How I Make My Wool Dryer Balls

   I bought three skeins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes bare bulky yarn to make six wool dryer balls.  I wound two dryer balls from each skein.  After winding the balls I secure them in knee high stockings to felt the balls.  I put three balls in each knee high.  I put one wool ball in and I tie a knot in the knee high, then I put the second wool ball in and tie a knot, then I put the third ball in and tie a knot.  I took a picture of this step but my camera wasn't charged and it didn't take the picture.

    Once the balls are in the knee high, I soak them to get them good and wet.  I wash them in hot water with a towel and detergent.  Once they are washed, I put them in a hot dryer with the towel.  The first go in the dryer didn't felt the balls right away, so I wet the balls two more times with just plain water and wet the towel and ran them in a hot dryer.  After the third dryer cycle the balls had felted very well.  I cut the knee highs off and put the balls in a bowl to let them completely dry.  I made these for my daughter for her birthday.

Felted Wool Pin Cushions

   I made more wool pin cushions last year and I'm just getting around to giving them away on the Quilting Board.  These pin cushions are a big hit with my quilting buddies.  I posted the give away last night about 8:00 p.m. and these pin cushions are already spoken for.

    I got the idea to make these from making wool dryer balls.  The only difference is I try to wind the pin cushions flatter so they will sit and not roll around.   Here's how I make them.  I wind up 100% wool yarn (I used Wool of the Andes bulky yarn from KnitPicks.com for these) into a ball then I start to tighten the yarn and I squeeze the ball flat while I'm winding and I continue to wind until I get a ball about as big as a tennis ball or so.  I secure the end of the yarn by threading a big needle and running it through the yarn ball a few of times.  The yarn ball is put inside an old knee high stocking or you can use a tube sock (you can get about 6 balls of yarn in one knee high).  I like using a knee high because I can see how much the yarn is felting.  Make sure you knot the knee high or sock next to the yarn ball to keep it secure, this keeps it from unraveling.  I wet the whole thing or you can also put it in a load of wash, the soap is supposed to help with the felting process and I pop it into the dryer for several cycles.  It takes about 2 hours to get the yarn to felt.  The balls won't be anywhere near dry so I let them dry out for a couple of days then I remove the knee high.  The wool yarn grabs the fabric of the knee high and you have to peel it off the yarn ball, but it does come off.  Then you have a fun wool pin cushion.