Jan – Page 4 – Felting and Fiber Studio

New book on Blending boards to tempt you

July 25, 2025 Jan Comments 10 comments

I am not sure how it got to be Thursday so quickly. It’s been a busy week since we last chatted. I was working on another post about demoing felting, but it needs more work, so that will be coming later. This week at the local guild, we had a social focusing on Blending Boards. My Kia is partway through her gastric surgery (one of the parts of the new parts was missing from the box, so next week?) The weeds are trying to outnumber the plants in the pots, so that has to be done; they are all looking limp from heat and lack of water, i have to fix that too. The last part of the huge fleece is finally in for its first rinse. Just to add extra excitement, I am still wiping out and having long naps at odd moments. Life is fun!

Since you probably are not interested in the gastric distress of my car, and are likely trying to tackle your own weeds and lack of water (although it keeps raining?) So, this will be a short blog, so you can go enjoy the weeding and fleece washing while the snowbanks are not here. Let me show you what turned up, besides blending boards and bags of bits of fibre, at the local guild on Monday.

Guild social with Blending boards

0.11) Ann making rolags on the blending board, 2 more blending boards used in the background

0.12)- Ann’s rolag is flaccid!

0.13) 4 of the 6 spinners are using drop spindles

Daisy brought in her new book: “The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible: From Woolen to (Nearly!) Worsted and Everything in Between”, by Deborah Held. Released April 2025, it is hardcover and has 136 pages, in English. (ISBN: ‎ 978-0811773676, if you wanted to look at it too)

cover of: The Spinner’s Blending board Bible, from wool to (nearly!) worsed and everything in between”, by Deborah Held 1.1)cover of: The Spinner’s Blending Board Bible, from wool to (nearly!) worsted and everything in between”, by Deborah Held

This book was written for spinners, but felters may also be inspired by it. Anyone working with fibre has more options if they know more ways to prepare that fibre. Different fibre preps produce different kinds of yarn if you are spinning, and will behave differently if you are wet or dry felting. More options are always good. For felters, the fibre mixes that a blending board can create may inspire you. Probably a turbulent sea or impending stormy sky, even mixes of greens suggesting distant trees?

1.2) first 2 pages of the Contents pages

1.3) Chapters 3-6 plus appendices

Let’s have a look at the contents of the book to see if it sparks your interest. While I am writing this, Indigo (online) has an excerpt including the full list of contents (in case my new camera and I are still discussing visual acuity) https://www.indigo.ca/en-ca/the-spinners-blending-board-bible-from-woolen-to-nearly-worsted-and-everything-in-between/c06b9a51-bd73-3adf-adf6-1d363cd16a3c.html

Here are the main topics covered (I have listed the contents of all of chapter 4, since it may be of greatest interest to felters):

Foreword

Introduction

1: YOUR BLENDING BOARD: THE ALL-IN-ONE FIBER-PROCESSING TOOL

Breaking Down the Blending Board
A Comparison of Tools Used in Fiber Preparation

2: INDUSTRY SECRETS: UNLOCKING THE HIDDEN POTENTIAL OF YOUR BLENDING BOARD

Aftermarket Accessories
Technique: Dos and Don’ts
Smooth vs. Textured Preparations
Working with “Difficult” Fibers

3: ROLLED-OFF PREPARATIONS: ROLAGS, ROLLED LOGS, PUNIS, AND ROLY-POLIES

Rolled-off Preparations, Defined
Rolling Fiber Off Your Blending Board
Color, Texture, and Other Creative Play

4: BATTS AND CLOUDS, ROVINGS AND SLIVERS

Batts
Better Batts
Make the Best Batts
Layer Your Fiber in Thin Staple Lengths, Burnishing Often
Remove the Batt from the Blending Board
Make It a Double
Make It More Woolen with Multiple and Directional Passes
Directional Loading
Recard Your Batt
Make It More Worsted
Carded Clouds
- Make It the Most Woolen
Roving vs. Sliver
- Pin-drafted Roving
Make Your Own Roving, Multiple Ways
Hand-pulled Rovings: from a Batt/Cloud or Roll-up, as a Z-strip
Diz a Roving or Sliver
Diz from the Board
Off the Batt or Roving
Double-diz
Make It More Worsted
Creative Play with Color and Texture
Flecks/Tweeds and Heathers
Garneting for Extra Texture
Make It a Marl by Stacking Your Batts
Stripes/Repeating Colors and Variegates
Color Blocking
Gradients
Vertical and Horizontal Gradients
Individually Carded Gradients
Scraptastic Sandwich Batts
Fractals
Fancy Farm Batt
Bizzed Datty Bumps

5: UNEXPECTED WAYS TO USE YOUR BLENDING BOARD

Bring a Braid of Fiber Back to Life
Flick-card Locks and Line Them Up for Spinning
Flick-comb Your Locks
Diz a Repeatable “Combed” Top
Wet Felting

6: CARE AND STORAGE OF YOUR BLENDING BOARD

Keep It Clean
Storage

Acknowledgments

Appendix A: DIY Blending Board

Appendix B: Comparison of Blending Boards Used in This Book

Resources and Credits

Glossary

I like that the book considers repeatable and totally unrepeatable ways to work with fibre. While it’s fun to do artsy one-off things, it’s also nice to be able to get a predictable effect and repeat it if you want to. There are two tables I am particularly impressed with, one on types of fibre prep and what they produce (with pros and cons)(I want to meet this author!!). And the other on the Woolen to worsted continuum. It’s an elegant way of explaining vocabulary. Which is a problem when shopping for the prepared fibre, you want what you thought you were purchasing to arrive. There are good photos of various ways to lay out colour to get different effects as well as photos that show how to use the equipment, including the diz.

Let me show you a few interior pages to see if I can tempt you to check it out further.

2.1--2.6) interior shots of the book to tempt you to go take a look at it.

As you can see from the list of contents and the photos, this book covers a lot of ground, not only in ways to make use of a blending board but also in the various fibre preparations and how they are different. If your library or guild picks up this book, seek it out and take a perusal. Even if you never find a blending board at a garage sale or make your own, there is a lot of info here in case you do!

3)Back cover

Also, you can absorb the info presented and transfer that knowledge to a drum carder if you have one, or have access to use one. You can lay fibre directly on the drum, diz off or make rolags. Even after a short-ish perusal and skimming, it has me thinking odd thoughts of trying things on my drum carder. But first, I have to finish washing the last of that giant fleece. Just how big was that sheep? And what was he rolling around in? That water is filthy.

Oh no, a big storm is coming through in consecutive waves this evening, I guess the weather thought that fleece was very dirty too and is helping with the rinse! I will hope the waves of the incoming storm don’t take out the power before I get this posted!!! (Ann may not be able to do the final spellcheck and find all the missing or extra capitals!)

Have fun! Stay dry, Enjoy Summer and Keep Felting!!

Summer Needle felting Demo, July 12 2025

July 15, 2025 Jan Comments 7 comments

Summer Demo at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum

I have spent the week, investigating possible new cars, trying to fix the cell phone that had just been Fixed with a new sim card, so I can chat with my car’s Doctor and my bank. After one call out it is again refusing to let anyone talk to me. (it’s not that I get a lot of calls, but some day the visa purchases I am told I made, while I was sleeping, will be delivered. What will I do with all those amazon iPhone? I wonder who is getting them and who’s visa it is that keeps paying for them?

Was it a few weeks ago I was out at the father’s day Blacksmithing event in Dunvagen Ontario. While there, felting and taking pictures of blacksmiths, I was asked if I could come demo felting for their fiber and fabric event in July. I said I was interested but would have to confirm closer to the event. I am still not back to feeling like myself yet.

1.1) the add for the Glengarry Pioneer Museum event.

So beside the phone and the car, I spent part of this week trying to find my demo stuff to do a display of both 2 and 3 D needle felting. (I should probably have found Miaka’s giant fish to sow wet felting, but as I said I am still not quite back to normal and seem to still be forgetting to think of things.)

Of course I need to take the Mer-Boyfriend I was working on too. Now where did he wonder off to? he went into the guild a couple weeks ago, I am sure he came back. What is it with Mer-Teens wanting to play hide and seek in my house?? We searched the bags that go back and forth to the guild, no, I looked in the office, the bedroom and was trying to search the living room. Glenn even checked the basement. I was so disappointed. Maybe he had found Miss Mer and they were hiding together? Maybe I should collect the rest of what I want to take and then look again.

I got the Moose bag with the landscape and the bags of fiber to work on it from the hall and added it to the commercial felt bin with handles. Glenn said he found the sample punctures down stairs. I found the green tool bag and extra foam garden needling pad to work on. I found the bag of core wool of carded roving from World of Wool and wound a couple big balls of wool from it. (I am going to have to get some more soon I hope Ann needs something from them!) I had Glenn’s moose bag hanging in the bedroom, when I grabbed it, it was lumpier than I remember it being…. I looked in and guess who was hiding inside? Mer-Boyfriend!!!

