(Again, my apologies if'n I've already told this story. Repeat Blogging is going to happen at some point ... I've already braced myself for that. I mean, with my crappy memory .... that y'all haven't heard the same story or seen the same pictures a couple of times per week is pretty dang impressive, I think.
So if you've heard this before .... just stop reading.
OR ... you can be like my awesome office-mate-of-8-years, Mr R ... he just nods his head, interjects laughs where appropriate and never ever admits that he's heard me tell the same story 10 bajillion times already. Love you, Mr R!!!)
Okay, so I was in Manzanita, Oregon with friends last year for Thanksgiving and we were browsing a store and my friend T1 said "see this hat? It'’s from felting. No sewing or anything… we should try that next"”. ("next" as in "after knitting" ... which we had just learned).
Anyway, the hat was cool and I thought... "hey, no sewing ... sign me up"”.
Yeah well, famous last words because she did.
The three class sessions were held in a small studio in subzero temperature (studio owner had no heat) pulling straight-from-the-sheep wool to use to create the hat. I mean, I'm talking full on barnyard stench, wool still in the shape of the sheep from which it came, dirt, straw, and might I presuppose.... sheep shit*??
But the instructor kept saying that after the third week this sheep shitty wool would become one swanky felted hat.
Kinda like this:
Uh yeah.
So the first week involved creating the pattern, deciding on the wool, and running the wool through a carder, which seemed to be some device to get the wool fibers going all in one direction. I was hoping the carder would clean the wool .... but no ...afterwards it still had dirt and straw and (?) in it.
But anyway, then I was told that the next two weeks I would spend laying out the wool into my hat shape and felting it by hand using hot, soapy water.
"Hot and soapy water" ..... brilliant, I thought! Being that it would both felt the hat AND, dare I say, clean it at the same time. So I had high hopes.
Right-o.
So, to make a long story short ... after spending $60 (plus extra $ for cleansers to disinfect (and attempts to de-stench) my hands after each session) and 3 weeks in subzero temperatures .... I left with a stinky, with straw still in it, sheep shit homemade hat that I refuse to touch (let alone wear!)!!
But just for you, I dug it out of the corner of the garage this morning AND TOUCHED IT (please pass the disinfectant) just to bring y'all here this picture. (and yes, the barnyard stench is still there!!!)
Ladies and Gentleman, I give you ......The $60 Sheep Shit Hat.
(please click to enlarge for the full effect. And yes, that is STRAW still in the wool, thankyouverymuch)
Think if I add a flower it will look just like the green one above?!?!? :)
*ah ha ... hence the title!
9 comments:
Does that mean I have to dig through the basement for the Sheep Shit Purse? Because I might have used it as a cat box liner...
Being used as a litter box would only have improved the look of my hat! :)
But, as I recall, your purse actually looked decent. It was the stench that made it unusable, yes?
Drag it out and I can take a pic for the peeps tonight.
Oh, that hat is priceless. PRICELESS. I can't stop laughing. Help me! I have fallen and I can't get up.
OK, I keep snorting every time I look at that hat. I'm super glad I asked you to tell us the story :)
You know you can KNIT it first and THEN felt it? Much easier. :)
I'm not so sure my hat knitting then felting would look much better. You HAVE seen my two hat knitting attempts, right?? ... ya know, The Boob Hat and The Yamika :)
Course, knitted hats do smell better. Hmmmm. I'll ponder! :)
That's hilarious! I've always wanted to try making felt but I was afraid it was too much work. Now I'm even less likely!
There's a new online knitting magazine that has a knitted, then felted, super cute hat. Here's the link. The site itself is a bit too, well, gothic for me, but I love the hat. It's on my endless list of things I want to knit.
Enough about SSH. Where...oh where...are the pictures from last nights concert? Cuz even though I was there...I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in a little Rob Thomas.
See? This is why I need my own blog. So I'm not such a blog leach.
T1 - patience, grasshopper. There were many photos. And much getting sidetracked by the drooling . But your post is up now. :)
Mandy- thanks for the link. I love the voodoo doll they have on that site too!!!
Huh? You say something? Oh yeah, cool.
Can't see the line, can you Russ?
Post a Comment