The Magic of Felting

A quick post from lovely Somerville, where I've been clearing my belongings out of a basement, and dumping them or sending them westward. It's been mentally scarring, so let's see something I finished before I left the West Coast.

Here's a Felted Bowl, pre felting:

The yarn is Manos, the pattern is from One Skein.

Here it is, post-felting:

I like how the unevenness of the yarn looks after felting, although the purple seems to have lost some of it's vibrancy. I may have enough yarn left for a tiny matching bowl, but I didn't bring it with me on my trip--it'll have to wait until next year!! Happy New Year!

The Swirlies! The Swirlies!

I made a lot of progress on the first Anemoi Mitten over the weekend, at the expense of a few other projects. I did put them aside for a couple of days to work on other things, partly to decide whether or not I really like the pattern in this yarn. Any thoughts? I'm not so thrilled with the amount of cream in the pattern on the back of the hand, and the ribbing is a little tighter than I'd like. On the plus side, the variegation looks good--a little less stripey than on the cuff, and both yarns are soft. Hopefully I'll be able to stretch out the cuff a little when I block these. Maybe I should have realized ahead of time that I should have gone up to a size 1 needle for the cuff since I'm using a 2 for the hand itself.



Here's the palm of the hand, with my hand in it. I know that the fit looks a little strange, but it's because the stitch holder interferes with getting my thumb all the way through the thumb hole. I like the mix of brown to white better on the palm and thumb than on the back. The pattern for the mittens is pretty easy to follow, although it's awfully long and there's so much detail that I've found myself flipping around a lot. The charts are great, though, and I like the whole thumb gusset thing. I'm flying to Boston tomorrow (hopefully), so I should have a good long time to work on these, or maybe on something a little less thought-intensive.

Evidence

Here's the evidence that I am actually working on my Christmas cards, o.k.? More than half have been mailed, and the rest should go out tomorrow if all goes according to plan. Not that it usually goes according to plan, but it could, I suppose.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas from Gretel and Frieda, and Carrie (not pictured)

This is Why Your Christmas Card is Late

I know, I know, there's always an excuse for late cards, but this year my plans have gone particularly awry. I've been participating in the Who Wouldn't Love a Handknitted Gift? knitalong, and have finished 9 Christmas gifts out of a target of 8. And I've been working a lot more than I expected, and I never factor in the lack of evening time when holiday events start piling up. And now, this:

Earlier this week I received the brown skein of Bittersweet from Sundara Yarn, and I had to wind it and start knitting Eunny Jang's Anemoi Mittens immediately. Immediately! They aren't a gift (so far), they aren't a Christmas-related project, but I've had my eye on them since the pattern came out and I really wanted to see how they'd look in Bittersweet. I expected the Bittersweet to be more plum colored, but it's really a rich dark brown. On the corrugated ribbing, it looks almost like chenille, I like it a lot so far. The cream yarn is Dale of Norway Baby Ull from my stash--I didn't want to wait to go to a yarn store to get something fancier.

However, a small problem with the thumb gusset, between the pink stitch markers:

There should be a cream line framing running up the right side, and there isn't, so I have ripped back to the beginning of the gusset. Booooooo! It might not have been 100% necessary to rip back that far, but I'd rather not make a big mistake right at the beginning of the project, especially after all the time it took to knit the ribbing. (edited to note: there were more mistakes in the first couple of rows, so it's good I ripped back). I will only work on these a little more this (early) morning--seriously, I need to get cracking on those cards (maybe 1/3 have been sent), before it becomes embarrassing to send them out at all.

The Glimmer Twins

I just finished these (Un)matched beaded wristlets, and I can decide whether to give them away as a Christmas gift yet. The pattern is One of Susanna's, the yarn is a fingering weight merino. I believe that Gretel (a/k/a "Little Stinky") chewed up the label, and I can't remember the name of the yarn. The needles were small US#1 circulars (though they are knit flat), with extremely pointy tips. I started these as a gift, and they may yet end up a gift, but there is a high probability that I will wear them to see El Vez tomorrow--you can't tell me that they aren't a perfect fit for a trip to see the Mexican Elvis. It took a long, long time to string all the beads for these wristlets, and the beading needle took a toll on my hands. However, the knitting itself was straightforward, and I learned the three needle bind off, and I'll probably end up making another pair--this time, really for myself!

