The kiddos had a weekend with their Nana, so I had a weekend of quiet time. Unfortunately, I was sick for some of it, and it rained for the rest of it, so I didnt get any of the mowing done, which is what I had planned to do.

I did get some things done, although they were from the “things I want to do” list, rather than the “things I need to do” list, but hey, I did stuff.

I started learning how to do nålebinding. This is the historical precursor to knitting or crochet. It uses a small, flat needle (usually wood or bone) and short lengths of wool (about 6ft). Each stich is individually knotted, so if you get a hole in your ‘knit’, nothing happens. It does not unravel. There are extant examples of Roman and pre-Roman nålebinding recovered from archeological digs, primarily in the dry desert of Egypt which preserves artefacts so well.

So far, I have only learned the basic beginning chain stitch, and I have a bit more length to do (going to try a headband), but the second row tutorial doesnt look terribly difficult. We shall see.

I do knit, but not well. And I don’t enjoy the process very much. Maybe I will like this more? Although I have already learned that a mistake in knitting is FAR easier to undo than this is. It took me fifteen minutes to figure out the first knot…and then I found out I could have just used a slipknot 🙄.

I went to the local woolen mill. They make 100% virgin wool blankets there; very good blankets (we all have one on our bed). When the blankets are cut off the looms, the salvage edges are tossed in a bin. These scraps are sold to whomever wants them for $20 a bagful. There wasnt a whole bagful available that day, so I got whatever they had at a discount.

I am cutting said scraps into strips, and braiding them. The resulting braid will eventually be coiled into a lovely thick rug for my floor. To purchase a 100% wool rug, one is looking at many hundreds of dollars. I should be able to make one for well under $100. It will be raggy and rustic, but I happen to love that, so it works out well.

The Mill also sells plain wool. Carded and dyed, but nothing fancy. Just ordinary wool for felting (or spinning), in every colour they use in the blankets. This is sold bulk, by weight. Colours can be mixed at will. Had I entirely filled the bag, (approx 1 lb), it would have cost me $17. It cost me considerably less than that for what I took. I am hoping to use this wool to needle felt onto the wet-felted background “painting” I made a few weeks ago. So far, that intimidates me a bit. The needles are scary. I will very likely stab myself repeatedly.