The Homestretch

Life has been a little bit crazy here at Purdue. I'm down to one more week of classes (woot!) 2 finals, 2 lab reports, and 2 final papers (not so woot!). And I have been sick as a dog and down for the count. It turns out I had a mono-like virus but not real mono, so I basically had a condensed version of mono that was really bad for a week and just won't leave me alone. I had a sneaking suspicion it wasn't mono (despite the three tests I had) because while I felt absolutely miserable, had raging fevers and the nastiest tonsils I've ever seen, I wasn't exhausted. I would get really tired suddenly and need a nap NOW (and am still doing this) but I wasn't overly lethargic (until I tried to write a paper or go to French class).
So that's what I've been up to. Class, homework, papers, and lots of naps. Notice how knitting wasn't in there.
But that being said, I'd like to give a big shout out to Paisley Penguin for being the blog contest winner! Yay! Your super sexy set of potholders will be arriving shortly after I finish them. And lets be honest- that might be a while.

But now, as promised, a Christmas Craft!
Okay- now go dig through your stash and find all those odds and ends of green and red (or the colors of your choice) novelty yarns. Or just plain yarn. But this is a stashbusting activity, and I absolutely forbid the use of new skeins for this project.

Got your yarns? Great! Go to Joann Fabrics, Michaels, or Hobby Lobby and get yourself a wreath frame. They're about $3, so it's not a big deal. You're also going to need a bunch of Styrofoam balls that fit this wreath frame, and enough of them to go all the way around. You will also need some good old tacky glue, about 15-20 yards of Christmas ribbons and some fairly thick wire. You might also need a third hand at this point. If you have an Adam handy, they work really well. If not, then anyone will do.

Here we go (I really wish I had pictures of all of the steps but my hands were covered in tacky glue and I really didn't want to touch my camera. Extra hand was nowhere to be found at this point in the project). Take one of your spools of holiday ribbon and wrap it around your wreath frame. It doesn't have to be perfect, it just hides the fugly wires that might peek out from behind the balls. Got your frame all wrapped in ribbon? Score. Now take a Styrofoam ball and cover it with tacky glue. Realise that you have just covered yourself in tacky glue and the ball is starting to drip. (I suggest putting down a newspaper beforehand). Call your third hand to wipe one of your hands off so that you can start to wrap your scrap yarns around this yarn ball. Keep winding until you've got what looks like a perfectly normal yarn ball with no Styrofoam showing. Cut the yarn and secure end with a dab of glue. Set to the side (very carefully!) to dry. Repeat until you've got enough balls to go all the way around the wreath. Go knit for a couple hours while they are drying out.

Take your wire (and wire cutters and pliers) and stab the ball, going all the way through a small section. Fasten the ball to the frame using the wire, hiding the wire in the ribbon that you've wrapped around the frame. Repeat until your frame is full of yarn balls. Make sure they're nice and tied down and not going anywhere as soon as you pick up the wreath. Then with the remaining holiday ribbon, loosely wrap the spaces between the yarn balls (entirely optional) to hide the rest of the pokey-out wires. Other ideas for decorations are mini-stockings, mini-sweaters, mini-whatevers with little toothpick knitting needles glued on to one of the yarn balls, or a giant bow made of all or several of the yarns used in the wreath.

Apologies for the bad picture- it was late and very dark outside.