I used to think that you could count on a few things in this world: taxes, rainy days, annoying telemarketing phone calls right at supper. I can even count on the fact that just when I’ve gotten used to Facebook, it is going to change. But yesterday my world got just a little more topsy-turvy: I learned that when a fabric says it is 100% wool, it may not be.
Really.
I wondered why it wasn’t felting the way I am used to 100% wool felting (hasn’t everyone ‘accidentally’ put a piece of wool clothing in the washer and dryer?), but I didn’t give it a second thought. After all, wool is wool.
So, naively, I carried on with my project and once I had all 298 circles (yup – all 298 of the them) cut out, I started working on the stitching. And I must say here, that blanket stitching circles together is a lot more relaxing and therapeutic than I thought it would be. (I thought that it would be just plain boring. ) That is, of course, until I realized that my wool fabric wasn’t felted like I had assumed it was. And every stitch brought me closer to tears than to relaxation.
How could 100% wool that was carelessly washed and dried in a home washing machine, (aka felted on purpose), still fray.
IT FRAYED.
It started out as a little fray, and I thought, in my naive optimism, that this wasn’t so bad, and I could fix any little areas that needed a little help.
Ha.
It just got worse. The fraying, I mean. The stitching and the circles look awesome (I say this because I used my worst-cut circles for a practice piece, and the motif still looks fairly good). And I am going to love this penny rug project by the time it is done.
But it is going to take me longer to get it done… arghhh… I have to go back to the drawing board and find more felt. And cut more circles.
This is where I remind myself that nothing in life comes easy, and that I will love it all the better for the challenges, right? Who knew that 100% wool could be so fickle?