Dormant Work In Progress - Corkscrew Scarf

This is a corkscrew scarf that I started last winter, it was meant to be finished in plenty of time for a March birthday. The pattern (now misplaced) was from a yarn store in Seattle that has since closed, and the yarn is ggh Soft-Kid, in a lovely yellowy green. I stopped working on it when the yarn got snagged in a zipper, and I had to break it--it's a terrible reason to stop working on something. I've since learned that I'm probably allergic to mohair, although I don't remember that this particular yarn caused any reaction. Maybe once the Christmas rush is over I can pick this up again--March is just around the corner (again).

The Seat of My Pants

The power came back on last night, so I'm back on the knitting / holiday prep wagon. No knitting photos right now, in case any of the recipients are keeping current on the blog. Tomorrow I may work on some as yet undesignated gifts, or gifts for non-blog-aware recipients, will post more then. However, I'm increasingly alarmed at how far behind I've fallen, and can't really figure out quite how it happened.

In non-knitting news, I decided to check out the Ikea sale today. I've been working at home a fair amount recently, and the chair I've been using is terrible--it's meant for a kitchen table, and is on the verge of breaking. So I checked out the office chairs, and there was one that was 50% off in one fabric. The fabric was a blue denim, which seemed o.k. based on the model that was mounted up on the wall. So I get the chair (and nothing else, which was pretty amazing), take it home, open the box, and see for the first time the BACK of the chair:

You would think that they might have made this a little more obvious, maybe by facing the butt of this chair out? The pockets are real, the tag says "IKEA". Reminds me of the car my prom date bought when he was in college--one bought with full knowledge of all of it's denim features.

Mayday, Mayday, Tree Down!

I took the dogs on a walk this afternoon, and took some photos of the storm damage at our local park. There are tons of branches down all over the neighborhood, and one of the big trees at the park is snapped in half. It's almost 7pm on Friday, and we still have no power or heat, and it's expected to drop below freezing tonight. It isn't all that bad, just really inconvenient, but I'll start whining for real if all weekend is like this. I've got tons of stuff to do, holiday knitting, holiday carts, plus a lot of work work. Also, per the lower right photo, I've got to fix (or supervise my assistant as she fixes) our backyard gate. As you can see, that gate will no longer keep the dachshunds in the yard!

Feels like a snow day . . . but much windy-er

The Seattle area was hit overnight with a huge wind / rainstorm, and long story short I'm sitting at a coffeeshop with free Wi-Fi downloading work files so that if we get power back I can get some work done. Our house is relatively fine, although the storm door's window on the back porch is totally shattered from knocking against things all night. Our office is closed because there is no power, but I was able to zip in and get my laptop this morning. The park that my cubicle overlooks has lost a number of giant douglas fir trees, I should have brought my camera!

The upside is that I will likely spend more time knitting than web-surfing this weekend, but the downside is that I am dangerously behind at work already. Boooooooo!

Item One: Rock ... Item Two: Art Item ... Three: Me Skull

Item One: Jonathan Richman is the greatest. I saw him this evening at the Tractor Tavern, after a 12 hour work day and fighting a monsoon to get to Ballard. As soon as he started playing, everything seemed better. Note to A____ M____: note the Elsa Dorfman on the Wiki page. You and J____ are just like him!

Item Two: Compliments of Cinetrix, check out some Knitting as Art. I know that my knitting is merely Craft, but I love that there are people who can make it Art.

Item Three: A hat that I made for the Meathead KAL is an alternate to be included in a book. I know you won't believe me if I just tell you that, so check it my green hat with skull here. I think that means that I can't give it away for X-mas, but luckily I have several more skulls and also plenty more yarn. Very exciting!

Yummmm . . . Soft Serve . . . .

I finished a couple of Christmas gifts this weekend, but I can't reveal any except this one. A friend that I worked with during my grad school internship recently had a baby. She doesn't know about this blog yet, don't tell her!

The pattern is (not surprisingly) called Soft Serve, and the yarn is called Color Baby. It's an Australian merino wool--very soft. I knit it on US#3 dpns, started it on Saturday and finished it on Sunday. I love that the curlicue on top is tied down, the faster to whip it off of a baby's head.








Here's how it looks when it's laid out flat--it's very long. It scrunches up a lot when sitting upright, and should do the same on the baby's head.

