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Author: Shepherdessann

Sheep Keychain

Sheep Keychain

Comments 11 comments

I started working on this a while ago and have managed to do one. I can hardly wait until school’s done at the end of the month. I don’t seem to have any time to do anything at the moment. Oh well, enough griping.

You may remember that for my Guild’s anniversary exhibition, I made a little flock of sheep. What to do with them now? I could just put them away or make a display, not that I have room for that.

In the past, I made key chains by threading a cord down and back up through the sheep and then adding a split ring. It worked, but the cords wear too quickly. Then I saw some cool headwear for keychains. They seem to just put beads on them, but what do they know? I bought a multi-coloured pack.

Of course, I also had to buy some new beads for this. Really, I did, I didn’t have any large hole beads that would fit on the pole. Sorry about the bad picture, way too much reflection on the left one, and I didn’t want to dump them out. The one on the left is mixed, so there are solids, stripes, crystals and some different textures.

I picked a green keychain to go with the green sheep.

 

The first thing to do is to make a hole in the sheep. For this, I used a leather awl. It worked quite well; I only had to fiddle a little to get the post through the sheep. You can see that the beads unscrew at both ends. This makes it easier to add the beads on the top and bottom after adding the sheep.

Then add some beads and and screw the ends back on.

I like the way it looks. I need to give him some eyes and probably a nose. None of the sheep or the shepherdess had facial features for the display.

The other thing I want to do is fix some of the ears. I was running out of time, and I knew they wouldn’t be handled, so I didn’t worry about some of the ears not being as sturdy as I would like.  Some of them are too fluffy and underfelted, so they will not last as key chains.

The other thing I bought was a little stand and some cards to attach the keychains to. I hope that it makes them look a little more finished and worth what I want for them.

They are too big to fit in the little bags that came with the cards. I will have to look for some different ones.

P.S. I have not picked a name for the little ram lamb yet. Nothing has really jumped out at me as the right one, yet.

Name that Ram Lamb

Name that Ram Lamb

Comments 22 comments

In today’s post, I need your help naming our new Ram lamb. He is just little, born April 27th.  He is 96.5% Gottand with the remainder being Finn. He doesn’t have a name yet.  He can’t be registered because he has a white patch on top of his head. This suits me as it brings him into my price range.

Here are his mom and dad.

And this is him.

Jan suggested Sven, my husband thought of Batman because there is a town called Gothem on the island of Gotland.  What are your great ideas for a wonderful name for this little guy?  Or maybe something formal-sounding with a good nickname? We had a dog whose real name was Amulets More Music; we called her Corry, short for encore. We are good with a strange and/or convoluted reasoning for a name.

Vessel Class

Vessel Class

Comments 11 comments

I taught a lovely and fun group of ladies how to make a vesel. One of the ladies made a really nice Instagram reel. I am going to try embedding it here. Fingers crossed. It was hosted here https://hookingoutsidethelines.com/  I will share stills of the finished vessels below it. If it doesn’t work, then try this link:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI7Voy2xnr2/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

Here’s a group shot,

Here are some closer pictures of the vessels.

This one was cut across the circle about 1/8 of the way down to get the resist out, so she has a flat coaster, too

 

This one was also cut about 1/8 of the way down, but she opted for a shallow dish.

This one was cut just about halfway. She has two similar-sized bowls. Here, I was showing her how she could reverse them to have the pattern on the inside.

A nice round green one with lots of sari silk waste

Pretty pink with silk hearts on it

Jan told you about the sale we went to a little while ago. I was much better behaved and only bought a few things. Two small sample rolags and 3 bags of slubs. I have been wanting to try slubs. I know the neps are very hard to keep in the yarn when spinning, and do not like to stick to a felting project. I am hoping slubbs will stick better in both. If they do, then I may have to order some and dye them myself. One more thing on the to-do list.

Lambs, Flowers, Some Finds and Taking Pictures.

Lambs, Flowers, Some Finds and Taking Pictures.

Comments 12 comments

Hi all, have you been waiting, wondering where my post is? I wish I could say it was because I was felting or playing with lambs, but in truth, I thought today was tomorrow. I will make you wait until the end to see the lambs.

I will start with my new bits for taking pictures. What I was looking for was an arm to attach to my tripod that would hold my camera. I could find expensive things for proper cameras, but nothing similar for a phone. I did find 2 very similar phone holders that would fit right onto the tripod. They do point down, but they do not stick out very far from the tripod.

This is what I have at the moment. It’s a light ring with a camera holder. I use it for Zoom.  I don’t like the holder, it is hard to adjust it to level. The other thing is that it is too tall, two feet above where I am working.  Not a great shot, but it wouldn’t show up against all the wool on the shelves

My tripod will go much shorter than this. And these are the 2 attachments for the phone. I haven’t had a moment to try them out, but I will report on them when I get a little time.

