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Technique chat: Shingling

Technique chat: Shingling

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You may have seen my last post, making a fluffy llama. At the end of the last post I still needed to finish his eyes and add eyelashes. Today we were going to consider shingling; adding layers of small amounts of combed fibre or fibre locks in a pattern that mimics the coat on a creature, like that llama I was working on. The fur mimicked by shingling is usually on the longer side, but it can be used for shorter fur too.

When I first started to needle felt, there had been only one option suggested for making a long-ish coat: shingling, with the use of combed top.  I now know a number of variations on this technique and a few other options besides it. But let’s look at where I started and a couple of the variations.

As with all the projects I leap into, after the idea, it starts with a bit of fun research to find out what type of fur you want to mimic.   Remember to check if there is a summer or winter coat, or if there are regional variations to your animal. It will not look right if you mix the coat of a red wolf with a timber wolf, or have a winter coat on the shoulders and summer coat on the back and legs! Google image search will help, but you have to be careful; sometimes the image descriptions for photos on the internet are labelled wrong. Look for sites that are researching the animal, breed associations, or even hunting groups can have some helpful photos (although not the hunting or cooking parts).  It is also helpful to try to get shots from various angles. (I was extremely pleased when I found a picture of the underside of a polar bear foot!)

chart of lengths of coats examples of aimas and techneeks to consider5.0) chart of coats of animals examples and techniques

For those needle felters who don’t mind getting wet, Sara (of Sarafina fiberarts on YouTube) had been experimenting with making “Pelts”, which are wet felted skin pieces she adds over her shaped felt under structure. Her results have been effective and interesting but do involve getting wet (so I have stayed with the dry techniques for now. I promise I will get brave eventually!)

There are a few things to consider beyond just getting the colour you want and deciding on a working direction to add your shingles (bottom to top or top to bottom; I have seen other felters who work in both directions successfully).  Let’s look at some of my variables; you may have more considerations to add to this list.

Variables in shingling you may want to consider:

  • Which fibre will best suit your project (there is more than just colour to think about when picking fiber)
  • Fibre Staple Length
  • Blending your fibres and colours (Blended colour will look more natural than flat colours)
  • What scale to work in/ how big or small is your creature?
  • Working with locks
  • Amount of fibres used in each shingle
  • Stacking your shingles

Let’s expand each consideration.

Which fibre will best suit your project: (there is more than just colour to think about when picking fibre)

  • Stiff or softer fibre will give a different drape (use photo reference to decide which you need).
  • How likely is this fibre to felt to itself from handling or rubbing?
    • This is more important if the creature is repositioned regularly (handled).
    • Silk, viscose, alpaca, and llama don’t have scales as most wool does, so are less inclined to felt to itself. Wool that has less crimp and outer guard hairs like kemp and tog is also less inclined to cling to itself (felt easily) when handled.

amples of viscose fiber folded in 50/50, 25/75, 75/25 proportions as well as a sample using wool to help adhear at the fold location.5.1) samples in viscose

  • Trim or not to trim (embroidery curved blade, dog grooming scissors/ thinning sheers are options)
    • Trimming can occur to shorten the fibre length you are applying, or you can trim the fibres after you have applied the shingles.
    • A stiffer fibre vs a softer fibre will also react differently when trimmed by scissors. Stiff fibres can give a more bristle-like appearance when trimmed short.
  • Silk, Viscose and similar smooth fibres can be difficult to attach securely to the felted under structure:
    • Adding a bit of carded wool or soft spun wool yarn to the area you are securing will help adhere the slippery fibre, like a staple or glue. (You may not need to add assistance to adhere if you are finding it is embedding deeply and securely. Working the fibre in a bit deeper and varying the angle of needle insertion will help it stay without adding extra fibre as glue. If you can’t work a bit deeper, then try adding the staple or glue-like bit of fibre. Remember the extra embedding to secure the fibre will shorten the staple length showing as fur.

diagram devided 50/50 showing needle felting perpendicular to fiber lenght5.2 – fibre divided 50/50 felting across to create the shingle

5.3) Add a bit of carded wool or loose spun yarn to attach as glue or a staple to hold the shingle5.3) Add a bit of carded wool or loose spun yarn to attach as glue or a staple to hold the shingle

5.4)Alpaca fiber; folded, tacking folded fiber, and using extra fiber to help hold slippery fiber (staple or glue using loose spun wool yarn or carded fiber)5.4)Alpaca fibre; folded, tacking folded fibre, and using extra fibre to help hold slippery fibre (staple or glue using loose spun wool yarn or carded fibre)

5.5) Sample using Viscose5.5) sample using Viscose

Using a bit of carded wool as a stable, to help embed the viscose fibre. While a bit of the staple or glue fibre is visible in the sample, using a similar colour as the shingle will make the assisting fibre or yarn invisible. The next layer of shingle will also obscure the previous attachment site.