1.2) a bit of a drive with all the construction on the highway

Saturday July 12 2025, Glenn loaded the car and we were ready to go. oh my, its seems a bit warm out! As you step out the door it feels like you are wrapped in a very worm wet wool blanket, except for the wet part that would sound nice, but the blanket is wrapped around the head too and you are trying to breathe through it. Not so nice, really. If only my car would consider letting the AC work, well I still remember cars without AC so rolled down the windows. The drive was not too bad once we were moving and we arrived with time to set up.

Other than hot it was a beautiful sunny day, booths were scattered around the museum grounds and buildings. I had a fabulous spot on the covered porch at the corner of the building and very close to the handy cap parking! We loaded up the grey box on the walker and threw the black car blankets on top. Glenn brought the other bags and we quickly set up a display. I turned the commercial felt box on it side so the opening was towards the back of the table where I would be sitting. This gives both a spot to hide stuff, like my camera, extra work tools, and wool, as well as give height to the display. I used it to lean the Mer’s against as well as one sitting on top of it. it also supported the two moose bags and the picture of the winter round bales. I had miss manta and Sharkette sitting in front of the work area and the little aluminum folding table from the car had the fox face picture.

2.1-2.3) the Mer’s getting ready to People watch and hoping for a tennis match.

When I have the Mer’s comfortable, we can made a quick tour around to see some of the booths before people started to arrive.

Glenn took a few shots of the demo as I was working and chatting. They will show the display better and prove I was actually there!

2.4) Glenn had the cool chair and a book on architecture as well as my old camera.

2.5) Winter hay in the Ottawa valley

2.61-2.62) Proof I was there (I never seem to be in the photos!!)

2.7) Fox and my sturgeon reference photos

3.1-3.2) There was a quilt display in the open sided barn

I was hoping to get back and take some close ups, But kept having people stop and ask lots of questions about needle felting. I hope I got them inspired to try it.

4.1) Oh no I better hurry, the first few people are arriving. (Glenn is manning the demo so we can go take a quick look around.)

Most of the venders were under tents.

4.2) Sewing

4.3) Knitting and Sewing. I think the pom-poms will melt shortly!

4.4) HUM selling alpaca yarn and teddy bares. I didn’t see any fiber but I tried to get a quick look.

4.5) a close up of some of their stock

4.6) Just past the building with the forge there was a booth with crochet. I got distracted looking ahead, and almost missed her!

4.7) There are booths hidden under the trees and by one of the log buildings.

Oh there are more booths hidden by the open carriage barn! I almost missed them too, lets look over there first.

There must be fiber here somewhere!

5.1) Swedish weaving. it’s a type of needle weaving on already woven fabric. The patterns were very interesting.

5.2) Swedish Weaving Guild of South Glengarry and Area

5.3) I think this was a display of Lace but I didn’t ever get a chance to get back and look. They had a lovely shady spot!

5.41) this was a display of rug hooking

5.42) some of their display

5.51) Anagarumi gnomes, bees, and sea creatures!

5.52) close up of the bees and the Cows I didn’t notice!

5.61) Braided rugs, the one on the end I particularly liked the colours chosen

5.62) cool sewing machine

5.71) the embroidery guild display

5.72) the embroiders enjoying the shade

AH HA!! I found fiber people!

6.1) Drop spindles and fiber prep!

I found out later there was a drop spindle competition between three of the guilds represented here today. Think I was told it was The Twistle Guild of Glengarry, the Kingston Handloom Weavers & Spinners Guild and the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild (OVWSG).

I better get back to work soon or I will get fired before I get started!

Oh there is one more booth on the way back, it advertised bespoke Tartan kilts! (But no modeling display!!!) Sorry I got distracted by the tartan sample books and missed the kilts on the table.

7.1-7.2) tartan sample books

Ok, now to demonstrate needle felting. I am focusing on making the flattish bottom of the sturgeon so I will have to build up on either side of the wrapped armature.

8) Mer-Boyfriend in progress. focus is on under side of fish part of body

I explained multiple times why i was making a Mer-Boyfriend to lour the missing teen-Mer back to the office.

I was doing quite well with chatting and working on the under body, then realized there were booths in the school house too. Since the people seemed to be elsewhere it’s time to take a quit trip to the bathroom then on to the schoolhouse!

Oh this is where the fiber people are!! Two of the booths have drop spindles, one selling Ashford and the other had their own design. Quite hefty but I tend to like heavy whorls (I was tempted) I got distracted by second hand quilting hoops and bought 2.

9.11-9.12) Tools

9.21) Drop spindle demo to a customer she had batts on the shelves at the back too

9.22) washed and unwashed fiber various breeds

Here is the winner of the 2-hour drop spindle competition. They were each given, the same amount, of the same fiber, and had to spin the longest even amount (?). I am not sure if they had to ply it, or if they were spinning singles.

10) this is the competitor from my local guild who won!

11.) odd I was sure I took a lot more progress pictures as I was working.

It was close to 3pm and I wanted to make a quick run (ok running is not really quick and it doesn’t look like running…) but I had wanted to go take pictures of the quilts and see what the yarn seller beside the wall-less barn was selling. I had a couple more people come up, just as I was wheeling away from the table with my camera who had questions about needle felting. By the time they had run out of questions, I looked up to see this.

12.1) the quilts are disappearing!

Which quickly became this:

12.2) 4pm and packing up

Oh well, maybe next year?

I did have a lot of great conversations, including with the photographer I saw at the blacksmithing weekend. He gave me a few more tips on the new camera (we both were admiring each other’s lenses)

I got an invitation to demo in Van Kleekhill but I found I was still feeling the drive, so it’s probably too far out for me yet.

I packed everything away and Glenn got it into the car. Which was quite warm… I think that the temperature outside the car said 38c. it seems hotter in the car… let’s roll down the windows. On the porch there were occasional little breezes blowing through, but when the breeze drops and now we are in the car, that blanket we are breathing into seem to be even wetter and warmer than this morning!

We stopped at the gas station before getting on the highway home, to buy cold peach drink and a Fresca. Ah that feels so nice. Window down as long as we are moving it feels a bit better. Just wait a couple months and we will be complaining about the cold. I guess we have got to enjoy the lack of snow banks while they are missing!!

The hot weather is grate for washing fleece when you don’t have hot water outside. So it’s not all bad! However, it has taken about 3 days to get the washed fleece to dry. I have now started the third batch of the giant white fleece and it got an extra rinse in the heavy rains with the thunderstorm yesterday!

In case I was feeling up to staying for the social tonight at the guild I brought someone to work on. The Mer-Boyfriend seems to be in a rush to get more work done so I had better get back to work before he wants to felt me! I did get a good chunk of library work done, but I was feeling wiped again by the early afternoon so did not stay for the rest of the social. Mer-Boyfriend got his hands on the felting needle I had been using on the weekend. He was all set to do a bit of work on himself!

13.1) still a lot more work to do on the under structure

13.2) I had better get that needle away from him soon!

I hope you enjoyed the drive out to Dunvagan, Ontario, and that it wasn’t too hot for you. (the car said it was 26+humadex on the way out and 36+humadex as we headed home.) Have fun and keep felting!!

Trying to wash fleece on a good day

July 5, 2025 Jan Comments 5 comments

Preamble (not about fiber but i promise i will get there!)

Usually, towards the end of June, the local grocery store garden centers close up for the season. It may be that slowly recovering after surgery continues to distort time, since it seems very early to be closing up the plant shopping for the year. Anyways the massive sell off of all the last remaining plants, cheap, is happening now! I got one car load full from one store, including 2 flats of ever-berring strawberries, some lavender (Munstead usually overwinters here) and some more herbs. The next day I went to the local Loblaws and they were closing that day, even better sales! More lavender, herbs Columnar basal and lemon verbena mainly and even a few flowers followed me home. I also bought 5 dead hanging baskets and 2 slightly alive ones for .26 cents each (I am short on hanging baskets). Both my fabulous halls were unloaded onto the side bench and one of the fleece drying racks in the side yard. then it took a couple days to recover before i could start working on them.

0.1) looking down the side yard towards the fleece washing area

I have been puttering along, planting some into pots and Glenn has promised to help with the lavender and strawberrys that will go into the garden. I am also trying to catch up on the weeding, where do they keep popping up from?

I think it was Wednesday, foggy time continues…, we had a warning of possible severe thunderstorms with hail and high wind for 5am. So the evening before, I carefully moved all the hanging baskets I had just planted, down under the bench, under the fleece drying rack and prepped for a horrible storm, that maybe impending.

0.2) two large saucers of plant pots, a mix of flowers, herbs and house plants.

