Felted wool dryer balls

A few months ago my mom asked me what kind of fabric softener I used, because she had just found a tutorial for making fabric-softener-like wool balls (you'll see).  I proceeded to boast in the fact that I didn't need fabric softener.  Rarely did our clothes wrinkle, and there was never a problem with static.

Don't speak so proudly unless you're prepared for Murphy's Law to come punch you in the face.

It wasn't 2 days later that the static electricity in our clothes was so bad that the hairs on my arms would stand up straight as I attempted to fold laundry.

I really don't want to use fabric softener (liquid or sheets).  Liquid because I don't want any residue in the washer (it'll coat the fibers of the cloth diapers and cause them to hold undesirable scents) and sheets because those tend to create a waxy buildup in the lint trap of the dryer, reducing its effectiveness, and there are chemicals in it and I'm really trying to go as chemical-free in this house as possible.

So I talked to mom about what she did and I found this cool little tutorial (very similar to what she described).

Here's how it looked for me:

An old, unlined, uncomfortably scratchy, oddly fitting wool jacket that I bought for $5 a few years ago and may have worn twice.  A scane (sp?) of 100% wool yarn, and wool roving.

Cut the fabric into strips and begin to form a ball out of it.

Tightly wrap the yarn around the wool ball.

And then the roving around the yarn.  A word to perfectionists: it may not really resemble a perfect ball shape yet.  I had a hard time with this because I desperately wanted to make it perfect, but it's nearly impossible to.  But no fear...

You then stuff the balls into a pantyhose leg.  Tie each one separately and tightly.  Then run them through a hot cycle in the washing machine and dry them completely.  This is the how the wool felts.  After they came out of the dryer, I cut mine out of the pantyhose and decided to re-stuff them into another pantyhose leg and repeat the washing/drying step.  Then after they came out of the dryer the 2nd time, they were felted and beautiful.

That's it!  They're ready to go.  Just pop them in the dryer for each load of clothes.  I forgot to take an after picture right when I completed the project, so this one's from about a dozen dryer loads of use.

So the run-down of how it works is that the wool soaks in most of the moisture from your load of clothes and evenly disperses it throughout the dryer, so it stays more humid throughout the dryer during the drying time, reducing the potential for static electricity. And I've noticed that I can have the heat setting on medium instead of high, and my clothes still dry faster than before, with no wrinkling.

I'm not sure if these are going to last as long as the ones in the original tutorial.  She said they can last up to 5 years.  I think I forgot to put my washing machine on the hot setting when I washed them, so that could be the reason.  But so far, 12 loads in and they're doing great!

What I spent: $3
1) wool jacket from the closet: $0
2) yarn from Hobby Lobby with 40% off coupon: $3
3) roving from my mom (she gave me her extra): $0

playground shots

I went to the park downtown today to get some exercise.  It's hard to pass up on a day this beautiful.  On the way back to the car I decided to stop and let Roscoe walk around on the playground.  For the most part, he has officially chosen walking over crawling as his method of transportation.  And, oh, the things that is introducing into his little world.

look closely

mid-walking

mid-walking, part 2

So happy with this shot that I captured as he breezed past me.  That profile!!!

all tuckered out, getting some blanket cuddles

belly laughter to carry you into the weekend

This kid is so rough and tumble.  He loves being tossed onto furniture, and the rougher, the better.  So Mark discovered a few days ago that flipping while throwing him was a huge success.

Grant porch sneak peek and why Roscoe loves his Grampa

As I was organizing pictures into various folders I came across this video that I had forgotten I recorded.  I didn't want any pictures of the porch renovation at Mark's parents' house to be posted til it was finished, but this video is just too cute not to post.

Roscoe goes through phases of which grandparent is his favorite (he doesn't understand yet when we tell him not to pick favorites).  Right now, even at the time of this video, my mom (Nana to Roscoe) is by far his most favorite person in the world.  But I dunno, Mom, you may want to watch out for Grampa.  These are some of the reasons Roscoe goes crazy when he sees this guy.

(And you both know I'm just playing around with the favorites thing, Roscoe loves you both to death, just as he does his Papa and his Grandma.) ;)

for the love of reading

I don't just read a book.  I become a character in the book.  So as I journey through the pages, I'm feeling what the characters feel, thinking what they think, experiencing what they experience. 

There's just something about them that affect me deeply.  To be honest, I sometimes have a difficult time coping with reality in the hours/ days after finishing a good read.

And I didn't use to enjoy it this much.  In the past reading was a chore, an obligation, nothing to be enjoyed.  But since finishing college and realizing the world of literature right at our fingertips, I've been diving deeper and deeper into the joys of reading.  Where in the past I would make myself sit and read 20 pages, now I find myself breezing through 100 pages in 1 sitting.