5.6) using a wider attachment area for slippery fiber5.6) For slippery fiber you can also create a wider attachment area

Fibre Staple Length

  • If folded, what percentage of the fibre is used.
    • Folded in half (50/50 split) was what was first suggested to me. This can create a lot of loft or thickness in the shingle. If folded so cut end is under tips, it will lift the tips and give a thick dense coat.
    • Folded (25/75) folded tips on top of longer cut end, gives tips dispersed amongst longer cut end.
    • Folded (75/25) folded longer tips on top of cut end, gives lift from the cut end with longer draping tips.
    • * You can also use almost all your fibre as coat, and only secure one end (90/10). This is not exactly a folded shingle, but in some cases it’s the proportions that work. You still position it overlapping, as you would in any of the other shingles.

samples of alpaca fiber, various proportions folded6.1) alpaca samples

  • Single needle line of attachment or wider area of needle attachment (for slippery fibre, the wider attachment site can again help the fibre stay attached to your creature)
  • Using scissors to shorten the fibre length if needed (we are felters and like scissors!). If you are using combed top, it is easier if you pull off staple lengths then trim, rather than cutting the combed top itself, which will give mixed lengths to deal with (harder to blend and attach)

Pros:

  • Twice as fast (except for (90/10))
  • Under layer can lift the top layer and make a fluffy-looking coat
  • Works well for large colour gradations

Cons:

  • Can become heavy-looking depending on the scale of the sculpture
  • Can create small colour changes but can be a bit tricky to get exact location
  • Fluffy look can be out of scale to smaller figures.

 

Blending your fibres and colours (Blended colour will look more natural than flat colours)

  • Using the same fibre length will blend easily and produce a uniform length of coat.
  • Nature is not flat colour. It helps to mix shades and tints of colour to make your creature look more realistic. (Dyeing over a natural grey fibre will also give more depth and subtle variations within the colour)
  • Matching colours can be easier if you use a “window”. Cut out a small square in a piece of white or black card stock, leaving at least a 2-inch border to separate the window from the rest of the picture. This lets your eye and brain separate the isolated colour from the background, which makes it easier to colour match.
  • Areas with spots of colour change can be easier if switching to smaller amounts of fibre in your shingles (many little shingles). Your other option is to carefully blend the colour changes within the larger staples. The difference is more about the amount of control, suggesting a colour change or spots vs trying to mimic a specific animal’s colour patterns.
  • For stripes, you could try to lay in following the colour pattern. I have seen a felter who drew the pattern on her animal then just filled in each adjacent colour section, slowly working up the side of the animal.

blending colours of muskox fur. used alpaca to creat the fur7.0) muskox layers of alpaca to make the muskox coat

What scale to work in/ how big or small is your creature?

  • Smaller will have less detail but will need to suggest more with what you have. You will also have to use shorter fibers or trim to get the fur in proportion to the size of your creature.
  • Larger can have more detail but will require more work and attention to photo reference. Enjoy the process of needle felting and don’t rush.
  • As an example of scale, my fox picture has a problem with the whiskers. They are the wrong scale to the image. I used horsetail fibre for the whiskers, and the size is too light in visual weight. I need to find something a bit visually heavier ether a coarser horse tail or possibly the outer coat of a musk ox. I have heard of felters using the bristles from paint brushes (the house painting kind) as whiskers too. (The awl and glue method was used with the paint brush bristles. I used a large eye sewing needle to secure the horse hair.)

7.1) the visual weight of the whiskers is too light for the scale of the image7.1) the visual weight of the whiskers is too light for the scale of the image

 

Working with locks

  • Which part(s) of the fibre are you using, Tips only, tips and tails?