 

The other thing I bought was a stand that sticks out. It came with a light ring like the one above. The two gadgets above will stick screw onto it.  This is the one I have the highest hope for. The angle is adjustable

 

Next are some things I picked up last weekend at a local village’s community garage sale. We only get to go to one garage sale a year. It’s the only one on before we start at the Farmers  Market this Saturday. https://barrhavenfarmersmarket.com/

I only got a few things. First, I got a small hair straightener. That might seem strange as I have long, very straight hair, but I got it for ironing inside a book resist vessel. More on that when I try it out.

Next are some mini hanging Shapes. I’m not sure what you call them. I thought they would look nice with little felt plants in them, or I could make tiny pods and place them over the candles that came with them. They are about 4 inches/10 cm tall

Lastly, I picked up the long roll of interesting fibre. It is probably nylon. I will have to see if it will dye.

 

Now onto flowers. My apple tree is starting to flower, and the lilacs will be along soon.

And here are all the kinds of violets I have

white
speckled
purple middle
1/2 and 1/2
purple

 

And finally, what you have been waiting for, more lambs

 

 

And proud popa, Storm. Really, what he is wondering is why I don’t have treats.

That’s all for now.

This Weeks Felting

This Weeks Felting

Comments 17 comments

 

This week, I managed to make a few small felt pieces.  My husband has been asking me to make some more handle covers for his cast-iron pans.

 

Second. I have a wrap for my travel mug.  I don’t really like the feel of the metal of the mug, especially in the cold. I have several travel mugs, but only one cover.   I have been using the same one for about 10 years. It still looks good, but I thought I should have more than one. I wanted it to be a little longer and wider than the one I’m using at the moment. The one I have now is purple and blue. This one has a green background. The colour is shartruse, I think. The curls are Blue Faced Leicester.

Then I flipped it over and folded the edges in neatly.

This is the finished piece. It still needs a couple of buttons and some elastic to hold it on.

sheep curls felted int the green back ground A close-up of the curls.

close up of curls on green background

Lastly, I finished the strange-looking book resist. This was round one. At the time, I thought it was stiff enough, so I went ahead and rinsed it out and added lots of clothespins so it would dry correctly.

green 5 pointed 3d sat shape with clothespins outside of same piece with clothespins

After opening it up, I was not thrilled with it. It opened wide. I thought maybe ironing it would help. I was showing it in a Zoom chat, and Karen asked if it was completely fulled. My first thought was yes, it was stiff, but as I played with it, it got softer and softer. So I wet it down and kept working it while watching a cosy mystery.  It shrank more and is much sturdier. I needed a lot fewer clothespins. So I rounded the bottom of the arms.

same piece fulled again with clothespins . much stiffer

This is after it was dry. It doesn’t stand on its own. I will need to flatten the bottom or make a little holder, if I want it to stand like this.

same piece, dry without clothspins

Next, I thought I would try partially turning it inside out. I think I like it better this way.

same piece semi inverted, top shot same piece, semi inverted, bottom shot

One not felt thing. Spring is here, Lambing has started.

This little lamb was born on May 2. he will end up cream coloured. You can see the true colour past the dark tips.

wooly sheep and lamb

 

 

Another book resist shape sample

Another book resist shape sample

Comments 8 comments

This is the shape I am currently working on. It started as half circles with a section flattened so I could tape them together the other way around.a resist shape made out of flour underlay

I have a flower shape in my head.

The same resist with green wool wrapped around and wet

I didn’t get very far before life interfered again. We had all the snow I showed you last time melt, and then another dump of snow and melt. Now the scillas are out.

Scilla's blooming in the garden

 

Sometimes, when I think about the cuts I am planning, I think it will work, and then other times, I think no, that’s not going to work at all. Then, I started thinking about how to figure it out. The best way for me to do that is to write out how to do it. Then I had to sort out what would be the best way to try it out without having to actually make it.

I figured out a good way to model the shapes and wrote that out, but now I have to do a trial run to see if it works and if I missed anything.

paper patten shape

It mostly worked the way I think it will, but I have another idea I am thinking about that may work better. Thinking is as far as I have gotten with that.

So far, I think the online class will be a 3-week class, with several weeks of after-class help access. How long is normal for after-class access?

 

 

Picture Update

Picture Update

Comments 16 comments

I’ve been working on my picture a little.  I decided there was no definite direction for the sun. I added some lighter green to the trees on the far edge, which also defined them more. They look very yellow-green in the photos, but they are much more green in person. I rearranged and added some very light grey to the mountains.

felted picture of mountains, trees and water.
Finding the sun.

For the mid-ground, I thought maybe some bushes. I added 3 to work with but didn’t get very far before I pulled them off.

adding 3 bushes to the previous picture.
Bushes

I thought maybe some flowers in the mid-ground would work. I tried out several colours of sari silk waste.