Nothing happened at 5am, but 9am arrived and so did the storm, with heavy rain but no hail. Afterwords I went out to do a bit of weeding. A bit after lunch the blue sky was again gone, and so was my Large Umbrella I had be using while weeding. It had escaped and was trying to figure out how to open the front door. (It is bad luck to have umbrellas open in the house so I closed it and got it back in its weighted base. (Sorry no pictures) oww…. Time to sit or maybe lie down would be better. yes lying down was much better.

(I am getting to the point)

Today, Friday, Ottawa is sunny, no rumors of thunderstorms and my front and back are willing to consider something other than sitting or lying down today, YAY!!! I had asked Glenn to pull out the bins of unwashed fleece from the garage so I can see what I want to wash next.

0.3) My choices from the Garage are 3, all waiting for attention (2 yellow and 1 clear plastic bin, in front of fence and abandoned snow shovels.) I don’t remember what I put in them.

1- First, I Need to set up the fleece washing aria. The tub has some rainwater, a few bits of leaves, dead bugs, Miskito larvae and a moth in it. Maybe a large fish tank net would get the not-water-bits out? Maybe a trip to Dollerama later? the water is still cleaner than the fleece so lets proceed.

1.1) Stock tub, Bits of leaves, Miskito larva and other bugs, and one floating moth.

Next, I should set up the umbrella by the garage. Why is it not working, oh broken stay is interfering with it extending. Got that sorted, and set up the second fleece drying rack again.

1.2) fighting with umbrella with broken strut. With the broken arm it fits perfectly between the garage and the back of the house.

now that i have that sorted i’m sure it will all go fine from here!

2-Select a fleece, this is like Christmas, i cant remember what i put in there so its all new and exciting surprises!

2.1) Option 1: white-ish fleece in plastic bag inside clear plastic bin.

2.2) Option 2: White-ish fleece in black garbage bag inside yellow Ruff tote bin.

2.3) Option 3: creamy white with lots of crimp. Loose in the ruff tote and has some bits of lavender on top of it.

Option 3 wins. I am going with the last one, It looks like quite a big fleece. after looking all through the side yard, I seem to only have 4 fleece staining buckets? I hope it didn’t blow away, no found it, Glenn stuck stuff in it. ….. OK, I will try washing 4 at a time rather than 5.

2.4) 4 strainer baskets on drying rack with fleece in tub in back ground, pole from umbrella in foreground.

Ok fleece selected, no skirting table available but i am sure this will be fine. i just have to add water, soap to the Stock Tank and dirty fleece in strainer baskets to start soaking, i will have this done by lunch!

3- Drat, The hose is up by the front door, but I cant get the hose back here until I put away the recycling box. There are still a couple hanging baskets, hiding under the bench in the way (where i need to put the recycling box). So, move the baskets first. Found the hooks to hang up the baskets, and got them up out of the way. Oh no back just did that cold running water down the back feeling, got to sit down now for a moment. I have to make room for the blue chair so first put the recycling box away. Ahhh that’s better. While I’m sitting here i can see the drying rack in the side yard. There are still a couple hanging baskets, under the drying rack, better put them up too. And sit again.

3.1) hanging baskets, pots of plants waiting to be planted , wooden bench, recycling bins below, and big garden thermometer

4- Right I am sitting looking at the drying rack covered in plants. That won’t work out well, i will need that space for the fleece soon…. need to move and organize all the little plants in pots I purchased. I have 4 saucers and a shallow bin partly full of plants but give me a moment and let me get the strawberries all in one, the plants that will be house plants and the last of the inpatients are in one. i found 2 more saucers (ok they are oil change black saucers but they work) one is now full of Lavender and the other is a mix of herbs. And back to sitting. (i feel like i’m am doing some odd form of and English country dance but in stead of “everyone turns around” after doing anything, i do something followed by “i sit down”. i miss dancing, the Black nag was fun and i miss the Manshaft pavan, the 8 count reverrance was deadly! i must stop thinking about medieval dances and get back to work!)

4.1) Oil draining saucers full of herbs and lavender sitting on green bin and garbage can

5-Lets move the hose I think that was what I was working towards. Ok, dragged it back and have the tank filling. Where is the soap?….. did it fall off the end of the bench? Maybe under it? behind the spin dryer? In the spin dryer? No sign of it, better go in and call glenn. And sit for a bit. Maybe I will look by the kitchen sink first, but why would it be there?

6-Found the fleece washing dish soap in the kitchen…. Ok took it back outside. It’s the sheep-washing dish soap, not the dish-washing dish soap, they are totaly different! so it should be outside with the fleece washing stuff.

6.1) sunlight Dish washing soap also cuts lanolin and removes dirt from sheeps’ wool. (yellow plastic bottle of dish soap sitting on 4X4 beside stock tank with hose going into tank behind it.)

7- Tipped the big ruff tote partly out onto the drying rack and picked through clumps looking for second cuts, excessive Vegi-matter or the extra smelly dark bits I don’t want to deal with. this fleece has little second cuts with kemp, I found a small section with less crimp but since I cant see the hole fleece I am not sure where it was growing or if its some one else’s fleece that got mixed in accidentally.

7.1) dirty wool cascading out of yellow plastic bin.

8-Picked over good raw fleece got dropped in a strainer bucket, while the rejected bits got dumped on the lid. I did not fill them quite as much as last wash since I will have to do more bins than last fleece. I wonder if this one was a ram? or just a much bigger sheep?

8.1) the rejected bits I tossed on the lid until I can get them into a yard wast bag. There are a lot of odd little seeds stuck in spots in the fleece so I don’t want to add whatever that is to the garden.

8.2) OK my aim is not 100% accurate I will clean that up tomorrow, I hope.

9-As the strainer bin got to about ¾ full I added it to the stock tank to start the soak. When I had all four in the tank I added a bit more water, gently lifted and lowered the strainer baskets a few times. I will now let it sit and soak. I should put all the icky parts in the yard waste bag but I think it would be better to go in and sit and maybe write a blog post.

9.1) starting the soap water soak I left it in just over 3 hours.

10- I want to give it a few hours of soaking then start the first rinse in case there is rain tomorrow. The water is definitely needing changing and the strainers baskets are hanging to drip.

Lets take a peek at this crimp in the raw wool. It is quite a dirty sheep, but not as much Vege-matter as I was expecting. As I said there is definitely a bit of kemp in odd sposts in this fleece (mostly second cuts), but I think it will still be nice.

10.1)closes up of crimp

10.2) pulling sections of fleece. I don’t have room to spread out the hole fleece so I am pulling out sections and looking over that bit. (yellow large plastic tote with unwashed fleece spilling out onto drying rack.

10.3) strainer baskets coming out of wash water

10.4) Dirty water but I think we can get this fleece cleaner.

While we are back here lets take a peek at the blackberries and see if they are ready yet, almost!

11.1) Blackberrys along the back of the house lots of berrys ripening

11.2) close up of blackberrys and blackberry flowers

The trumpet vine is flowering again too!

11.3) Trumpet vine

11.4) Scarlet runner bean flowers

It always takes longer now than i think, to get anything done. i did not get this done before lunch, i acutaly forgot about lunch and kept puttering along. now that i have this much blog post written, its dark out, but the fleece should be drained by now. back wiling, i can finish draining the stock tank and give it a rinse before refilling it and starting the first rinse. wish me luck avoiding the masketos.

I hope you are taking advantage of these lovely sunny days, to have fun with fiber; prepping it, felting, spinning or weaveing with it.

Upgrading my Fiber Prep system

June 25, 2025 Jan Comments 21 comments

Earlier this spring we went out to Princess Auto to look at some fiber prep equipment, who would have thot they would have such fabulous fiber equipment. The item I was considering was on sale, but Glenn thought he could modify my small fleece washing bins. I was getting sore, so we headed home without it. I had not-buyers-Regret.

It’s now June, last week was very hot, sunny and perfect for washing fleeces, but I had no buckets ready to go. I was finding it more and more difficult to use the large buckets and strainer baskets. Tipping the buckets when they were full of water was getting challenging. What I was looking at has a drainage system that a tap and hose could be attached to. That would eliminate the tipping of heavy buckets full of very dirty water.

We are very lucky, we live in a city with two Princess autos. I went online to see if the West End store had one in stock, nope, but the East End store has four. So off we went in my little KIA soul to find “the item”.

1) LITTLE GIANT 75 Gallon Black Poly Stock Tank, SKU: 9281205, In Stock Online, 4 available for In Store $129.99

This is called a stock tank. It is meant to hold water for cows or horses. This seems to be the smallest size with a drain option. This one is 48 x 34.5 x 18 in. (L x W x H). In larger sizes, they are also used by athletes for ice baths, and by koi as a backyard pool.