8.11-8.12-8.13) Samples with locks

  • Locks with crimp are easier to attach than locks with less crimp, like the hair I used on my Mer-people. It’s not a huge difference, but remember to check the fibre is adhering securely and will suit the purpose you intend to use it for. If your creature’s purpose is to sit in one pose on a shelf, you will not need the same security of attachment that a creature that is regularly reposed would require.
  • Crimpy curly little locks make fabulous outer coats for little sheep figures and pins. If you find little short locks with lots of crimp, put them aside for a later project if you don’t need them now.

 

Amount of fibres used in each shingle

  • Are you making a puff ball or something sleek? Sample thin layers of shingles vs fewer thicker layers. You may also find the thin layers helpful if you are working with stripes or subtle colour changes.

shows soap on a rope hedgehog wet felted understructure then needle fleted brisles9.1) ”Crevis” is a soap on a rope hedgehog. I used stiffer fibre and packed it quite tightly to give good scrub-ability. I had fun mixing light colours around the face. I wanted more of an emotional expression of hedgehog rather than an anatomical Hedgehog, since his soapy centre is rectangular and rather flat.

 

Stacking your shingles (patterns)

  • You also can change either the spacing of the shingles or the way the shingles are staggered; (stacked / offset(running bond) / 1/3 offset/shingle pattern / random placement). Looking at the way tile is laid out can give a good reference for shingling patterns. Again, a bit of quick sampling will suggest your best option.

10.1) Wooden shingles, layers offset each row, not necessarily the same size adjacent shingle.10.1) Wooden shingles, layers offset each row, not necessarily the same size adjacent shingle.

tile patterns that we can use with shingleing10.2) patterns of subway tile to consider for felting layouts (Straight stack, offset or running bond, 1/3 offset)

10.3) alpaca shingle samples spacing10.3) alpaca shingle samples spacing

10.4) Alpaca shingle sample of spacing- side view10.4) Alpaca shingle sample of spacing- side view

  • Direction of work: Start from lowest furred area, working to highest, or the other way around. Both work; I just found the former easier than the latter, which requires you to lift the shingles above to position the next below. An example of starting at the lowest point and working up and forward would be my partly 3-D Muskox picture. I also check and see if there is a direction of hair growth and hair fall. This could indicate the direction to lay in the fur.
  • How much fibre will you use in each shingle section? If you have areas that have denser fur and areas that are sparser, you may be altering how much you use in different areas and /or the shingle pattern you chose to follow. An example of variations of fur on a single creature would be a Bison or Buffalo. You may also want to use different fibres to mimic the different sections (longer, softer and shorter, stiffer fibre). As long as the colours for the different fibres work cohesively together, your creature will look realistic.

 

There is also a way to add locks without shingling to create the illusion of fur. I used it to create part of the sheep pins, and Ann uses it on her little sheep figures. Those tiny crimpy curly locks are layered over the surface of the creature in swirls, then tacked down, catching bits of the crimp locks.

10.5) Ann’s Sheep using tight crimpy locks to creat the fur/fleece.10.5) Ann’s Sheep using tight crimpy locks to create the fur/fleece.

 

Let’s take a quick look at some of the tools I have collected that can be helpful when adding a needle felted fur to a creature.

Tools that may be helpful: (new toys you might like to try)

  • Sharp embroidery scissors: straight and curved bladed
    • Excellent for careful trimming and getting into difficult spots. The curvature can mimic the curve of your creature. There are various amounts of curvature and length of blade available, so it’s nice to have a couple choices.

11.1) there are a few brands of curved embroidery scissors, as well as fine sewing scissors and curved blade pet trimming scissor11.1) There are a few brands of curved embroidery scissors, as well as fine sewing scissors and curved blade pet trimming scissors

  • Pet trimming scissors for thinning coats/salon version for people (look like they have notches along one blade). They are used to thin bulk along the side of hair or at the ends, also for blend transitions, or give movement to hair. They are used teeth side on top and usually at an angle to the hair (perpendicular can give harsher lines if over trimmed).

11.2)Thinning scissors have different teeth spacing that removes different amounts of hair.11.2)Thinning scissors have different teeth spacing that removes different amounts of hair.

If you are really curious, this is a quick video on using them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEqi7qfZyOY

  • Eyebrow brush and comb (weird original idea, but great for felting). This tiny brush and comb allows you to do small adjustments to your creature’s coat. I saw a tiny mettle comb version, but haven’t seen it again now that I have a use for it.