Stranded Colorwork KAL

I've signed up for the Stranded Colorwork KAL, which I will try to get serious about either as a part of my holiday knitting, or after it's finished. Here are the opening questions, and my answers:

What are your projects for this knitalong?
I'm planning to make a We Call Them Pirates hat--my brother wants one for Christmas, but I'm not sure if I can finish it by then. And for myself, I'd like to try a pair of Anemoi Mittens.


Is this your first colorwork project?
No.

If it isn't, what was your first, and has it survived the test of time?
I've started a lot of things, but have only finished a few and I've never been totally satisfied with the evenness of the actual stranding. I think that the first thing I tried (and finished) was a toddler cardigan that had a yoke with lots of colors. I gave it to a friend who lived far from me for her daughter, and I don't think that I ever heard whether or not it held up--this must have been 10 years ago, at least. Really, I can hardly even remember what it looked liked. I think I used brown sheep bulky, with charcoal as the main color and a bunch of leftover colors on the yoke.

Swatch It Out!

On Tuesday evening, I took a great class with Leigh Radford at Hilltop Yarn, based on the creativity exercises in her great book Alterknits. I wasn't really sure what it was going to be like, or if I'd like it, but it was really cool. Leigh brought lots of projects with her and talked about the design process, and how one idea leads to another. Then we did some experimenting by knitting with unusual materials--the purple swatch above is wide tulle stripes, and I knit another (not pictured) swatch with needles made from long nails. There were a couple of other exercises, the top swatch was about swatching with different colors. Once I wrap up some of this holiday knitting (assuming I ever do!), I'd like to try more of these color swatches. And I'd like to get my grubby paws on some of her new Silk Gelato, it's pricey but really really cool--one of the samples Leigh brought with her was the Cable Clutch, and I'd love to make it. I suppose I could cut and tie my own silk fabric, but it would take a lot of time--time I'd rather spend knitting.

Holiday Craftacular

In the spirit of full disclosure, I only made the yo-yos in the upper left hand corner, everything else was purchased at the Phinney Ridge Winter Festival. The dolls were from my all-time favorite craft booth, Thursday's Child. I buy a gnome every year, and this year I bought the other doll for my youngest niece. The Santa makeup pouch is from Diane Macrae of Venue Ballard. Last year I bought a goldfish purse that she made, and she had a lot of great things this year, too. I have got to start sewing with vinyl!!

Another Meathead . . . this time with skull!

Meathead Skull
Originally uploaded by Sissyvette.

It's been a frustrating project weekend so far, with some work on a few projects but not a lot of progress--too much time spent in the car, or spacing out, etc. The obvious antidote is another Meathead hat, started and finished in a few hours. The yarn is Lamb's Pride Bulky, in the Old Sage color. The tiny skull is one that I knit in October, with the intention of making Halloween cards. I only finished maybe four of the skulls (there's always next year!), but I thought that this would make a good embellishment. The skull pattern comes from the pirate hat pattern from Hello Yarn, if I remember correctly. I like the pointy-ness of this meathead more than the other one I made--I translated the pattern from knit flat to knit in the round, and I think that I didn't continue to decrease quite high enough. This one couldn't get any pointier, at least not with two strands of bulky yarn and giant US15 DPNs. Seriously, those needles make me feel like I'm knitting with logs, but I love them because they have sparkly tips. A question--do you think the shape of this hat is too girly for a teenage boy? I have a few candidates in mind for the hat, my 17 year old nephew is one of them. I suppose I could make him the same hat with a little less point, right? I'm a little out of touch about what the kids are wearing these days, at least the boys.

Fancy this hat!

I finished Shedir tonight, and I really like it. It isn't perfect (there's an oddly tight row, and something weird going on inside), but it's a good color and it's non-itchy, so I will keep it for myself. Of course, the weather is warming up a little here, and now I don't need a hat really at all, but if I go East for New Year's it will be put to good use. The pattern is from Knitty, the yarn is Rowan Calmer, the needles were size US4. I took out one repeat of the braided cable, and it's a good thing--I'm not sure that I'd have gotten through this with one skein otherwise. I picked up a skein of brown Calmer recently, so I may cast another one on right away. Could be a holiday gift, if I work fast!

No More a Fussin' and a Feudin'

See how well they can get along, when it's very cold outside, and they are super tired?

