Productive week

I feel I have achieved loads this week.

Firstly I got round to trying some of the techniques I learnt in December with Lisa Klakulak at the wonderful Atelier Fiberfusing. I was pleased I have not forgotten all the fascinating felting tips Lisa taught me and I am delighted with the purple pod I made.

I finished the presentation of some new jewellery and was surprised and pleased to unexpectedly sell some more earrings . I also started adding the beads to another set . My plan for all these to go into my Etsy shop, hopefully next week.

 

Artybirdcarnforth has planned an exhibition for April and I need to get my piece finished and with then by the 10th March. This is not so far in the future so I did a few pastel drawing that will form part of the inspiration for the piece .

As I want to naturally dye this piece I did a few more dyeing experiments. Onion onto BFL and with alkanent on some Gotland. Typically I prefer the felt design of the gotland piece but I am not so keen on the range of grey and brown I have produced. I like the golden colours from the onions a lot better.

When I look back it feels like a very productive week !

 

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An old grey bag

At Woolfest in 2013 I bought some Gotland fibre . Beautiful carded batts in soft grey shades. Just perfect for a sturdy bag. Which I made and actually wrote 2 blog's about !!! Well I have to now be honest, this bag was not so good really as it was very thin across the bottom and a bit floppy.

For 18 months it's hung on my studio door handle , looking sad, and has never been allowed outside. So I decided to revamp it . I soaked it for a couple of days , and started re fulling. In a gentle sympathetic way you understand, not throwing it at the floor. Persuading it to shrink where it wanted it too.

I quickly cured the thin bottom , and then further shrunk the whole bag to give a more sturdy felt, it reduced in size by about another 15% . My records are a big thin but overall it has now shrunk about 40% Which I think is still debatable for a hardwearing felt . What do you think ? It has turned from a shopping size bag to a large handbag sized bag .

I decided to fit magnetic fasteners for security and remodeled it with more curves. A slimmer and firmer version all round. I even gave it a shave before it faced the world again.

Here is the new version.

And just for information here is the old one, looking strangely sepia!

 

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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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Gotland part 2

Whilst we were away at the wedding having a lot of fun as this photos shows.

 

My big bag was drying beautifully into a lovely shape and a nice mottled effect. It really beautiful the way three distinct layers and colours if fibre meld together in this way.

The question was how to finish off the handle. My plan was to hand stitch and give a kind of top stitch effect on both sides, this was quite difficult to do I found , as trying to get the two sides well stitched together and a reasonably straight top stitch on both sides was very hard. In the end I first did a line of small stitches which were to hold in all together , and then a more decorative top stitch on both sides.

 

I am please with the final result. It will be good for holding knitting , shopping and taking my miniatures felts to a gallery ..... One day .

 

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Gotland part 1

Last Friday I intended to make my end of year 1 intermediate course final project , a handbag . But my fibre had not arrived so my thoughts turned to some beautiful Gotland fibre I got at Woolfest. It was bought  from Eden Gotland sheep. It was earmarked for a bag , but more of a shopper type bag , robust and hard wearing, than a handbag. So I decided to make this instead and use it as another bag handles practice exercise.

I like Gotland sheep and fibre, the sheep are nice looking and the fibre is long a lustrous and comes in shades of grey with a lovely sheepy smell. As it felts you get a beautiful mottled effect.
My bag is quite big , the resist is 70 cm by 60 cm , and the extra prefelt for the handles was cut horizontally from the top of the resist
Here you can see it being pined in place , also visible are the lighter fibres on the outside of the bag.

I laid a felted core I had made in the middle of the handle .

Then roughly sewed it together. It quite amazing how this rough sewing becomes completly invisible when felted. Hardly any scar.!

The bag is now drying waiting for its final stitching.

More next time , after a short break for a wedding !

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Wild at Woolfest?

One year on , I returned to woolfest. No longer a newbie.

I was far less wild the the previous year, not wild at all in fact. I did not buy a fleece , as I still have loads left of last years, and I did not have to make numerous trips through the rain to store my purchases. Even more bizarrely I did not even buy any knitting wool, just some needles. What has happened to me?

I did buy some Gotland fibre , as I tried a sample last year and liked it so I need more for the dark dismal tree picture I have in my head. I hope there is enough.

I bought some yarns and fibres to dye.

After a great demonstartion by classic carders of a way of making fibres mixes I was treated for my birthday to a finishing brush for my machine.

 

It's resting on a small wooden felting block I want to try out.

Not much colour at all in these purchases. But I did splash out and got some dyed silks ---maybe for a water related item.

I really enjoyed the whole atmosphere and many many stalls.

Here is the Artybird stand with my Shyrdak on display , alongside some other wonderful items.

Here is Kate enthusiastically demonstrating in front of Paula's wedding rug.

So not a wild day just a wooly day!

 

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