11.3) Eye brow tools11.3) Eyebrow tools

  • Eyebrow trimmer – strange razor trimmer (again, why is this a thing? Ok I admit my eyebrows never fully arrived so why trim them? What if trimming scares them away and I wind up with none?!) Again, an option for doing fine trimming and adjusting.
  • The puffer for blowing lint off your camera lenses; it can help to fluff up a coat or blow out trimmed hairs after using the scissors. It comes in a number of variations, including an electric version that may blow away your creature!

11.4) air blower, originally for cleaning camera equipment11.4) air blower, originally for cleaning camera equipment

  • You could even consider Hair spray or styling gel, but sample first; you don’t want fibre to yellow over time!! (I was a cheap art student (many years ago) and some of the very cheap hair spray we used as fixative did yellow the pastel paper.)

 

I hope this has sparked a few ideas to consider when adding fur on your creatures. I am sure I had more to add, but the AC seems to be struggling; ok, it’s give up, since it is almost 30C in the house.  You may have more options or tools to share; please add your suggestions too.

I hope you have found a cool, possibly air-conditioned spot to felt.  Ottawa has been hot with repeated waves of aggressive thunderstorms and flooding (the street west of us had flooded basements; Glenn said ours is still dry, but we did lose the cover to our side door).  If you are South of us celebrating your 250th birthday, have fun on the 4th, and hopefully you will get to enjoy your fireworks. Canada Day had spectacular thunderstorms, but fireworks would have been more fun.  Have fun, stay cool and keep felting.

 

Felting at CanGames 2026

Felting at CanGames 2026

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Someday I hope we will have a local felting convention, full of classes for Wet, Dry or even Damp felting! In the meantime, I have done the best I can and found a cosy corner or even a full table at the board gaming conventions in the city (there are two which have an unexpected felting component, they are very patient with me).

corner of brink building, sign says Rideau Curling Club, blue door is open, there is a ramp with a black raling leading up to the door.1.1) CanGames 2026, Ottawa, Canada

Each year on the long weekend in May CanGames happens in a curling arena in downtown Ottawa (Canada). It starts on Friday afternoon and runs through to Sunday night. There are board games, card games, RPG games, game testing, and I think LARPs in the basement, but I didn’t make it down the stairs.  There were also vendors for shopping, and the Kanata Games club had an open gaming area at one end of the arena, across from the secondhand game sale on Saturday morning. Beside the open gaming and just before the last vendor is the felting area (it’s small, but an increasing number of gamers check in to see what is being worked on this year).

While Glenn gathered and priced the games he was going to sell, I assembled fibre, reference photos (I could have used more), my felt pad in a zip-lock bag, a selection of needles, 2 project bags and a couple of bottles of Mountain Dew to keep me going.  I already have in my car my small folding aluminium table, and my walker which is just a chair with cool wheels (Glenn says I need to upgrade to Ben-Hur wheel spikes).

We arrived early on Friday before noon and waited for the convention to open. I then settled into my regular spot by the open gaming and the last vendor spot. I have been in the same spot for the previous years. I had 2 project options in my felt box from which to select my weekend project. I decided on the partly wrapped armature of the llama, which was from the Llama Needle Felting Tutorial that I had started to watch on Sara’s YouTube tutorial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvqR_OPVmbI&t=1739s).  I had the armature and the initial layer of core wool wrapping done. Since I don’t have mobile access to the internet, I decided to detour from her instructions at this point…. I have pulled a few photos of llamas and comparison shots with alpacas to help, but I did not have time to do as deep a research dive as I usually would enjoy. I should have really watched it all the way through to the end of the tutorial, and not just the first part with the armature and the under wrapping of core wool. Let’s see how this goes!

berly wraped in core wool, armature of alpaca on small black folding table, there is a project bag, refereance images half a pool noodle with neeldes in labled spots, core wool and some candy also on the table. another vew of the previous picture showing berly wraped in core wool, armature of alpaca on small black folding table, there is a project bag, refereance images half a pool noodle with neeldes in labled spots, core wool and some candy also on the table.1.2-1.3) Lamma with initial core wool wrapped needs a lot of work at this point. On my little aluminium table is the llama, project bag with photo reference, a selection of needles in half a pool noodle, core wool, Smarties, Mountain Dew, Maple sugar candies, and the remains of an arrow bar.