When we arrived at Princess Auto, we headed to the customer service desk. The nice lady immediately asked what I was driving. I said “a KIA”! Her response was “I hope it’s not a Soul”. “Why yes, my soul is grey, not black!” I replied. She looked worried and called the warehouse. She asked if they thought it might fit in a Kia Soul. They were sure it would. I added “with a walker?” The answer was still “it should”. We were to browse for about 5 minutes, and then go pick it up at the back of the store.

Ooh Lovely!! Yes, that will probably fit in the car. I purchased it and a couple of other things we found while browsing and headed back to the car. Glenn was able to put it in the back of the Kia Soul, and stuff the grocery bags in the tub and still have room for the walker too!

When the last renter next door moved out, he left a metal backless bench. It’s very rusted and doesn’t have a cushion. I was going to put plants on it. I think I have a better idea. Glenn found the hose extension and the tap attachment, which we hooked up to the tank, which is now sitting on the bench with a base of 3 4×4’s for extra support.

2.1) The stock tank sitting on 3 4X4s on top of the metal bench. Connected to the drain is a hose extender, then the tap valve and the old hose to send the water down the driveway.

All right, I have a hypothesis. This should be easier to use than the big round bins I had been trying to bend over to lift baskets and tip the bin to drain. (Lately, it tended to get me wet and make me sore. But, they did work!) You have seen me use the strainer baskets in previous posts, but I have to go one basket at a time. I think I can do at least 3 baskets per wash in the stock tub, and just turning the drain should be much easier on my back.

Now I need a volunteer fleece to help me test out the new tub. Cupcake has volunteered! Thank you, Cupcake!

3.1) Cupcake is a BFL X Romney fleece, which was 6.4lbs.

Normally, I would set up my skirting table, but I gave away the extra small rain barrels, which were part of its supports. Ok, it looks like it was well skirted, and not too much Vegi-matter. So let’s see if I can sort directly into the strainer baskets.

I gave the stock bin a quick rinse and realised the drain is over an inch up the side….. ok, there will need to be a bit of tipping to get the last bit of water out. Silly me, I got too excited to be fleece washing again and put the soap in before getting a couple of inches of water added. Oh well, the suds will dissipate, eventually.

3.2) Too many suds, I guess the fleece is about to have a bubble bath instead of scouring.

Since I don’t have hot water outside and I don’t have a space inside to set up to wash fleeces, the fleeces get a bath in the ambient temperature water. That’s ok, if there is a bit of lanolin left in the fleece, it works wonderfully to wind bird feet and toes.

Now let’s see how many bins I can fit in. I think I may be able to get four in the stock tank! The fleece is (6.4 lbs), and I split it into five bins. It’s a bit tight, but I can get 5 bins in.

3.3) 5 bins just fit in this size!

There is a smaller size of strainer basket if I want to work in smaller amounts. What I have now is the larger one from Dollarama.

3.4) The soap (not Detergent) helps with wetting the fibre as well as releasing the dirt. Look at all the fabulous colours in this fleece

3.5) A good soaking and suds-be-gone, so time to get out of the bath.

3.6) Look at the dark brown colour of the soap wash water as fleece-filled strainer buckets are coming out. That sheep was dirtier than it looked!

3.7) Rinse #1 refilling stock tank to the first ledge.

3.8) Rinse #1, after the strainer baskets have been removed, inside the stock tank, the water is getting closer to clean!

The inside of the stock tank has 3 stepped edges, which are spaced to suggest each is 25 gallons, since the total it can hold is 75 gallons. So, I am using about 25 gallons for each wash and rinse of five strainer buckets.

Rinse #2 cleaner still, but we were rushing against the weather, which was threatening rain. I also had a camera malfunction…. Both the battery died (I can recharge it) and the lens cap I just bought a week ago broke. I will order another one.

2 stranier buckets saoking in second rince Draing strainer basket by resting it on the edge of teh stock tank. you can see the water is closer to clean then rince 1 3.91-3.92) End of rinse #2. And resting the strainer bucket on the side of the rim to drain most of the water out before hanging it up to finish dripping.

I can not feel the lanolin, and the fibre feels quite clean. I have had to rinse out fine sand each time I clean out the stock tank. Did this sheep have a fabulous beach holiday?

Glenn is on holiday, and since we are not going to the States, he is helping me today. Two of the strainer baskets look like they need another rinse, but three are looking good. So each basket that seems clean gets gently dumped into the spin dryer.

4.1) This is an RV washer/spin dryer.

Think of it like a giant salad spinner for clothes, er.. Fleece! There is a dial at the lower edge that can turn on the drain or keep the water in and rotate your clothes. I set it to drain, and Glenn spun it for me! I found this at a second-hand store, recognised it as a wonderful fibre prep equipment, and bought it!!

4.2) just like a giant salad spinner (but I don’t advise it for clothes or salad after all the fleeces it’s been washing.

Glenn brought the drying racks (from Ikea) up from the basement and put them under the covered area of the back patio (the part that doesn’t have blacksmithing stuff)

5.1) the small forge, Sears-Roebuck light duty farm forge and the bigger forge under the large black cover.

We set one drying rack up behind the large forge and the other on the other side by the house.

5.2) The green bucket is handy to move the fleece to the drying racks.

5.3) The plastic owl takes his job of guarding the wool seriously.

5.4) Two buckets on the right drying rack, and one on the Left. The plastic owl is still supervising. I hope it keeps the evil chipmunk from “Helping”. He will be eating all my blackberries shortly!

5.5) This is part of the blackberries along the house, and one of Glenn’s blacksmith footed vices under the blue tarp. It could be a very good crop of blackberries (which will make up for the rabbit cutting all the canes off at about a foot for the raspberries.

We pulled out the last two buckets to drain a bit before going onto the racks. And I got busy weeding and then adding more little plants of Tie basil and parsley to the planters. There is a bit more Thai basil and weeding to do, but it’s starting to drip. What have we learned in previous summers about drying wool? If you put wool out to dry, it will probably rain….

We moved the 2 draining buckets a bit closer to the overhang, moved the umbrella to give more cover and then put the drying fleeces back in their buckets and moved them and the racks under the cover of the dog-covered area of the side yard. I had a barking Cat, not a dog. He didn’t like to go out if it was raining, so we had to cover a section for him. It’s where I set up my outdoor studio. I haven’t got that sorted out yet this summer.

5.6) Moved drying racks under cover to avoid the rain.

In the morning, the wind is up, and the fibre is still there, but still not dry. Ok, one drying rack when in front of the garage under the last umbrella, and the other went by the side door.

5.7-5.8) I still have one strainer basket to put out to dry.

5.9) The last strainer basket waiting for space on the drying racks.

I have been ready to start another fleece, but with the drying racks being full, I don’t have a spot to put them once they are washed. So this is the new bottleneck in fleece washing.

Let’s review the Stock tank: Pros /Cons

chart of pros and cons of the stock tank

6.1) Chart of pros and cons that I can think of for the stock tank as a fleece washing tool.

For those who want to see if the washing worked, let’s take a last look at this lovely fleece.

7.1-7.2) Washed locks of BFL X Romni. The locks are very soft and crimpy. Unstretched, the locks range up to 3.5 inches

If you think this may work for you and are now thinking about a quest for a stock tank, look at farm supply stores if you don’t have access to such a diverse store like Princess Auto (they also have some blacksmithing equipment).

So I think the stock tank will be a great improvement to fleece washing. I will now have to figure out an upgrade to my fleece drying equipment. Maybe I will have to take the long, arduous, 7-stop sign (one is in their parking lot) trip to IKEA and get a third drying rack. I love an excuse to go to IKEA!!! (and it is just down the street, dangerously close to home.) I hope you are enjoying lovely fleece washing weather and getting some fun felting done while the fleeces are drying!

UPDATE: the Princess Auto Flyer just arrived. the 75 Gallon stock tack will be going on sale July 1-13th 2025, but the store is closed July 1st for Canada day. check on line, there may be a free shipping option. or watch for one at a garage sale!

Extra busy on Fathers day! Sheering demo and Blacksmithing!!

June 15, 2025 Jan Comments 6 comments

Happy Father’s Day for those who are celebrating today!

Today, which will be yesterday, by the time you are reading this, tomorrow, was a bit overbooked. I hope you will come along and check out the day. At 8:30am, We were to be at the log farm, where Ann has a stall at the farmers market (Yummy goodness!!!). the Farm has barns and other out buildings past the trees and fields beyond the market area. Today was sheering day for their sheep! They had been very generous and given us previous sheerings form their flock so I really did want to go demo for them.

We packed up the Mer-Boyfriend, the mostly finished picture of the sheep and the moose back with landscape. I could not find where Glenn had put my Core wool from WOW so grabbed the last of a bump of coreidale. No not what I want its combed top not carded roving. Drat.

It was quite the hike for me into the farm but the ground was flat until we reached the farm. We saw lots of grape vines and little apples on the way.

