Forgotten photo and a small sheep to keep me company
I apologize I have been recovering from the post dental surgery and the third antibiotic this month. I have a bog written but am still trying to find the best photos for it and am not yet satisfied. But while I was working on that I realized I have a shot that I had promised Ann I would show you. Unfortunately, my memory still feels a bit like Swiss cheese so i forgot all about it and I cannot remember which of the Canadian winners Ann Said this was. She did seem very happy and I promised I would post the happy winner! (I think Ann wished she could have entered the draw too! what a lot of fluffy inspiration!!)
There were some very interesting fibers in the bag and I hope we will see what they become at some point!
I also wanted to mention I have been dragging around a small basket with a partly constructed sheep. I started it when I went to the walk in clinic the day I got sick and continued it at the dentist then attempted to keep working at it in emergency but by that point I really was too sick to safely use sharp pointy implements. The poor little partly built sheep stat beside me while I was stuck mostly in bed too.
The Christmas mice with a few of the under structure samples of sheep. The unfinished white sheep kept me company through all the doctors appointments!
What I am quite amazed about the portability of the small sheep project. It was also grate to be able to start and stop working on it. I have dragged looms and wheels to lots of places but even my drop spindles are not as easy to pick up, put down and pick up again.
I am finding I am developing a preference for batts when making small sheep. I have found that the bats are felting quicker than the roving and top I have also been using. I have been experimenting with full and partial armatures with the sheep. I will give you an update when I have the outer coats on the sheep.
I hope if you too have an emergency fiber-arts bag (yes I still have one hanging on the hall door in case Glenn decided he needs another trip to the hospital) I think I will switch out the drop spindle for a small foam pad, a few needle and some wool. A bit of dry felting can keep me busy for hours!
7 thoughts on “Forgotten photo and a small sheep to keep me company”
A portable ‘something to do bag’ is essential – otherwise all that time spent waiting at hospitals, doctors, dentists, repair shops etc would soon add up to several wasted days! Not to mention the sheer boredom of doing nothing.
We always carry a book to read.
Batts, rather than tops, are better for needle felting because the fibres aren’t all going the same way.
Sorry to hear about your ‘unwellness’ – we always feel that we’re wasting time when we’re not firing on all cylinders.
The last photo shows your skills very well – and the mouse with the posy is just soooo sweet.
Another great reason batts are better for felting is, the shorter stapled fibres haven’t been removed in the “real” ones (by this I mean when batts aren’t created from wool tops) 🙂 I love the ones I got from Volknoll 🙂
thanks Annielynrosie, i have had a something to do bag for quite a few years but it is getting lighter as i get older. when my husband was stuck in hospital (not just visiting emergancy) i brought in my road bug spinning wheel in a trundle box on wheels. every one thot i was a phyzio therapist (not a Massage Therapist) he slept i spun it worked well untill shift changes. the new nurses would get all upset that the macheens didnt make that whurrring noise then it would stop and thay would notice me spinning in the corner of the room. i swithched to a kick spindle its silent.
i suspected the batts were more efective becouse of the irregular placement of fibers. but seeing so many people useing top for needle felting had me questioning my fingers and eyes.
oh the illness was a nasty skin infection covering one side of my face up to the eye back to the ear over to the nose and under the jaw. it was supected that a broken tooth might have been involved but deemed better to get rid of just in case. so 3 difernt antibiotics (one an IV vertion) and dental sergery later. i am starting to feel a bit more myself but still am having anethetic brain. Glenn took some truly gastly pictures but i dint think you would want to see that! not too inspiering for felting!
i have been having fun with the mice! i have a few more ideas i want to try but i want to do a cuple more sheep first. i have this strange feeling i may be teaching this saterday if my brain is back in geer and not still partly frozen. its Inkle weaving not felting this time. now if i could only remember where i put those notes! (stupid brain wake up!)
Have fun and hopefully you wont need to use your something to do bag!
Congrats to the winner! I’m glad that the fibers were inspiring. Thanks to my friend Paula for that but it’s great that the person got to receive their prize in person!
Hopefully, you will be all back to normal soon. Getting sick is no fun at all. But I always have a to go bag that I can work on in the car when traveling or sitting unproductively in some waiting room or working on at the store when it’s not busy.
The mice are adorable and the sheep are looking good but a little skinny and cold at the moment 🙂
thanks Ruth!
Yes the sheep are a bit naked at the moment. i need a couple naked ones for samples for the felted sheep workshop that had to be canceled since i was still too sick to teach. i will make a new finished sample since my original one seems to be off visiting somewhere in the house. (its a tiny house how can things keep disappearing?)
i have plans for more mice and new adventures!
The winner’s name is Nicki Cooper. She seemed t be very happy to get the bag of fibres. I hope she shows us what she makes. the mice are adorable and I shore the seep will get their fleece soon.
Thanks Ann im glad one of us still has a working memory!! these are the sample for under structure armature sheep so they may have to stay naked a bit longer.