45 Minutes I'll Never Get Back

I don't really understand why, on roads that look like this:

it took 45 minutes to drive less than a half mile from my house this morning. At that point, after working on The Olive Garden Scarf for much of that time:

I turned around and worked from home for the morning. Seriously--the only snow in sight was on the hood of my car, and there were no signs of an accident in the limited ground I covered. Can't wait for tomorrow's commute, after more (but still not very much) snow and an overnight freeze.

Chutney, Mincemeat, Shedir

This weekend was the first time I've had four days off work in a row since early June, and it was a pretty productive / relaxing weekend. I caught up on my sleep (quite a feat--Frieda likes to get up at 4:30am most days), finished the last bit of Sock Wars work, did a little bit of holiday shopping, and worked on numerous holiday-related projects. Today I made cranberry chutney and a meatless mincemeat made with pears and apples. I never really thought about mincemeat having actual meat in it, but evidently that's the case. The flavor of this mincemeat is similar to traditional mincemeat, although I used dried cranberries instead of raisins so it's a little more tart. I think it would be delicious heated over ice cream, or used in little hand-pies. I've never been a big fan of whole mincemeat pies, because there isn't enough crust for the amount of filling. Little hand-pies take care of that problem! The chutney is savory, and would be delicious with a baked brie or roast pork. It's also good on crackers with brie or goat cheese. It's nice to have these done, they are great hostess gifts and I like to have something handmade at the ready so that if any holiday invites roll in, I'm prepared.


This weekend I worked a couple of inches on Shedir, and am a few rows into the decreasing section. I love the way the cables transform from the repeating braided cables into the star-like top cable, and I'm looking forward to seeing this happen as I get further along. I took out one repeat of the braided cable so that it wouldn't come down so far over the forehead (and so I could move along to the top faster). Once the decreasing starts, the beginning of the row shifts occasionally, it's a little tricky but the way that the cables are charted makes it very clear. The biggest problem I've had so far is that the ball of Calmer is getting all loose and tangley--hopefully, I can stem the tide! I haven't decided yet whether I'll give this one away. Living in WA, I don't need a hat very often, but this is a hat that I could wear without itching, so it may need to be mine. Or I suppose I can knit another one in the same yarn after all of the holiday knitting it complete.

At last, the war is over

Finally, Sock Wars is over! And really, even though I was not the swag winner and I'll probably never get socks from my lame-ass assassin, I couldn't be happier that it is over--three pair from scratch (plus a little less than one more sock, started by Kate) is a little much for me in two months. I'm a little annoyed still about the people who either sent socks to people but didn't confirm they knew the rules and were still playing, or who received socks without bothering to follow through themselves. None of the people that I knit for fell into this category, though, so at least I don't feel like I knit for the undeserving. Man, that sounds stupid--it was just a game, after all. Anyway, the fourth pair that I completed was my first attempt at two colors in one sock, and I think that they turned out pretty well. I am a little concerned that they are a little too big, though--I've had no luck whatsoever with gauge swatches during this game, so I didn't make one for this pair. Celticdragonfly's feet are a little bigger than mine, so maybe they'll be o.k. I used Heirloom Yarns superwash Easy Care 8ply wool, it was nice to work with and came through the wash / dry just fine. Good thing, too--I would have cried if it felted after all of that knitting.

This weekend I also worked on Shedir and on the Olive Garden Scarf, which is now about 40 inches long. I also started a new X-mas gift project that can't be fully revealed at this time. Sneak preview to the right--the yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, the same 100% merino superwash used to knit the original two socks at once. The colorway is called, not surprisingly, "Rainbow". I looooooove the feel of this yarn. I took the project from Holiday Knits, can you guess what it is? Maybe a Rainbow wig for E____ G_____? Or a Rainbow clown collar for R_____ C_____? Perhaps a hippie halter top for A______ M______? Only time will tell.

Meathead Complete

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

As mom works on the holiday meal, I've been entertaining the dogs, cleaning up the living room, and working on a few projects. I decided to embellish my Meathead with a fabric yo-yo and a vintage anchor button that I found out in the sewing room. It's so nice to finish something, although I genuinely wish that it was the final pair of Sock Wars Socks that was done. Once Laura's socks are done, then I can go back to Shedir, or to the Olive Garden Scarf, which has developed a very distressing tangle in the ball of plum mohair.

