Knitting and reading

     I'm knitting the one thing I know how to knit- a washcloth with only knit stitches, which I think (?) is called garter stitch. The yarn is a mix of some of my favorite colors. 

     I'm reading a book I got at the Mother Earth News Fair where I heard the author, Stephanie Tourles, speak (and she passed around some of these concoctions- it smelled amazing in that room!). It is about herbal topical remedies. Herbs are one of my favorite topics and this is chock full of good recipes. It is organized by condition so you can pick cold and flu, burns, etc and there will be remedies for that ailment. If you are interested in herbal medicine like I am I also strongly recommend anything by Rosemary Gladstar.  I've been hearing good things about "How to Move like a Gardner" by Deb Soule so I will be trying to check that out soon.  Stephanie Tourles has a few other books as well, a couple of which I have and couple of which I would like. This one is by far my favorite of the ones I have. 

Joining Ginny's yarn along today.

Busy

Finals, a death in the family, unexpected travel, extra work, and spring happenings have been going on around these parts.  The best bits are that the a good friend came and rototilled our garden patch for us.  We'll have to go over it once more, but it's so exciting to see it start to look like a garden!

My husband has also been working hard on getting our chicken coop up.  Here are some progress shots:

While he was doing that, I was busy inside finishing my mother's birthday present.  I had knitted some dishloths, and found some matching fabric to make napkins with, so I made a set of 12 napkins.

They are far from perfect, as I am just learning to sew, and am self-taught, but I am glad I made it through all twelve, and as long as you don't examine them too closely, they look good. ;)
I'm now off to spend a few more precious hours with my husband before he flies out to see his family for a week.

Felting wool

Has anyone ever tried felting wool before? I had heard about it, and wanted to try it for some time. So, I was excited to find half a skein of 100% virgin wool at the thrift store yesterday for 25 cents, upon which I could experiment.

I was so excited that as soon as I got home from school yesterday, I sat for a couple of hours knitting that baby up so I could felt it. I stuck it in the washing machine on hot, with a couple other items for agitation, ran it through twice and NOTHING happened. Sad face.

Then, I tried boiling it and stirring. Still NOTHING. Then it was time to sleep, so I gave up. However, I'd really like to get it to work.

Any suggestions? The label says it's been moth-proofed- would that make any difference? I'll post pictures later..