Softsilk is a brand name, I think. It is shreaded finer than the other sari silk waist I have seen.  The pink and the brown are from the same batch of silk waist. I decided the softsilk was the best colour.

silk added to the mid ground as flowers.
Flowers in the mid-ground

Now, I need to figure out the foreground. I may needlfelt and stitch some flowers. I may need to do something to blur the straight line in the sky on the left. I don’t notice it until I take a picture.

Two samples finished and some Canadian Weather

Two samples finished and some Canadian Weather

Comments 14 comments

Before talking about felt, I just wanted to share with our friends who have mild winters. It is March here in Central Canada, and there is very little snow left. But as I said, it’s March, and March is a fickle month.  This is what I woke up to last Saturday.

15cm of snow on a table March 29 snowfall.

Followed by freezing rain overnight Sunday.

ski powl braking through freezing rain on top of snow. March 30, freezing rain on top of snow.

Do not be feeling sorry for me. This is fairly normal here. We expect it, but I am envious of you sitting out in your gardens enjoying the spring flowers.

Now some felt. I finished up the pink sample for the book-resist workshop. I finished the pages 2 different ways just to show them. I think it might look nice with a light inside.

         pink, round book resist with fat and flat fins. pink, round resist closed end.

I made a second sample using a football shape. It is smaller.

football shaped book resist

The resist was fiddley to get out because I didn’t want a hole in it. So, didn’t want to cut a hole in the end.

football shaped resist with gold fibre on it and hole cut to take resit out.

After removing the resist, I sewed up the hole.

whole sewn up after removing the resist. Stitching up the hole
stitching after finishing the felting and fulling. Stitching after fulling.

Here is how it looks finished. I am really pleased with it. The stitching was resistant to being pulled out, but I did get it out.

finished piece

I may have to make another one.   I may just have to stitch on this one. I have the wool ready for the next sample. I hope to have it done for you to see next time.

A little Progress on the Workshop and Some Nice Yarn.

A little Progress on the Workshop and Some Nice Yarn.

Comments 13 comments

I have finished the first draft of the resist workshop. 6 pages, and I haven’t added any pictures yet. I printed it out, and I am working on the first sample. I will add notes to the draft and add in anything I missed. The first sample is a circle resist.

stack of wool resists
All stacked and ready to go
stack of resists and rubbing tool
Time to start rubbing

That is how far I got, one set of all the surfaces rubbed. I am going to have to find my studio microwave and set it up so I can reheat these when I get back to them.

 

The only other fibery thing I have done lately is spin on my drop spindle. I do this mostly when I go to guild socials. It’s a nice, portable way to work.

Here are some balls I made earlier,

 

The dark pink has some silk in it, I think it came from Louet a long time ago.  The light blue and purple is from a batt I bought at a fiber show. The other three I made on my blending board. They are meino and sari silk. I like the pops of colour and slight slubbiness it gives the yarn.

Now, I am working on a sample pack from World of Wool. I got it last year. I am just getting to it now. They no longer sell this wool. It is Merino and Stelina (metallic-coated nylon). The Stelina is very sparlkely.

                       

 

I did the yellow first, mostly for a change. I don’t do much yellow. It is hard to get the sparkle with the camera but there is lots of it.  As usual, I found it stuck to several things when I pulled my laundry out of the dryer. It really does get everywhere.

That’s it for my fiberiness for the last little while. I hope everyone is coming out of the winter blues and into the joys of spring. I am looking forward to being able to sit in the garden, in the sun and enjoy my felting and fibers among the flowers and bird song.

Working on new workshop samples

Working on new workshop samples

Comments 9 comments

When teaching my vessels workshop a few weeks ago, I was showing the class pictures and talking about some more advanced vessels. They expressed an interest in all of them but especially in the book resist vessels. It got me thinking and now I am planning to give an intermediate vessel workshop later in the year, or maybe the new year, depending on scheduling.

At this point, my plan is to make 3 samples. That will help me write down the order and figure out how to teach it. I need to work out the materials list and timing, as well as how to teach it. Making them will also help me think of where things might go wrong.

I know there will have to be a prerequisite of having made at least one item, and preferably 2 or more items over a resist.

I plan on 3 different vessels. The first is a simple 6-sided circle pot.

 

The second one is more oval shaped vessel, I cut down the paper template from the circle so they will be about the same height when done.

And the last has an “odd” shape, again I used the half circle from the circle to draw the new shape to keep them about the same size.

As with most best laid plans, I discovered all I had for tape was narrow painters tape. So I will have to head to the store for some wide, strong tape that will hopefully stay stuck through the wet process of making a vessel.  In the meantime, I think I will start writing the instruction so I can jot down additions as I go.  I am not sure how long it will take to do all that. If I want to teach it in the fall through my guild, I will need to get the proposal in when the call for workshops goes out in the spring.