1.1) the end of the path heading to the farm

1.2) apples and grape vines with tiny buds of grapes

It has some old log buildings and lots of different types of animals. Including the volunteers of honor the adult sheep. They were quite loud so someone may have tipped them off the Shearing was happening today.

2.1) some of the animals on the farm

2.2) The guests of honor, one of whom thought my walker wheel a tasty snack!

For very early on a Saturday morning there was quite a crowd to watch the sheep loose there winter coats. A new volunteer was brought forward about every 20 minutes until noon.

3.1) shearing in front of an audience.

While this was going on we were next door in a 3 sided barn, I was a bit farther back and could not see the sheering happening until I went out to take a peek.

4.1) Demoing spinning and felting

4.2) touch samples of various fibers

4.3) the sample table

4.4) Inkle weaving and electric spinning wheel (with portable battery power source)

5.1) sheep may be having an Instagram moment after a strange seep trys to sneak into the herd

Post sheering the sheep were looking for food.

feeding sheep grass 5.2) small girl in yellow dress gives hands full of grass to sheep wating at fence

5.3) The lambs having a nap after the sheerer relieve there moms of all there fleece

Just past the sheep were the Alpaca. They had already been sheered

5.4) Alpaca

It was after noon by the time I packed up my felting and we headed back to the car. Unfortunately we had another place to go today and a long drive through traffic to get there.

snow ball bush? prity white flowers 5.5) some form of snow ball bush I think, it was very pretty and there were variations near the farm

5.6) it was a very pretty walk but it felt like it was much longer on the way back.

They may have snuck in more trees while we were demoing? We passed Ann on our way out, she still had some of the cookies and a few tarts. We would have got a beef and mushroom pie but I knew it would have to sit in a hot car for the rest of the day so not a good idea. (The AC seems to have stopped working, oh no back to the old fashion windows!)

5.7) Ann at the Farmers market

Did you want to follow us to our next and more appropriate fathers day location? We are off to well past Ottawa heading towards Montreal to the town of Dunvagen (still in Ontario). The Glengarry Museum is located there and they have an annual Blacksmith group teach a workshop on father’s day weekend. This year they are making scissors.

Since we had been at the sheering this morning we are running late to watch the making of scissors. We arrived and they had made the blades ends and were doing the offset and starting to do the tapper for the handles. Glenn went to check that out and I headed for the ramp to the school house where the lady with alpaca fiber usually is. I missed the bag of black and the dark brown but got a bag of a light creamy badge.

7.1) Alpaca seller

7.2) Pottery vendor

7.3) Sassy by Nicci had figures made of resin. I like these little guys

7.4) this woodworker had bird houses, as well as these bat and bee houses

7.5) This one had some weaving

7.6) horns and horn cups. They are finished so you can drink hot or cold drinks or pop in them.

7.7) There even was a vendor selling blacksmith made stuff. Do you see the woven centure fleshay belt?

Now to the main event the usually very photogenic blacksmiths. There were 2 groups, one in the log building with a forge. They were again working on making a musket. (I think it was a musket it was a gun barrel of an old design.)

8.1) smithing a gun barrel

The other group of blacksmiths were taking a workshop on making a pair of scissors.

9.1-9.2) the blacksmithing class

We arrived as they were discussing forging the handle loops. They could decide the shape and cross section to fit their hands.

9.3) inspecting samples of scissors looking at the handle loops

9.4) The instructor traced a sample scissor handle on his anvil so he had a pattern to work from

I gave Glenn my old camera and he was having fun trying it out.

9.5) Glenn trying out his new camera

9.6) some of the sample scissors and scissor parts

9.7) this is one of the students, we saw her last year. She had an ingenious way of working when she ran out of hands.

9.8) a guillotine tool in the hardy hole

On our way to the museum, we got stuck behind an agricultural parade going very slowly. I am pretty sure we saw the same Vehicles in the field behind the museum. One tractor pulling swirling round rakes that gathered the hay and the second tractor pulled a strange machine that made hay bales that it gathered then dumped behind it. It was fun to watch them work too.

10.1) the field behind the museum

It was a fun day, lots of driving, now I’m sore and its getting close to bed time. I want to leave you with traditional blacksmithing imagery, coal and flames ready to bend mettle to your will. I think I will stick to bending wool to my will but its fun to see the skill involved to move mettle where you want it to go and make useful things, like scissors.

11.1) lovely fire in the forge. just remember not to breath the green smoke!!

I hope you have a wonderful father’s day and get to do some felting ether wet or dry! maybe you made something cool for your Dad?

CanGames and Felting Convention 2025 Part 3

June 7, 2025 Jan Comments 6 comments

Sunday

Am I awake? Im not sure, it may be Sunday? Or maybe its second Saturday? Give me a moment I may make more sense after my meds. Yes, Surprise!! its Sunday and we are heading back to the curling rink, Glenn has at least one more train game and something else and I am back for the very exclusive side of the convention, Felting!!!

You are probably more interested in seeing if anything has gone wrong with the young mer I am working on.

I had a couple comments that; “we would find out soon who you are using as a model for your voodoo doll”. I suspect I have to be more careful in where I rest my needles.

11.1) “Are you doing voodoo?”

11.2) posterior delts and lats building up.

I am starting to add muscles, I keep adding an extra muscle to help hold up his head so he can see where he will be swimming. If I dint he would swim into things while looking at the lake bottom.

I started herring cheering and odd grunting noises coming from the middle of the hall. Lets go investigate.

12.1) block stacking game without words?

This game seemed to be two groups of cave men, and women, one whom had to get there cave mates to stack shapes in a particular way without saying anything. They seemed to communicate yes and no by hitting the table with a blow up club once or twice. Each team seemed to be making a different combination so you could not just look at the other team. Each team seemed to have a judge or referee, keeping an eye on how they were (not) communicating. They seemed to be having a great time. Each time a block was confirmed, by their leader, to be in the right place, the whole team would grunt and cheers!

12.2) Monster mash

I spotted this game starting and wondered over to check out the map board of rooms and lots of monsters waiting to start the game. You play a monster and fight other monsters. The table was full of little rooms with lots of detail again they look like they were having lots of fun.

I had seen this from a distance and it looked like robots or meck fighting in a tropical location, but when I got closer I realized what I was looking at.

12.3) a game with Lego mecks

Anything with Lego’s has to be fun!

13.1) One of the other vendors was a bindery which had handmade books and bound fanzines

I was drooling at his cutter and behind that is a small press!! He showed me the hand stitched spines on his note books. it was all very interesting (no don’t get into another craft!!)

Ok, this is a felting and gaming convention we should really get around to the felting part before we get distracted and get lost in a game!

Technically there were more votes for “Orca” as a boyfriend, but the concern from the “Sturgeon” voters, that she would likely lose her family to her possible in-laws, was a concern. So I have decided on the more difficult sturgeon.

14.1) on to the fish-y parts!

14.2) adding the Pelvic fins

14.3)Adding wool to the fish part and adding Fins at the hip(Pectoral fins), more lower fins(Pelvic and anal fins), Dorsal fins and a cool tail (Caudal fin).

I guessed at the length for the wire for the fins, but as I added wool I can already see I may be short. We will find out as I add more wool and firm up the under layer.

14.4) building up the fiber and consulting some of the reference photos

I know I was wanted to watch the live action kill doctor lucky game, but I am sore and very tired. Glenn is happy with all his gaming and is content to head home. So I am packing up and sending him out to the car with all my stuff. At least felting, wet or dry, is lighter to carry around than his blacksmithing stuff! I was a bit too quick with the packing up to get a photo of how far I got the under structure so I will have to get one after I get home.

So far no sign of the missing teen-Mer-dotter, but I am sure she will notice if I work on him here in the office.

If you lose one of your Mer’s and need to make another to lure the first back. I suggest re-watching the Mermaid felt along with Sara (Sarafina fiberarts)

14.5) This was my notes from reviewing Sara’s videos, I modified this a bit from her original. You can extend the body length with extra wire if your fish is longer than the average Mer-person.

Mer-Boyfriend has gotten hold of the needle that was in his back and is prepared to work on his fishy-bits if I don’t get back to work soon!

15.1) preparing to self-felt!

15.2) considering where to poke first

I am trying to explain to him that I am a bit busy this week, but maybe he can come to a demo next week and I can continue working on him!

If you are in Ottawa next May long weekend, I hope you will consider visiting CanGames (their web site will give info on games being played and the cost of the convention). I am sure you will enjoy trying some of the games and then drop by with your drop spindle or (dry) felting and join me for a bit!

have any of these games got you thinking of sheepish versions you could invent?