Here's a close up of the meathead embellishment:

I love the anchor button. This pattern was so easy and fast that I may make another one, in the smaller size. This one fits me fine, but if I make one for someone with a normal sized head the small is probably fine.

Dormant Work in Progress - Blue Rib Scarf

This is a scarf I started last spring after taking the Knitting Faster class at Hilltop Yarn, in order to practice my new combination knitting skills. I used 3 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Super Chunky, and size 11 needles, and just knit all K2 P2 forever. I finished the knitting around Memorial Day weekend, but I haven't seen it in months. All I need to do is to weave in the ends, and it will be done, although I might block it to make it wider and to show the rib pattern. I think that I should put this on my list to finish one my final pair of Sock Wars socks are finished, there is so little work left to it!

New Knitalong Project, Plus a Sock Update

The Sock War continues, but slowly. These are the last pair I will be knitting for the War, so there isn't a ton of incentive to finish them quickly. I'm aiming to have them in the mail in the next day or so, so that they will reach Texas around the end of the game on Nov. 24. After that, it's a knit off to reach Yarn Monkey in Ireland, but since there are 87 people still living, and there's no way I'll receive socks in progress, I'm pretty sure that this is it for me and Sock Wars. Overall it's been a good skill building exercise, but not quite as satisfying as I had hoped--I still can't believe how many people signed up and then totally flaked out because they didn't understand the rules and didn't get an e-mail that first weekend. Seriously--you sign up for a freaking war, and then you don't bother to check the organizer's blog or the very active bulletin board to find out what's happening? Anyway, the heels have been turned, and I'm working on the gusset decreases, and I like they way these look so far. There are going to be a lot of loose ends to weave in, which is a bummer, but I like the two color look. On the right, I've used my new iPod Shuffle as a size reference. Yes, I did just get it, and yes, it's awesome--I dragged my lazy ass to the YMCA this evening, just to try it out. Let's not discuss this or any other iPods that I may or may not own any further, o.k.?

To take a break from the socks, which have been driving me a little bit crazy, I joined the Meathead Knitalong that Larissa is running to test knit a hat pattern for her forthcoming book. The KAL involves knitting the hat according to the pattern, and then personalizing it with a small embellishment. Check out her original Meathead project--it's very cool. The knitting of the meathead hat itself is done, it just needs a little blocking and then an embellishment. I used two colors of Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky Yarn (Creme and White Frost), and size 15 Addi DPNs. The colors are pretty close to each other, I was sort of hoping for a little more contrast. The hat it knit with two strands at once, and took less than two hours to knit--a NICE break from all of that small needle knitting that I've been doing. Now I just need to decide how to decorate it. I originally thought that I'd use a beautiful Czech glass button that I picked up at the 2006 Sewing and Stitchery Expo, but I think that it is too small and delicate to look great on the hat. Do you agree? Other options include felt flowers (with or without googly eyes), an egg (Egghead--get it?), a robot, a spaceship, etc. I will entertain suggestions from the gallery.

Money Makin'

Just a quick post before I return to my Sock Wars socks (and doing laundry). This year's Messiah Lutheran Church Bazaar was the most successful ever for the W_____ table. Fourteen tissue holders sold, at $3 apiece. Not bad for something that I spent very little time on, with a very small material cost--the largest cost was the actual tissue packets.

Also, last night I watched the UFC championship with some friends. Normally, I'm not a huge fan of fighting. I think I'm still not a huge fan of fighting, but this was fun--there were some UFC fans in the room who added a lot of context / color commentary. But I couldn't quite knit through it, must make up time today!

Sock Wars - Target #4

I started my third new pair of Socks Wars death socks last night. The idea behind Sock Wars was that each person would buy yarn and start one pair of socks, and pass them along to their assassin once killed. That's not even close to how it has turned out and it's incredibly irritating. This is the third pair I've had to start from scratch, and since I don't have very much non-earmarked yarn on hand, I've had to buy all of the yarn I've used. Of course, my new target recently started her fourth new pair using her own yarn, so at least I'm not alone. Maybe you CAN'T believe everything you read in the internet. I'll try to look it up on this google I keep hearing about, and see if that tells me anything.