It's the weirdest of feelings to be sad over finishing one story and having to "say goodbye" to the characters, only to simultaneously be excited over starting a new book.

Does anyone else feel the same way about reading?

RPG's first birthday party

Better late than never.  I meant to have these pictures up long ago.

I bring you a very, very picture-heavy post.

We had a very small party with family and a few friends.  I still had the decorations from Roscoe's baby shower so I reused some of them.



mooching some ice cream coffee punch off grandma





A monumental moment.  Until this picture, Roscoe wouldn't let his godpapa near him.  For some reason, he's been terrified of him since birth.  But as you'll see in later pictures, we're slowly overcoming that fear.  I love the expressions here.



I love his face here enough that I don't care about the blurriness of the photo.  His godparents gave him a great pop-up Rocket to the Moon book.

Bathtub letters that stick on the walls when wet.  Ironically enough, he's saying "Oh!" as he holds up the letter "O."  That definitely got some laughs.

Please ignore the over-the-top excitement on my face.  I'm not really sure I remember my face getting this close to the point of exploding.

(note: I am jealous of you if you are able to look at a baby and not make the same facial expression he is making at that moment.)

a little uncertain

uncertainty gone

just slightly embarrassing

my little sweetheart sharing his cupcake with me

"get me down please i'm full"

precious.  warming up.  and it only took a year ;)

Neither Mark and I, nor either set of our parents got a picture with Roscoe that day.  But my mom captured this great one of him with his godparents.  So thankful Roscoe has 6 "grandparents" to love and learn from.

We love this little guy.  He's a fireball for sure, living up to his "RPG" initials.  Looks just like his daddy and fills my days with the oddest mix of perfectly balanced frustration and joy.  I am humbled and thankful that God has blessed us with the gift of parenthood.  Bring on the birthdays, little boy.  I can't wait to get to know you.

the new year always brings a little sadness, part 2

So I feel like this whole situation is a little anti-climatic.

In part 1, I wrote of various instances that Mark was "taken away from me" around the turn of the new year.  We were prepared for him to be gone from the first of February until the end of March.  That's 2 months, folks.  And Roscoe's birthday is stuck right in the middle of that first month.  The question was "party without Mark or really late party with Mark?"

About the time we decided to just have the party on time without Mark (insert: I have such a sweet husband.  Even though he would have loved to be there, he knew the party would be a bright spot for me in an otherwise dark season of our life), we involuntarily began riding on the craziest of emotional roller coasters regarding his trip.  Looking back, I honestly can't remember the number of times his status changed from "going" to "not going" to "going a little bit" to "ok for real it's on" to "just kidding" to "has your wife divorced you yet from all this insanity?"

(That last part's a joke.  Except for the fact that people really do get divorces over this stuff in the military.)

So....we decided to hold off for the time being on the little man's first birthday party.  He doesn't know the difference.  And until we knew for sure what was going on with this supposed-to-be-2-month-long-trip.

So Mark left February 1st and we didn't really know where he was going or for how long.  He came home a few days later "until further notice," and then left again.  But this time around the 3rd day he was gone, he was given options.  He could work for the first part of his orders (until Feb 21) and get paid for that, come back immediately and not get paid, or work the entirety of the original orders (end of March), but be stuck in WV instead of the original really cool country he was going to.

So he opted for option 1.  He came home on the 21st.  Ok, actually that's a lie.  He surprised us by coming home on the 17th and we kept it a secret until the 21st.  Roscoe and I had him all to ourselves for 5 days.  It was like a vacation, only in the comfort of our home.  It was beautiful.

So anti-climatic.  Yeah.  See, he was supposed to be sleeping on a cot in a tent for 2 months and our communication was going to be slim-to-none except for emails.  And he was going to be involved in a really cool training exercise with other armies.  And it was going to be an awesome experience for him.

But there was some pretty severe and dangerous political instability where he was headed and the powers-that-be decided that it wasn't worth risking the lives of their men for training.

And I don't want to speak for all military wives when I say this, but for me, there's almost a feeling of guilt over the situation.  I was prepared for a separation from my husband for a period of time.  And it doesn't mean that I wanted him gone, but once I psych myself up for it, then it's time to do it.

But then came the roller coaster.  And we just went with it.  The changes.  Certainty.  Uncertainty.  It's just so much easier if you roll with it and don't fight it.  If you waste all your energy and emotion on the roller coaster, you're not going to have any left to deal with the final decision.  Poor analogy, I know, but it best describes how it felt when we were in it.

But that feeling of guilt comes in when I think about the fact that he's supposed to be gone now--serving--and he's here with me.  He's home.  He's been home for a couple weeks.  And compared to what we had prepared ourselves for, it's like he never left.  And it kind of makes me feel like we cheated the system somehow.

So the new year always brings a little sadness, but this year, it was a little different.  Glad it's over.