CanGames and Felting Convention 2025 Part 2

June 5, 2025 Jan Comments 8 comments

Saturday

I hope you are well rested after your nap at the end of my last post. If we want to have accessible parking, we should get going early! Don’t forget to bring a bit of money, there are other vendors and the second-hand game sale is today. Now off to the car with an extra item (ok, Glenn was carrying the extra item). Wow, the highway in town is not busy this morning, oh yes, it’s Saturday, not Monday!

I am again set up by the open games area. I think they are used to me sneaking in beside them by now. Today I brought in my little Canadian wheel, the Lendrum Rook. Gord Lendrum, a Canadian spinning wheel maker, made about 40 of them in the mid-1980s. Mine needs a bit of repair, it was at least second-hand when I got it. The weaver spinner whom I was chatting with on Friday said she would be dropping by, I can show her how this one works and hope it’s similar to the wheel she has at home.

6.1) The Rook wheel and some pretty roving were added to yesterday’s felting stuff.

I worked for a bit while watching for the line to start, then it was time to line up for the sale. This year, I was second in line! Again, with the same person in front of me, last year I was third in line. This year, Glenn had me hunting for another train game. This one was called “British Rails”. It still does not sound as fun as sheep. While the organisers were setting up, they put a pile of train games close to the checkout. I was able to see them from the line! I know where to check first!

6.2) A quick peek as the games are still coming in this morning to the sale and are being put out on the tables. By 10 am, the time the sale starts, games more than fill every table!

Last year, I had bought some of the games Glenn had brought in to sell, because they looked like ones he would enjoy. This year, I know his badge number, so I will try not to do that again! Shortly before 10 am, I looked behind me to see how long the line had grown. It went all the way across the curling rink!…. turned and started up the far side of the rink, passing where my table was and extending past the open gaming section!! Oh my! I am glad I am second. I put away boyfriend-mer, who I had been working on while sitting in my portable chair (ok it’s my studio on wheels… er.. alright it’s my walker) and got ready to shop.

6.3) The line goes across the curling rink and then proceeds along the far wall

10 am arrived, and they let the shopping horde surge forward. All of us are trying to fit into the confines of one little corner of the rink with tables stacked high with piles of games. Some were in rows on their side, but most were piled multiple games high. All the miniatures for war gaming were on the back table, I skipped that for now and headed to beside the cash where I had seen a pile of train games. (You may want to go the other way around the table and keep an eye out for the elusive sheep games! Even an alpaca game could be thematically fun?)

I picked up the train game he wanted, found a few more and spotted one of those unfun 18XX games Glenn likes, sold by badge number 118, oh Drat! He is badge 118, so I better not buy it for him! There were lots of pretty boxes to look over. I was trying to shop for Glenn and find some games for my brother’s cottage, too. I even found another Sheep game to add to the collection. This one is for 2 players and has little wooden sheep tokens. They are sooo cute!!!

I finally escaped the crushing throng of game seekers and made it back to my little table to resume work on the new mer-person. Building up his torso, now his head seems too small.. ok add more brains! (think zombie voice “Brains”) Glenn returned from his morning train game, victorious (he came in first) and was checking over what I had found. I was successful in my game quest for him, and he was pleased with the others I picked up.

6.4) “Agricola” is a 2 Person game about raising sheep. (We have not tried it yet, but the sheep are wooden and look very cute!)

6.5 Some of the Games I found, including what he had requested!

We took another peek at the games as the crowd thinned. Odd, I saw lots of things I had not noticed the first time. I added a couple more to the pile while Glenn got us lunch. The curling rink caterers are very good this year. I had asked for grilled cheese with bacon, but got a club sandwich, which was very tasty, but seemed short of the grilling and the cheese. Well, maybe we can have that for dinner?

I did promise I would get back to work on felt-related matters (this is a gaming and felting convention!). I continued slowly building up the muscles on my new Mer-Boyfriend.

7.1) stabbed in the back by a felting needle, but he has a bit more latts!

7.2) Lounging on the bag of world of wool core carded roving

7.3) Ooh, I have reached the glutes and the first fins!! Oh, the possibilities, they have to be good glutes, to attract Miss Teen Mer back to the office when I get home!

Then I realised the weaver spinner I was speaking with yesterday should be arriving soon, back from her shopping trip to Wabi Sabi (that’s one of the local yarn and fibre shops in Ottawa). I had better get ready for her arrival and switched to my wheel. I have a bit of yarn on the bobbin and some of the same fibre left to spin. Let’s finish spinning that and then wind it off into a double-ended ball. That means it’s wound so you can pull from the inside of the ball and the outside end of the ball at the same time. The advantage to this, over plying with two bobbins, is you always get to the middle at the same time from the outside and the inside piece! With 2 bobbins, often you have one bobbin still having yarn on it when you have emptied the other. The drawback of a double-ended ball is that it can all go horribly wrong and get tangled if you are not careful (and sometimes even when you are careful), but if you’re frugal or only have one bobbin, this is a handy way to ply yarn. Oh yes, not all of you spin, plying is taking the single yarn you just spun and spinning it back in 2 layers or plys in the opposite direction you spun the single ply. See clear as mud! But it keeps your yarn balance if you do it just rite. If you knit with energised yarn, you can make diamonds instead of squares, which can be interesting but probably not what you wanted.

You can weave with energised singles yarn (there is still a good amount of twist energy present in the singles). There are some medieval fabric finds that are woven in plain weave (under over under over under over……). Because they are warped in little groups of yarn spun with the twist going one direction (Z) beside little groups with the twist going the other (S), when you take the fabric off the loom, the twist fights with its neighbour, producing what looks like some complicated twill all in plain weave. I will try to show you that someday.

7.4) cleaned off the little bit of yarn on the bobbin, ready for spinning.

I got back to felting. I continued to asked anyone who stopped to chat the questions; if they thot an Orca or Sturgeon boyfriend would be better….I continue to get the orca would look better, but the sturgeon voters kept reminding me about the horrible, possible slaughter of her family if she dated an Orca!

8.1 The open gaming section filled up after the game sale had slowed down and remained full all day.

8.2) I added sewing pins to give me eye locations while I work. It’s getting very busy with games now.

Since there is no sign of the spinner/weaver, let’s take a quick look at what gaming is happening today.

There were games I had no idea what was happening, and battles setting up for carnage and slaughter

9.1) Not a clue what is happening, but they seemed very focused and having fun.

9.2) This is a racing game that was being played on the table beside me. Like many of the games I was seeing, it has lovely graphics. Even if watching cars drive in a mostly circular track isn’t really your thing, it’s still really pretty to look at.

9.3) Definitely impending carnage!

9.4) Some of the war games with figures had very interesting architecture or terrains

9.5) This one had a part of a town, I don’t remember what kind of army was fighting through it. It was possibly more normal than guys in space suits from the other table.

Being set up at the other end of the hall from me was a large metal cube that rotated on a frame. That looks intriguing, shall we go have a look?

10.1) This game is for 12 little magnetic robots. You can see the little robots on the nearby table, all sides of the cube is where they will be racing.

10.2) A robot racing game on a cube

This metal cube has magnetic-backed maps showing pathways on each side. The robots are also magnetic and will drive around the various sides of the cube. Each robot has a hand of cards; they have to select five instructions for their robot to follow like a program, and lay the cards face down in the order they want the robot to move. Everyone reveals one card at a time, and the movement occurs. Unfortunately, things can go horribly wrong when robots try to land on the same square or miss count and bump into a wall or other obstacles.

10.3) A good strategy seemed to be to take a picture of the part of the board your robot was on, then select your cards from your photo(then hope for the best).

cube showing robots are now on 2 differnt sides of the cube 10.4) As you can see, the robots are dispersing on two sides now

10.5) They are working through the second card of this round. They are having lots of fun, and it’s been fun to watch.

I wandered back to my felting but again got distracted by all the cool details in the 3-D printed dungeon architecture.

10.6) You can see the layers, so those must be a sedimentary plastic rock, maybe sandstone? Such fine detail in the 3-D plastic!

10.7) These little skeletons were so cool, but where would I put them? I did enjoy looking at them over the weekend, and they were quite photogenic for skeletons.

Glenn has returned victorious in another train game, and I was wiped. Even though I had not seen the weaver spinner yet, it was definitely time to go home to sleep. You can stay on if you like, and I will meet you back here for day 3 tomorrow. I hope to get started on the fishy parts then!

CanGames and Felting Convention 2025 Part 1

May 26, 2025 Jan Comments 6 comments

The long weekend in May is finally here.

I had a plan, and my reference photos. I packed a cool commercial felt box from Dallerama with a bag of tools and extra needles, a wire armature, one (about 1kg) of the 2 bags of core wool from the last World of Wool order and a couple drop spindles. Glenn loaded the felt box, a few bottles of pop, my meds and my audio books and all the board games he would be selling into the back of my car.

Off we went to the Rideau Curling Club. We got there in time to get one of the last three parking spots on site! There was more parking arranged for down the street but carrying boxes of games and a box of felting supplies was much easier close to the building.

