A little quickie....

... project, that is! After all of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I was craving the chance to felt something (other than a birdhouse) that would incorporate all that I find satisfying in felting.

That means lots of experimenting, unpredictability, texture, color, and a little bit of "magic" added to the mix. This scarflet (mini scarf) fit the bill.

I used a bit of silk chiffon that I had hand-dyed and didn't particularly love the result enough to invest in a large shawl, so I cut it into a smaller piece and began grabbing colorful bits of merino, soft, hand-dyed milk fiber, a bit of angelina, and baby alpaca. I decided to leave the edges unfinished, rough and ruffled.

Since this was going to be a short scarf , it needed a pin and I wanted to use a complementary color that would stand out from the scarf itself. I felted a flower pin and added a turquoise bead for the center.

P.S. Welcome to the new visitors and followers to the blog! If you didn't notice in the comments, I've decided to extend the giveaway until Friday at noon!

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Always Learning... felting class with Nicola Brown

Nicola modeling an amazing felted duster she made

I don't know why it's taken me so long to write about it, but last month I had a great opportunity to attend a felting class in Michigan with Nicola Brown whose blog, Clasheen, I have followed for a while. Those that read blogs regularly have the feel for how small the world becomes... Nicola is from Ireland, but she was coming to the states to teach and I couldn't pass on the chance to learn from her. She seemed like an incredibly creative, generous, and fun teacher and I was certainly not disappointed!I decided to really treat myself, and stayed at a lovely B & B, The Kalamazoo House, that was immediately next door to the Kalamazoo Institute of Art. The entire experience was inspiring, and I loved the museum and it's surroundings. Although I took along lots of knitting and reading, I was surprised to find that I enjoyed socializing with the other guests more than holing up in my room! The hosts were great as well.The first two days of class were specifically about making a complex felt bag. Although I'm a semi-experienced felter, I enjoyed learning about using a "resist" to make a 3D object with the strap cut from the original layout of fiber, and I also had fun incorporating other fabrics and embellishments into the felt.
It was fascinating to see the variety of approaches the other attendees took to choosing the style and colors of their purses (one of the benefits of attending a class, watching and learning from other attendees). One lady put together some colors that I thought were pretty horrendous, and I was sure that her uptight pace would lead to disaster- how wrong I was when she was the first to finish what was definitely a spectacular purse! I was pleased with how mine came out, although it's a bit more "flashy" than what I'd normally carry.
The final day was a Felted Accessories class- we had a choice of techniques to learn about, and although I'd been doing a lot of nuno work where you felt various fibers to a base of silk or other fabric, I wanted to learn new techniques since I'd admired Nicola's nuno feltwork so much. I used some silk that I had already dyed, and felted it with short-fibered merino. Although it wasn't my best finished project, I enjoyed the process and especially love working with that type of merino now in addition to alpaca as it felts so fast and evenly.
I've found a fair amount of time to do some other felting projects since then (though not as much as I'd like!) I made this purse with hand-dyed alpaca, merino, and C1 wool (and embedded glass beads), as I wanted to make another bag while I could remember the techniques.
I've also made quite a few nuno scarves and shawls with silk and both alpaca and wool. Now I need to buckle down and make some of the smaller items (like soaps and jewelry) that are the staple of my holiday gift sales. If only I had more time in the day!!! Pin It Now!

My Internet World

Lovely nest received from an internet friend

.... is getting ever smaller! I could wax eloquently about my ability to keep up with long-lost and current friends via Facebook, talk about tweeting, and detail how even our daughter who had never been exposed to a computer in Peru can now Google information on the most obscure things with the best of 'em or locate a favorite YouTube video in seconds. We all know the many, many wonders of the internet which continues to expand exponentially every day.

But my world got smaller yet through my recent participation in a "swap" that was organized by a fiber artist/felter in Ireland that I admire. I read the Clasheen blog, and discovered that Nicola was organizing a spring swap among felters, and I decided to participate. I was paired with Chrissie from England, and we each shared some color preferences and likes and dislikes with each other.Chrissie's photos of the scarf I made for her

I made her a nuno-felted scarf in the blues and greys that she enjoys, and also added a box of tea, muffin mixes from local Weisenberger Mill, a felted soap, and a "felter's paintbox" of dyed alpaca fibers from our farm. As I shipped it off to her address in England, I hoped that she would like everything!Right before my birthday, I received my package from Chrissie. It was filled with tiny packages wrapped in tissue paper patterns and tied with colorful twine, oh how fun! Each package revealed a special little treasure- beautiful lace which I'll incorporate into my felting, handmade lavender sachets, a needle-felted nest with eggs, handmade tags, and a decorated mini box with vintage buttons inside.
It also held this awesome necklace, made in some of my favorite colors and incorporating felted wool beads!

Thanks, Chrissie, I love each and every item that you made! Thanks, too, to Nicola for organizing the swap! The world just got a little bit smaller.... Pin It Now!

Do You Know Nuno?

....Nuno felting, that is. It's a very cool technique for producing light-weight, gauzy products with alpaca or wool laminated/felted onto silk and I'm really loving it! It's a great way to combine dyeing and felting, and the end product is ethereal and gorgeous.I was in heaven this morning in the studio, with projects in various stages and lots of dyeing taking place, too. I love the methods I use for dyeing silk, and plan to make silk scarves and finished scarves and shawls available on my Etsy site soon so that people can use them for their own projects (or just wear them as-is!). (This one may just have to stay with me, I'm going to put an abalone button on it).
This coming weekend is the Southern Select Alpaca Show, and whatever I don't sell there will be posted on Etsy, with more to come.
Munchie was keeping me company this morning. I never could previously figure out why he didn't like hanging out in the studio with me, when he's always nearby in the house. Finally, I set up a cushy spot for him in my padded office chair WITH a plush sheep hide on top- how could I have forgotten that he's all about comfort, and a simple rug on the wood floor was simply not good enough, and made him feel like a D-O-G? Pin It Now!