Wool Dryer Balls

Last night it snowed in Kansas City...this morning it snowed in Kansas City...last Wednesday night it snowed in Kansas City...last Thursday (can you guess?!),yep, it snowed in Kansas City.  I am sick of snow.  I'm from southern Arkansas where we don't get snow...period.  Anyhow!  With cold weather and no power for about 3 hours (I almost lost my mind because I had no clue what to do without power) I decided to make these dryer balls I read about here: http://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/2012/09/save-time-money-and-energy-make-your-own-wool-dryer-balls.html.

You want to make sure you have 100% wool...I forgot to take a picture of exactly what I bought but it's called Fisherman's wool.  If you have an old, shrunken by mistake, wool sweater you can use that too.  Just make sure you unravel it.  I got the wool at JoAnn Fabric but you could find it at Michael's or where ever you buy your craft stuff.

Apparently, they cut down on drying time and when you pair a couple drops of essential oil (I'll be using lavender) they basically replace your dryer sheets. <----my main reason for making these.

First step is to wrap the yarn around your fingers about 20 times.  Then wrap the yarn around the center about 20 times. (Just estimate.)  Fold yarn again and wrap 20 times until it starts to form a ball then continue this until your balls resemble the ones below.  I apologize for not taking pictures of the first steps.  I'm sure I'll make more though, and I'll link up those pictures when the time comes. 

This large piece of yarn (is that what you would call this?  I'm drawing a blank.) gave me 4 large dryer balls.

Next step is the felting process.  Take one leg of a pair of old pantyhose and place one ball at a time in them starting at the toe.  I spun them really tight and tied some cut pieces of pantyhose between the balls.  I think you're supposed to use embroidery floss or acrylic but I had neither of those on hand so I had to improvise.

Throw the balls in with a load of laundry that requires very hot water (towels, underwear) and dry them on high as well.  This is going to make the fibers stick together and make them smooth and tight.

This is what they will look when they come out of the dryer.  Felted and pretty and ready to be slathered (not really but I wanted to use that word...you only need 1-2 drops) with lavender oil!

Here you can see the fibers felted together.  Enjoy your new addiction.

 Caution: your hands and fingers will be sore so don't curse me too much.