigo sock yarn.

2/365-Little Boy Blue

This is the coldest day of the season so far here.  My little guy is bundled up in layers of wool including this cozy hoodie I made for him this fall.  I love how it brings out the blue in his big grey eyes!

1/365-Wool Star

Crocheted wool star on our Christmas tree.