Wool dryer balls

When I started cloth diapering a little over a year ago; I heard about wool dryer balls and how they cut down on dry time and static! I found a set of 3 in a local store for around $20 and just couldn't bring myself to spend that much. I figured it was something I could make myself so I set out to do just that! I went to a local craft store and got some 100% wool yarn and began making it into a ball...

Once it's the size of a softball you want to secure the end of the thread and then put your balls in a sock or an old nylon stocking so that you can felt them in the washer and dryer to keep them from coming loose. I use a couple of really long knee high socks I never wore and just put several balls in one sock (knotting the sock between each ball).

I usually wash them with towels because I always wash towels on the HOT setting and it helps them felt better. I also usually wash and dry them twice before I take them out of the sock. 

After they are out of the sock they are ready to live in the dryer full time! 

Be a responsible adult

I'm probably going to be unpopular today but everyone elses views are being thrown in my face and I feel the need to share my opinion (because everyone is dying to know what I think, right?).

A while back I wrote a post about birth control and my views on it (found here). Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled in favor of religious freedom so that Hobby Lobby will not have to supply emergency contraception for their employees. There is such an uproar about this and I think a lot of folks are misinformed about what Hobby Lobby does and does not cover for their employees. They will continue to cover preventative contraception but will not have to cover Plan B or The Morning After pill.

People are so enraged over this ruling and I have a hard time understanding how we have come so far. Have we become so entitled that we think we should get everything for free? How about we have some self worth and take care of ourselves? Also, can we not control ourselves in the company of the opposite sex without throwing caution and good judgment to the wind and having unprotected sex? And then you want someone else to pay for your "lapse in judgment"? Hobby Lobby pays about double minimum wage so you can just go buy a box of condoms and if you really NEED to have sex, that way you won't need emergency contraception.

Many people feel that life begins when sperm meets egg. Emergency contraception (as well as most preventatives) work to keep a fertilized egg from implanting. To me that ends a life. As a mother, I mourn the lives of unborn children that never got the choice. Your right to choose ends when you decide to have sex, now you have somebody else's life to think about.

I wouldn't want to pay for somebody to take Plan B or The Morning After pill, I don't want to pay to end a new life! I understand that some people may not be able to afford Plan B or The Morning After pill, but does that mean your employer has to buy it for you? Would you ask your Muslim boss to buy a ham for you? No, because it's insulting and not his responsibility, go feed yourself with the money he pays you for working for him!

A huge pet peeve of mine is when people call a baby an "accident". You didn't accidently have sex with another human being. If you don't want an unplanned pregnancy how about try being responsible and not have unprotected sex.

I hear Pro-Choice folks talking about how women are being denied important medications or how the Supreme Court hates women because of this ruling... Let's be frank for a minute, Emergency contraception wouldn't be needed (Honestly, it's never needed) if you were being responsible. Important medications are things like insulin for diabetics or life saving drugs for people living with HIV. If you don't want to have a baby, DON'T HAVE SEX! Nobody is denying you emergency contraception, it's right by the counter at walgreens, go get it if you need it.

Hobby Lobby has a right to religious freedom, if something goes against your religion you shouldn't be forced to do it. You have a right to disagree with their beliefs but you don't have a right to force them to do something against their religion.