Hi, I've done quite a bit of felting - but generally I knit up an item, then felt it. When I do use sweaters or other knitted items to "make felt" I just treat them like fabric afterwards... so whatever I can do with a similar fabric, I can do with the "felted" sweater. The 2X cape thing is great! It would have so much surface area! I look in the men's section when I am looking to felt and look for the big men's sizes. I haven't sold any felted items, but I've given them as gifts and they have been well received. There was a picture online of a big rug that looked like one of those potholders we used to make in Girl Scouts, with the loops... it used strips of felt from sweaters and blankets. I have a cedar chest full of these strips waiting for me to get in the mood for a big project :) If you are a knitter or crocheter - it is also worthwhile to buy sweaters made of a great yarn and "unknit" them... I have skeins of cashmere I have unwound from thrift shop sweaters - the price would be prohibitive to buy as yarn... but is a good deal when you unwind them yourself. Not all sweaters lend themselves to being unwound, though... some are cut at the edges rather than being made with a single strand of yarn per piece. If you are going to felt a lot - consider felting within a zippered pillowcase. Those errant fibers that end up in the washwater can turn to felt within the water pump... bye bye washing machine! Diane

"Healthy lifestyle"? I don't know about all that -- my co-worker just busted me looking at a recipe for vegan banana-nut muffins made with spelt flour -- while I happily munched away on a bag of Ranch Doritos! I'm a bit scattered today, but here's some random thought off the top of my head: My absolute fav juice is one bunch of celery, two peeled cukes, and two apples. Pick sweet/spicy juice apples, not the bland ones. Two apples and a handful of strawberries -- vey nice! Or maybe a kiwi or two. (Depending on your juicer, don't even peel, just cut 'em in half!) Apples and ginger, another nice combo. I may be weird, but I don't rave about straight carrot juice. But I do like it mixed in with other things. Sometimes a little grated ginger is perfect -- sweet and spicy! Try it with an apple or two -- nice and sweet . Some carrots, a tomato, and a stalk or two of celery is a whole different taste. If you like that "savory taste" try some carrots with the greens from a bunch of beets. Carrot juice doesn't seem to age well in the fridge, but it does well in the freezer. When I get a big bag, I'll juice all of them, then pour the extra juice into ice cube trays, and use them in smoothies I make in the blender. Slushy juice drinks are nice, too! I don't worry too much about protein, but I do often add spirulina powder to smoothies, and sometimes juice. It's a cultivated kind of blue-green algae that has incredible amounts of protein and all sorts of trace nutrients -- people make a lot of mystical claims for it, but it has some real science behind it. You can get it at a lot of health food stores, and places like Wild Oats and Whole Foods, in the bulk bins. You don't need to use much to get a nutritional punch, and you don't really taste it. Man, does it make things green.... You can juice just about anything; but some things like melon, you can do just as easily in the blender. I have a blend that I use if I'm feeling ick-ish, that seems to cleanse and revitalize me. It has lots of 'greens': broccoli, kale, etc as well as some carrots and apples -- but frankly, it doesn't taste all that nice and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for anything but medicinal purposes! (BTW, I'v been throwing a handful of frozen spinach into my morning smoothies lately -- good vitamin punch and I don't even taste it!) Hope you get some good use out of the juicer. In my experience it feels like a lot of work if you're making juice for just one person. Don't forget you can freeze the juice -- a little more payoff ofr your cleaning efforts. I usually have juice in the morning, so I found collecting all the things I'm using and putting them in a bowl in the fridge the night before made it a little easier. You don't want to do too much cutting and cleaning the night before, because fruit/veggies start to dry out once you have an exposed surface, but it helps to be able to pull the bowl out and get cracking. ...

Marsha, I am the same way I have so many patterns and you're right!! there are so many FREE ones lol!!!! Your doggie sounds adorable, I need him to pick up my sewing room lol. Thank you Sharon!! I have been busy with the holidays, blood drive, and a pain in the butt new computer. I was talking to my mother yesterday about how the bunnies are always going to be here so why not just make friends with them lol!!!!! Donna, to me it's the same as when I was growing up and dad would say eat everything on your plate there are starving kids in China. Now I just buy all the quilting things to save the quilters in China lol!!!! Rosa

"I believe Brick is talking about getting a 2nd pump that is DC powered. You can find these in various sizes at any marine supply store (WestMarine). You can power this 2nd pump with any 'deep-cycle' battery. These batteries are readily available from the marine store (more expensive) or a place that sells batteries for campers (I've seen these at Costco). You would then activate this second pump using a float switch located above the normal level that the normal pump activates." That is correct. You will also need a float charger to keep the batteries charged. Car batteries are optimized for extremely high currents for running the starter motor and not for lower currents for longer times. Deep cycle batteries are designed for lower current longer load discharge cycles. A float charger will keep the battery charged as long as AC power is available without over charging and damaging the battery. Make sure you get one that can be left connected even when the battery is supplying power to a load, most are but not all.