[Sca-cooks] RE: hot pads

[Jennifer Thompson]

Ruadh, thank you for sharing your experience. I'd wondered if there was some
very obvious reason no one did these that I was soon to discover. The theory
seemed sound. I've been impressed with wool's flame-smothering capability
and am terrifically pleased to know that firemen are using felted wool. Mine
have 14 by 11 felted pads and will be slightly larger in all.

Stefan, thank you for directing me to the Florilegeum. Interesting reading
at the very least. I've made felted goods before, but cannot imagine
devoting the time and effort that a yurt would take. I chose to knit before
felting for a couple of reasons. My felting experience has been in toys (cat
toys, balls, and color experiments) and I didn't want to take a chance on a
thin spot (Youch!) or any shifting (I'm also lightly quilting the finished
holder to minimize that). Secondly, I was given this wool by a friend to
practice spinning on, so making it into yarn was kind of the point. She'd
spun up some of it, but it's so scratchy that she made up a gag gift scarf
and gave the rest away to folks who need practice. But it's nice and lofty
and catches heat, so it's ideal for this use.