You may remember from previous photos that the curling club is an old building, long before accessibility was a thing architects worried about. So, it’s not the most accessible building. They have tried to retrofit as best they can. There is a removable ramp to get up to the main area, which overlooks the curling hall. There is another ramp that allows access to the curling hall floor, but the door dose not open wide enough to get my walker through (it is one of the bigger walkers available). There is now a handicapped washroom added to the main level, which is grate since the others are upstairs! (I miss upstairs). All the extra effort to get into the curling hall is worth it, so let’s go have a look.

curling club and Can games info booklet 1.1) CanGames (and Felting) Convention at the Ridea Curling club, CanGames info booklet, strangely the felting component was not mention again this year.

4 full boxes of games to sell saterday 1.2) overlooking 4 boxes of games for the second hand game sale and looking into the curling rink full of tables ready for gaming.

We were early so Glenn filled out the list of games he was putting into the sale, I pulled out my reference photos and started wrapping the human parts of my next mer-person, The “Boyfriend”. I had one of the volunteers and another attendee wonder over and check out what I was doing. They were both felters! I later met a weaver who was learning to spin, she would drop by and see what I was doing tomorrow after her shopping trip to Wabi Sabi. As gamers dropped by to see what I was doing, I asked if they thought an orca or a sturgeon would be a better boyfriend? There were slightly more Orca suggestions but the sturgeon votes were very persuasive, that it would not be good to have a boyfriend that is likely to eat Miss Mer’s family! i will keep asking anyone who expresses interest.

the armature and the start of wool on torso head and arm/hand 2.1) The armature and core wool from world of wool and Adding the under layer to the armature. Used Tacky fabric glue for tips of fingers

By the time we could enter the floor of the curling rink, I had the Right hand well in hand, but the arm still looks way to skinny. We got my little table set up and I decided to start the left hand.

right hand wraped with wool 2.2) I am happy how the right hand is coming along.

misscounted the fingers somehow? 2.3) this is not the usual anatomically expected number of fingers!!

fixing extra finger problem 2.4) Ok I think I need to recount those fingers.

I seem to still be having a tiny problem with post anesthetic brain….it seems I can’t count yet. It usually takes a while for my brain to clear, but i guess not yet. Oh well I can fix that.

mer-person checks hands for correct number of fingers 2.5) all better now! 2 hands, the same number of fingers. I think he is checking I got it right this time.

work aria at convention 2.6) Ok now I have that fixed let’s take a quick look around. I am in the back corner between the open gaming tables and one of the venders.

articulated purple dragon and dice towers, skull and raven and plege doctore with lantern 3.1) the booth behind where I was working “3dbatch”, had 3-D printed items.

I thought Leonor may enjoy the raven dice tower with skull. There were two little dragons I had been admiring, in this booth as well as little articulated drawing figures. There were also dioramas for gaming that were quite impressive, well if you are a gamer. Actually, even if you are not it’s still pretty cool.

more areticulated dragons in verious verions of the base design 3.2) the 2 little blue dragons cot my eye. Someone was looking at one when I left for a moment but both were gone when I came back. Glenn was there and I told him of my disappointment, luckily they seem to have found a new home in my bag of maple candies and one seems to like the taste of hand spun yarn. There were bigger ones on display at the booth too. (They might have wanted to eat the whole wheel!)

dungen archatecture with amazing details 3.3) The detail in these dungeon areas fascinated me.

The detail was amazing, one had a chapel building that lifted off and revealed a crypt, if you lift the lid there is a stairway to a lower floor. The floor tiles lift away so you can play in the lower area too. I remember little mettle figures and graph paper was what we played with in late 1970/80’s.

Now that you have seen what is behind me, let’s take a quick peek at the other part of this felting …er gaming convention.

the lower curling rink hall looking back at the loby and the upper gallery 4.1) Lets take a quick look around the curling rink, there is more gaming happening in the basement, the loby and upstairs. (I did not make it upstairs or to the basement)

Do you remember watching the Chariot Race last year? I wasn’t feeling up to playing this year but did enjoy wandering over to check out the fun and carnage.

chariot race game Cangames 2025 4.1) And they are off!! Look out for the first corner!!!!

The chariots are racing on a track that starts out wide12 squares and shrinks to much narrower4 squares. Each chariot has a number and that is dawn randomly to get the order of movement. The charioteers have to write down what speed they are going to go then roll a dice to see how far they are traveling. If you pass another chariot you can try to whip them or they can try to whip you. If two wind up in the same square, well, you can see what happens!

Back to work for a bit, I will go back to check on the chariots a bit later. I suspect there may be a bit of carnage, its is usually a very fun game.

4.3) there were still tables open but there had been a few cancellations of games and it was early on Friday night (the convention had started at 2pm). Saturday will be the busiest day.

If you were curious, Here is my work set up. we brought the folding table the box of fiber and tools, a bag of drinks and munches and I have way more core fiber than I will need. I kept working on firming and building up the human body, until my curiosity at how the race was progressing overcame me.

Lets check in with the Chariots. The carnage at the first corner was the worst I have yet seen! Never gallop your horses in the corners! If you were betting on the youngest charioteer to win you were right!

the Chariot race from CanGames 2025 4.4) the Chariot races

Now back to work!

contiuing work on the mer person much more to do 5.) at the end of Friday I had had the beginning of an under-structure but lots more to do. (his head is too thin, have to add more biceps…..)

Its time to go home get some sleep and get back in the morning. I am sure you are as tiered as I was so lets have a little nap before heading back for Saturday. It will be a busy day with the second hand game sale, possibly some spinning and of course more felting! But for now its time for a nap. Thanks for coming with me so far and i hope to see you there when i go back next post! Maybe we can find a sheep game to play?

Preparing for Cangames (and felting) Convention, one more Mer?

May 16, 2025 Jan Comments 12 comments

Today is Friday May 16^th, and this year it is the long weekend in May. It’s time to start planting your gardens with the hope of no frost. here in Ottawa the Friday to Sunday is also CanGames (and felting) Convention I have shown you that before. Glenn will be playing board games, praubly those 18XX train games (older trains can rust, becoming useless and there is lots of math, how can that be fun?) there will be interesting games there such as the live action Kill Doctor Lucky or the chariot races! It also will be a good spot to work on felting or spinning. I may convert some gamers to fiber arts yet!! (i have tought a few to use a drop spindle in previous years.) I am not sure I will be there the whole time, since I am still finding Mondays at the guild really tiring and am sore a few days afterwards. So now is the time I must decide on what I will work on this weekend.

You may have noticed last fall when the OVWSG had their 75^th anniversary retrospective Exhibition at the Mississippi Valley textile museum that one of my Mer’s was missing!!!

1.1-1.3) the Mer Family and Pets having fun while out at the Museum, Mr. Mer trying to get someone to play Tennis with him, Mrs. Mer is admiring her new hair, Shark boy playing with the pets Miss Manta and Sharkette.

Yes the teen Miss Mer has wondered off! I was sure she was in the project bag just behind me but no! She had cleverly replaced her project bag with another when I was not paying attention! Teenagers!!! So she had wondered off and did not get herself finished to go out and have fun with the family and their pets. I think she may be wondering the house, looking for a boyfriend,…..she is a teenager. Since I have looked in all the obvious places I think she might try hiding, without success, I have decided to move to plan 2, Make her a boyfriend. That should tempt her back to the office! That could be a good project to start at the convention.

If I were an arctic char based teen Mer-person, what sort of boyfriend would I like? well, personally if I was a Mer, I think I would look for a very dry fish, maybe one of the really early land walking varieties? Luckily, I am not making this fishy-boyfriend for me. I did see a cool looking fish as I was researching the other Mer’s fishy bits. it was very big, sort of an extra-large more feisty version of a pike. What were they called? Stergons? Oh its spelt Sturgeons? I was close. Hum that has potential. The transition would be fun to consider, but Lots of fiddly details on a sturgeon, so may not be the best option for a busy convention.

2) Sturgeon, there are lots of types, and I would need to do more research to figure out which is which. The pattering is intriguing but very specific.

Since she is an arctic variety of fish-person, I should look at arctic options too. There are Inuit myths about sea people, there is the Qalupalik, who usually hunt children who stray too close to the water, catches and eat them. I am not sure that would work out well in the family dynamics of the Mers.

3.1) Qalupauk, who steel children who play too close to the water.

There is also Sedna the Sea Goddess, who has the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish. She created all the sea creatures the Inuit hunt. I have only seen pictures of Qalupalik as women and a Goddess is also a woman so that would not be a boyfriend. Keep looking.

