this and that....

I have been flitting from one idea to another this week , trying this and that.

I have an assignment on shibori dying felt . This has been fun. It was a bit irritating when the elastic bands I had used , perished totally during the dyeing process. Perhaps that's what you get from using cheap loom band elastic bands ! This altered the finalized result but overall I am pleased with my pieces.

I have made a bracelet, using beads that my daughter made and some kap merino fibre . I have been wearing this to see what it feels like , light and comfortable and I like the look too.

A few weeks ago a took a online class with Carol Ann Waugh on Craftsy called stitch and slash. This is technique aimed at quilters but I though I'd give a tried in felting. So I laminated 4 fabrics ontop of a piece of prefelt , a scrim , a lace and two different colored synthetic chiffons. Prior to laminating I stitched a couple of random shapes into the piece and stitched around the edge as well. After felting it was only totally laminated in parts , which was just what I wanted.

 

I love the wave effect the synthetic chiffon gives.

I then slashed it , right back to the felt in a couple of places , and through different layers on the rest. Leaving some of the slashed fabric in place. I then oversewed and edged it and added a few beads.

A promising outcome I think for a first attempt.

 

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My inner toddler

I have been enjoying myself this week gluing and sticking. I have been using photographs, as inspiration for collages. The official purpose is to explore texture but in my case all I seem to do is use large quantities of PVA glue to make something totally unrecognizable . Perfect to stick on my mother fridge perhaps. However I just learned that when I was a toddler my mother did not have a fridge, so maybe not. This seems amazing now doesn't it , but maybe not so unusual in the UK in 1960. !!

Back to my toddler activities, First I focused on egg boxes and pine needles.

 

 

 

 

Moving on and raiding my fabric stash .

 

This net curtain was very tricky to tame .

Low relief , the easiest I think.

These two collage master pieces , need to be rubbed to create more beautiful art! Well I have tried and out of many attempts I choose these as my entry for the under 5 art competition.

 

 

 

Good enough for the fridge or not?

 

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Just too many sheep breeds!

The more I felt , the more breeds of sheep and their fibres I discover and the more confused over their different properties I become. The final straw arose over short fibre merino. Is this a new breed of merino sheep? Fibre from part of the sheep. Or just the ordinary merino cut up? This is a question I would really like answering !!!!

All these different fibres make slightly different qualities of felt. So in an attempt to resolve my confusion I decided it was time to start to build my own felt sample library. Starting with what I have in my stash.

Each sample to start at 11cm square and weigh 3 g. I am having worries now I have started this that this is too small and has too many inaccuracies. But too late for those technical concerns now.

Made so far left to right :

Bergshcaap, C1 merino, CM norwegien , Nepal, LLewyn , Cap from woll knol.

To make , left to right;

Gotland , merino top, merino silk mix, alpaca, Herdwick, merino silk blend 2, Blue faced Leicester , Jacob, Norwegien.

I am going to label them all and thread them on a ring. With lots of space for more.

Here I have a technical problem . I have the eyelets I have the special plastic tool and I have a hammer , but so far in my test I have failed to make an acceptable eyelet. Weird , must be a mismatch somewhere in my equipment.

 

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Herb Robert

I love this little weed, Herb Robert, as it tumbles over rocky walls , seeming to grow is all sorts if Infeasible situations.

 

What I did not know was that it is claimed to have miraculous healing properties as it is a source of germanium. Appartenly you can make a nice tea with it which I will have to try, or even chop it up and eat it in salads. Has anyone tried it ?

I especially like its seed pods.

 

Different colours seem to appear , I am not sure if it's location or time of year dependent.

 

 

I used this tiny seed pod less than 2cm long as my inspiration for a felted pod using the techniques I learned with Andrea Graham at Fiberfusing.

The seed pod is covered in tiny hairs and here I am making some spikes for my pod.

Spikes firmly embedded in to the body of the pod.

Here is the finished piece , which looks a lot more sinister than I intended.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A new beginning ......

Tomorrow is a land mark day for me as I will become officially retired. After 36 years of working as an engineer in the petrochemicals and oil industry I am hanging up my PPE , calculator and stopping attending all meetings. Not that it has all been bad , far from it , but it's time for me to move on.

This last week I have been practicing for my new life, on a final week of holiday. Lots of felting , some cooking and a long walk.

I have also been organising my felting room including separating my knitting books from my felting books.

Knitting still wins shame !.

Finishing felting and knitting WIPs.

 

A felted tree ornament.

Two rag dolls made many years ago by my mother modeling a couple of the baby hats I have completed. Patterns from one of the collections from the talented woolywormhead.

Some carded sky ready for a new project.

It feels good .

What now . Well as we used to say at work , focus and finish!.

Finish my felting course by say October.

Decide where my felting focus will be. This will require some search and experimentation so will not happen over night , maybe September or maybe even December.

Be organized , and have structure to my week. This is little difficult at the moment as I await the birth of my first grandchild , who does not knew anything about planning yet .

And eventually on the medium term move back to the UK

Enough to test my artistic skills and keep my project management skills working I think.

 

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