Felted Lizards!

No, not leapin' Lizards!
Apologies to those who said they went to see what I did this week, since I usually post on Thursday. I got interrupted and never finished this post. It doesn't take much to derail my train of thought!

So, I got a pattern for these lizards - titled Gotta Get a Gecko, by fiber trends - in Seattle a couple of years ago. I had always intended to make a bunch of them, but I made the first one and then went on to other projects. The first one hangs out on the wall of the screen porch. Amy saw it there when they came for Thanks giving and loved it, so I figured that'd be a good Christmas gift for her. I went and got a couple of different yarns to knit up. Here are the "before" lizards- around 22 inches long. ( that's an 18 inch ruler on the table)
As long as I was felting stuff, I decided to knit up a couple of odd pieces and see what I get- that's the fun part of felting! These are the before "bowls".










One of the yarns was a new brand for me, but I figured it would be about the same as the others I had used. Not so much! I went to check on them after 10- 12 minutes in the machine and they were already really tiny! (the green ones). I can't remember that yarn name- I lost the label. The larger one was in the washer for at least 15 more minutes, but never got any smaller. That one is a "Noro" yarn.
This picture is just after they came out of the washer. Look at the difference on the ruler.



To get them shaped the right way, they have to be lightly stuffed before they dry. Here they are with their tails in pin curls. :-) ( if you're old enough to know what pin curls are!)










And here are the finished products. The rust one is for Amy. The others are still up for adoption.






The bowls didn't turn out as I had thought they would. The one is much flatter that I had hoped and the other is just big- Maybe I'll cover a flower pot with it???

















So Megan was making origami roses using this video the other day. She was having trouble with it, so I thought I'd try one and see if I could figure it out. How do you think I did?
(It's a two part video, so if you try it, look for part 2 right at the top of the page)







I am grateful for:
Dot is at peace now.
A nice dinner with family and friends- totally by accident!
The way snow makes the world look kind of magical.
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Nice people who try to lift your mood on a bad day.