My youngest daughter is a hat wearer.
I took the opportunity last weekend during a short visit to her new house, to get her to try on all my felted hats . We had fun trying them all on as you can see.
I have alrady started making some new hats and think I will have to try get them modeled. Thet look so much more livelier and smilier than the photos of the glass heads.
Last year I made two felted pairs of slippers one for myself and one for my daughter. They both wore out unbelievably quickly. I wondered how this was possible.
Maybe I learn it from Artybird , I used the wrong fibre. Merino cannot be used for slippers I read. Well it can because I have done it but maybe that's why they worn out. They did look nice though.
So I decided to try harder wearing fibre. I used Icelandic, grey with BFL insides, in a bright blue from world of wool. First slipper task replace the worn out slipper boots.
Well I knew from a previous slipper boot disaster that making sure the legs of the boots were wide enough is important. Boots that you can't get your feet into are useless. I think Ugg have this sorted, but personally I am still nervous about this issue.
I bought slipper lasts , trying to be professional. Strange I thought they have very thin ankles , certainly not wide enough for boots , but they have very roomy feet
So here are my slipper boots ready for felting .
Much rubbing, rolling ,soap and water later, I try to get the lasts in to them. It was almost impossible. I think the lasts need a flexible ankle. I managed eventually but I feared that the slippers probably were not felted enough for this stage of the process. It was a doubled edged sword really felt more and not get them on lasts or put them on the lasts and hope for the best.
So I rubbed and soaped and shrunk to the last before a wrapping in tights, stuffing the legs with tea towels and washing in the washing machine. Easy enough and luckily I did follow the instruction to put the lasts in a carrier bag. Without I would have had to cut the slippers to get the lasts out,
Eventually I ended up with these finished items.
It seems hardly possible for something so light but they are incredibly clumpy. They feel like moon boots. I am not sure they are quite elegant enough for the intended recipient.
Late tip from Arybird Kate was not to have used the lasts but to have felted them around my feet. Well possibly this needs to happen but I am just a bit out of energy for these slippers just now and I am not sure an improved appearance will be the result. It will have to wait for another day.
Inspiration is a funny thing, a transient passing idea that can grab you or you can miss it entirely. I try to grab it but not always with a forward view in mind.
I was inspired by this seed pod , whilst walking in Ireland. I liked it's placement surviving within the fishing ropes.
I loved the shape it had and its delicate veins. Could I make a felted vessel that captured the essence of its shape translucence and beauty?
This inspiration lead me to looking more closely at the seeds I could find all around me . In this way it was true inspiration as it made me look for new ideas.
Look at these beautiful spheres with their feather like spikes.
Just a weed !
I started collecting just a few to look at more closely , and I have to admit using a magnifying glass in order to see the details. I even bought a magnifying glass from a market whilst on holiday as I was so intrigued.
I have also discovered while picking a few wild flower seed pods that some of them have amazing explosive properties. Designed of course to distribute their seeds and help ensure the species survival. These are often very tiny and I cannot make a good photograph , a have made a small pianting sketch with the aid of my magnifying glass just before the explosion.
So from the tiny explosive seed pods to the architectural beauty of rosebay willow herb. Photographed here on a misty morning with just a few pink flowers remaining.
I am totally inspired following my one small discovery by seeds and seed pods and hope I can find a way in the near future to convert their beauty into felt,
Almost two years ago on 15th September 2011, I wrote my first blog. I was Very apprehensive. I am not sure what I was frightened of. I have found that as a blogger I can be totally anonymous . I would like a few more readers and comments but mostly I am happy to remain anonymous. Fame has yet to come my way.
My first blog was about a flat piece of white piece of felt, I made to prove , to Artybird , that I could make felt. . Two years later I think thats well proven. I am as hooked as ever on felting with all of its possibilities . Probably more so, with my head brimming with felting ideas , and a small studio in active use, full of fibre, drawings and pieces of fabric.
I reflect on my first white piece today , not specially as it is near its two year anniversary, but because I have made a white sculpture that am especially pleased with. I have made many felts during my two years that I am proud of, but not usually just it white. Don't ask me what it is , its just a felting exploration into vessels and sculpture.
So here is my sculpture . She is trying to find somewhere comfortable to live.
After my first tentative white felting piece almost two years ago , I am still an Artybird felter still learning, still blogging about it and still loving it.
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