In dangerous hands...

I don't always know why I buy things.

Sometimes, it's just because they are pretty. My friends know this about me. Especially Gwen.

Hence, the beautiful box of 108 pieces of felt from WoolFeltCentral.com, Gwen's felt source. For me, it is as much about the acquisition as the application. Once I had these gems in my hot little fists, I knew I had to—wait for it—catalog them! Sigh. Roll out a blank Excel spreadsheet and get to work! I love this stuff.

A couple of years ago, when I started organizing my fabric via a color system, I discovered Joen Wolfrom's Ultimate 3-in-1 Color Tool. She assigns a number from 1 to 24 to colors on the color wheel, and then sub-numbers for values/tints. When I get new fabric, I photograph it, assign it one of these color numbers, and then add it to my visual data base. When the images are sorted by color name, they display in spectral order. Bliss! It's not a perfect system but mostly does what I need.

So, I made the spreadsheet using the information the seller. This included their colors' names, the order in which they were packed, and the DMC floss match color they provided. I then went on the quest to find or create swatches for all 108 colors and then put the appropriate swatch on the appropriate row. Then it was time to assign the Color Tool numeric value. And if all this wasn't enough, I then assigned two different tonal values to each swatch. These values came from looking at each swatch under a red, and then a green lens. All tolled, this took much of one weekend and a few afternoons. Here's a screenshot of one of the simpler sorts. If it's not worth obsessing over, is it really worth doing? Ha!

On the more 'normal' side of life, I think it's fair to say I have friends who like felt. And actually make things from felt—REALLY darling things from felt. From Gwen, here are five monkeys waiting to jump on a bed, and a waterspout, spider, and sunshine. Pretty dern cute, eh?

Even if I never make anything from my beautiful pieces of good quality felt, I really enjoy having it all the same. And, when/if I do, you'll see it here!

Also felt-related, I relented and finally purchased a Christmas stocking kit, on clearance. Some of my friends make these and seem to enjoy the experience. I'm still a little befuddled about the process, but now I have a chance (and plenty of time) to try one, too! I haven't done that much up-close, detailed hand stitching in recent years, so this will certainly require a different set of skills. Truth be told, I loved it for the mouse and the candy cane! I'll let you know how it goes.