All About Sunday

Since I now have an embarrassingly high number of active knitting projects, I made a little bag to hold onto one of them. The featured fabric is little goldfish, paired with orange polka dots. It clashes horribly with all of the projects I am currently working on, but it will be easy to find in my bag. The dots and fish match surprisingly well on the edges, considering that I used French seams where the patterns meet and on the bottom. Bags this size are very handy, maybe I'll make a few more soon. After all the time I've spent knitting, it seems strange to finish a complete project in 30 minutes.

You may have heard that we're having an extremely wet November here in the Pacific Northwest. Rivers are flooding, property is being swept away, dogs are peeing inside in order to avoid the wet, soggy yard. Seriously, I have to watch those dogs like a hawk! And I'm leading up to hawks . . . the Seahawks. On this extremely cold, rainy day, we had tickets to see the Seahawks play the Rams. Fortunately, our seats were in a suite, so we were warm and dry. Here's a view from the suite:

Lenny Wilkins raised the 12th man flag, and the game was close all afternoon. I've heard a lot about how loud Qwest Field is during the games, but I was still surprised that it was rock show loud--whenever the Rams had the ball, it was too loud to hear anything but the crowd. The Seahawks won with a field goal and a few seconds to go, woo-hoo! I don't really follow football, but it was a lot of fun seeing a game live.

Also, there's a lot of downtime during football games, in between plays and during commercial breaks. I took the Socks that Rock scarf with me, and added a few inches to it. It's now about 24 inches long, not too shabby for the first week! I think that it's about halfway finished, there isn't a formal pattern and I don't remember how long the scarf was in the shop. I'd like to use about half of the yarn (or less) in each skein, so that I can get two scarves out of the yarn, but the yarn (or stress, or the weather, or whatever) is irritating my skin so once this one is done I'll probably hold off on scarf #2. I suspect the mohair.

Aaaaaah-chooo!

Next weekend is the Messiah Lutheran Church bazaar, an annual event that throws our household into a frenzy of crafting activity. Generally, the items that I make do not sell well, they are either too quirky or maybe too expensive or poorly displayed. In general, I think that we put too much focus on "filling the table" and not enough focus on having some sort of comprehensive craft strategy. But still, the bazaar shopping crowd is unpredictable and therefore difficult to target. Items that I've made in recent years that have achieved a less than stellar reception include:

• Felt finger puppets - these did very well the first year, but that was because one lady bought all of them. She was a blip in the demand profile for this item--the next year, maybe one or two sold.

• Packets of multi-colored crayons - a typical "fill the table" item, these were packets of crayons molded from pieces of other crayons. Thanks, Martha Stewart--these went nowhere.

• Hairclips and magnets made with felt flowers. I looove these felt flower items, they are an old standby. Who cares if it's a little weird to put googley eyes on flowers? Googley eyes are what gives them character, and they are the greatest craft invention ever.

• Clown cakes - these are small cakes decorated with frosting and fondant to look like clowns. They are both delicious and cute, and were a BIG hit at E___ & S___'s wedding. Not a single cake sold--I could not believe it. Look at hat, and the blue hair, and don't forget the googley eyes! I do not recommend perishables for the bazaar--who needs a half dozen clown cakes??
  

With the exception of the clown cakes, normally the inventory rolls over from one year to the next (another possible flaw in the strategy is to make enough of any item to last for all future bazaars). After the clown cake disaster, I liquidated my inventory (or at least made nothing new), and sat out last year's event. My plan was to pass on this year's bazaar, too, but last weekend I saw a quick and easy pattern for travel tissue holders that I thought could possibly sell. A few hours later (seriously, probably only 4 hours), and here's what I had:




Thirteen Christmas themed tissue covers . I like the candy canes and the red polka-dots the best. All of the fabric came from my stash, except for the red and white striped fabric, which was $2 per yard on the clearance rack at Jo-Ann fabrics.











Fourteen year-round fabrics. These are mostly scraps from different projects. The bowling pins are from a work function, where I used this as prize wrapping. The sagey-goldy fabric is leftover from a bag, the yellow floral is leftover from J_____ C______'s baby quilt.









Here's a photo of my favorite, in use. Since the odds are low that these will all sell, I will keep this one for myself. The total project cash outlay was very small (the big expense will be the tissues), so any selling is almost pure profit! I could make as much as $10 or $20 on these babies!