3.2) Sedna the Sea Goddess

Let’s keep thinking, Narwhals are interesting but the fish parts would not have the fabulous horn. There are Orca (Killer whales), they have very interesting colour patterning, that might work. Why is my brain yelling at me to look at the walrus? That’s not a fish! But that would make an interesting Mer.

diagram of Narwal side and belly vew — File source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Narwhalsk.jpg

4.1) Narwhal, it would be hard to tell from just the fishy parts that he is a narwhal without the horn.

4.2) orca, strong graphic patterning and it would be fun to integrate fish and body parts together.

4.3) walrus, ooh this might be fun, integrating shapes, but I am pretty sure that this is not a fish.

I think my best options to consider are Sturgeon and Orca. Both will need ether 12 or 14 gauge wire for most of the armature with finer for the hands, maybe an 18 or 20 steel floral wire. I have a bag of “Carded Core Wool Sliver” from World of Wool, now where did I put it. I will also need photo diagrams to work from. I hope the printer likes my computer today. (nope, i will see if Glenn’s computer is deemed worthy of printing)

For creating the armature I will have to pack pliers & wire cutter, wire, a ruler, a finger length guide or Sara’s Digitwidget, the proportions for the armature (I have that written out somewhere….)maybe I should go back and look at Sara’s Felt-along It starts here: https://www.youtube.com/live/hljS4YRmz9w

I will modify the original armature to suet whichever fish body I go with. Glenn likes the killer whale, since its simple, elegant, and very classy.

Ok I have a plan, consulted Sara’s mermaid armature and just need to collect the tools and supplies to be ready for CanGames! Once I have the armature made I will need to bring; a work surface, the extra tacky fabric glue (the type that dry’s clear for fingers), a selection of needles and the fake clover tools(helpful to make fins), then top colours for whichever fish shape I go with.

I am looking forward to the long weekend, but may have to enjoy it in pieces. i hope you will join me for the parts i get to attend, maybe you will find a sheep related board game we can play? Have fun and keep felting!

2025 Spencerville Fiber Festival

May 6, 2025 Jan Comments 15 comments

Yes, I think it’s spring, or at least a good attempt at spring. We have had thunderstorms, loss of hydro overnight, more rain, the daffodils have joined the crocus, scilla and lungwort and now the trees are budding! Even the portable forest has started its spring migration! (it’s sneaking a pot or two across the driveway, finally arriving in its summer location.)

In the yearly calendar of fibre festivals near Ottawa, we have had in February, the Chesterville spin in, which is a fun, small event to help get us through the remains of winter and top up our fibre hoards, if they have started to dwindle. In April, the Peterborough Weavers Guild holds a large fibre festival that is about a 3-hour drive away from Ottawa, but is worth the trip. This year, I was out of commission for both of these and was very disappointed not seeing fibre friends or topping up the fibre hoard.

1 poster for the Spencerville fibre festival 2025 (they have a Facebook page if you want to contact the organisers)

The third fibre festival this year was in Spencerville, a small town well south of Ottawa, almost to Highway 401. It’s in the Drummond building, so we will meet you there.

Glenn grabbed the book he was reading, and we headed off. It usually feels like not that long a drive, but this year the seat belt and one of my incisions were arguing loudly by about 20 minutes out and just got more livid with each other the farther I drove. I also think they moved the town further down the highway, it seemed so much longer a drive than I remember. (Good thing I didn’t try to go to Peterborough)

2 Front of the Drummond building in Spencerville, where the fibre festival takes place.

We arrived early and found that there were already a few cars with people waiting to go in. As Glenn pulled out my walker and camera, everyone else got out of their cars, and we all headed in to line up inside. (I was more interested in the washroom.) This is not a big hall, but the sale had a good selection of finished goods, equipment, Yarn and fibre. There were also demo tables from the Kingston Weavers Guild and the Knitters Guild. Most of the aisles accommodated stopping and chatting with friends you haven’t seen in months, but still not blocking getting into the booths.

3 Let’s pay our $5.00 entrance fee and head in to see what the vendors have brought for us this year.

4.1- As we entered the hall

4.2 Luna Spinning has woodworking, spun yarn, fibre and crochet tools

4.3 Janet Whittam does weaving and basketry, you may remember her work from other shows too!

4.4 This was Krys Dallaire’s first time selling and had a very nice booth. She was selling Ile de France cross North Country Cheviot (close up showing crimp), Bluefaced Leicester cross North Country Cheviot (the bag being purchased), Fin (the dark fleece that came home with me) and North Country Cheviot (bags on the shelves). She was also selling maple syrup!!

4.5 Yvieknits Yarn had lots of yarn and a bit of fibre; she also had these lovely examples of knitting with her yarn.

4.6 You have seen Top of the Whorl spindle at a few past festivals too. They had some new spindles, spindle cases and lazy Kates for spindles. This is also where I found Naalbinding needles.

5 at the Top of the Whorl, a drop spindle lesson was happening.

There was a vendor selling punch tools, including a couple of images set up as a “Try Me” sample. Ann, Carlene and I all tried it, I wonder if either will add a new fibre art to all they do?

6.1-6.3 Ann and Carlene try the sample. The loops are created on the back of the side you are working on. The different punch tools make different-sized loops. It was a bit like needle felting but with less need for band-aids.

7 Ann was interested in the rug hooking techniques, which gave a lot of textural elements depending on what was used with the rug hook.

Let’s keep looking around, ooh, do you see this hiding on the floor in the next booth? It is mostly yarn but has some wool wash, wool pellets for the garden and plastic project bags, but hidden beside the table was a lovely fleece.

8 It’s labelled as a fleece of Gotland Finn Cross, it was so soft to touch, I was very tempted.

Let’s keep going (before I buy it without seeing all the show)

9.1- I missed the name of this booth, but it had a mix of tools and supplies for weaving, felting, and knitting. Ann seemed very interested in the knitting pattern cards. I wonder if we could do that for felting? Maybe shapes of resists or book resists for the wet felters?

9.2 Pretty String Yarn Co., lots of colours to entice you into knitting

9.3 Sheeps Ahoy. They have the most beautiful patterns that remind me of Philosophers wool who closed many years ago. I wish I could knit

9.4 Crazy about yarn, they use themes to create their Colour ways. I think the purple was one of the galaxies, and the ones behind her are part of the planets series.

9.5 Studio De laine Cactus Yarn Studio, did you see the support chicken kits? She always has such interesting packaging.

10 We spotted Carlene and compared loot. We also saw a few others who showed off their finds.

There was a nice mix of things for sale, it was nice to see the new vendor with 3 different breeds of sheep. I had been hoping for the Lady who had the 3-D printed spindles at the Almonte fibre festival, but no luck on those. They’re not as pretty as the ones from the top of the whorl, but I would not want to leave one of their pretty ones in the back of the car for emergency spinning, but the 3-D printed one would work perfectly for that. Each spindle has its purpose, or just because it’s pretty and you really like it! That’s a good reason to get another spindle, too.

By early afternoon, I was wiped, and it was time to head home. Last year, we had seen the mill by the river, and I wanted to stop and take a few shots before the long drive home. I was captivated by the reflection in the river and the architecture when something large swooped past my camera.

11 Reflection of the barn in the river water

We drove around the mill building to see what it was.

12.1 Great Blue Heron waiting for lunch to come over the dam and be delivered to him or her.

12.2 Heron, waiting to select the entrée to dinner.

12.3 Spencerville Mill, the Heron is in front of the trees on the other side of the river, just left of the concrete at the far end of the dam.

We stopped in Kempville to have a very late lunch, and so I could take my meds. We finally got home and brought in my bags of loot! 5 paper bags and one big plastic bag. Yes, someone else bought the grey Gotland/fine, but one of the black fin fleeces followed me home, it was just too nice and soft not to buy it! She said she will be shearing soon, in case you desperately need one too!

13.1 My purchases that followed me home.

13.2-13.3 It was definitely a fibre-focused shopping day, and there seems to be some similarities in colours too. I was trying to push out of my comfort blue, but seem to have only shifted over one to mainly green with a bit of red/orange and of course blue.

So what did or would you have gotten today? I probably overdid it, I am extra achy and about to face plant the keyboard, but it was so much fun to see everyone and add more fibre options to my hoard. But now it’s time to crawl back into bed in hopes I will be able to make it to the guild meeting on Monday. If you are in the area next year, you might want to add the Spencerville fibre festival (The Forecast Calls for Yarn and Fiber) to your places to visit. I will hope to see you there!

PS Monday, I made it into the guild and opened the library, I even got some work done, but didn’t last all the way to the meeting. I am wiped and quite sore. I am heading to bed now. I hope you have enjoyed this shopping trip! If you saw anything that you really want to track down, check with the event organiser. I fear I may have missed a booth, but I really am too tired to figure that out, so before I do face plant the keyboard, it is off to bed. Have fun and keep felting… maybe a heron?

Felting and Fiber Studio

An International Collective of Felt and Fiber Artists

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Author: Jan

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