I have already derailed from Sara’s instructions by adding a lower jaw so I can open his mouth. I may add a tongue or maybe not? I will have to look at more photos later. For now, I want to focus on the face and bulking up the body. I added bits of core wool. I think I was switching between the T38-333 blocking in fibre and the SP40-222 for more of the firming and surface sculpture.  Since I will be adding a fur top layer for his coat, I want a reasonably firm understructure but not as firm as my fish-people.  While I start sculpting his face, why don’t you take a peek at the open gaming from the Kanata Games Club? You may spot something fibre-related. I have already been asked if I have one of a few alpaca/lama board games (I have one of each so far, as well as quite a few sheep-inclusive games. We can chat about them if you would like some other time).

3 photos top shows shelving holding games and 2 stand up banners saying that this is the kanata games club and how to contact them. the lower 2 photos are the lid to the game Eternal Decks and the same game being played.1.4) The Kanata Games Club runs the open gaming area. They are very friendly and are quite inclusive about my felting.  There are a few very pretty games that seem popular this year. I am tempted to try one, maybe later in the weekend.

Across the arena from me is where the secondhand board game sale will be. There will be more games dropped off up until before the sale starts, which will be Saturday morning at 10 am. 3 years ago I was 3rd in line, 2 years ago I was second in line, I wonder if I will be first in line this year?

2 photos; top shows 4 tables alreay piled with boxes of games, more are ariving in ruf totes and large bags, lower fotto show 2 more tables pied with boxes of gameing stuff. this is just friday early afternoon more will arive through the day and early saterday morning.1.5) the used game sale

Just peeking, there are a lot of interesting boxes of games, some very old ones included too. I will do my best not to buy Glenn any games he is selling this year. (oops) I had better get back to work, or we will not have much felting to talk about today!

Friday afternoon into the evening, working on the understructure. Slowly sculpting the face and then starting to bulk up the hips. I regret not getting the chance to watch all of Sara’s instructions.

same black mettle folding table as before, with Llama understructure having more llama like shape, still unrapped towes, the is a name tag with 2 bull frogs, one jumping off a lilly pad the bigger one sitting on a lilly pad. there are also an open sleave of chocklet cookies and a pacage of sesimie snaps (2 out of 3 have been eaten)1.6)  Adding bulk and sculpting the face. I was showing the frog name tag as an example of 2D needle felting. I don’t think they would like felting as much if I were wet felting; their games might get damp! I have added chocolate cookies and Sesame snaps. I was sharing the cookies.

I was very focused on felting and chatting about felting. It was later in the evening than I thought when last year’s Chariot Race winner dropped by to see what I was working on. While chatting with her and showing her what I was working on, I eventually remembered to check how the Friday night chariot race was going. There seemed to be a lot of carnage this year! She said she had been attacked by many other chariots and was now out. I went over, and only 4 chariots look like they are still moving.

this is a game played on a track, the tables are spaced so the one running the game is standing in the center. the track starts out wide then narrows at the first of 4 courner turns, there are many charriots tipped on there sides indicateing a crash or death. there seem to be 4 chariots left racing from all that had started. 1.7) Chariot race Friday night

Glenn returned after playing one of the games upstairs and was ready to head home. We made a quick stop to try and sign me up for a murder mystery RPG game on Sunday (there are 4 players signed up, but if one doesn’t make it, I will get to take their spot)

 

Saturday morning: We headed in early. I have a new strategy this year for shopping. Instead of working at my table, then joining the line when it starts, I am going to be the line! The Lama and I got comfortable in the walker and watched more games arrive. I forgot to pull out the camera! I got focused on felting and then on shopping (Glenn had a list of things he had seen that I should watch for, and 2 other games he would like, if I see them.) As always, there seemed to be both amusement and enthusiasm in my odd focus of gaming topics. I seem to have all the sheep games, so have decided to branch out, and am now looking for other fibre-bearing creatures (or spin-able or felt-able fibres, can I find games about cotton or flax?)

I found 2 of his 6 games and no fibre-oriented games, but got distracted by a few other games that might be fun at the cottage.  You can see a few of them hiding under my jacket behind the llama, now back to felting.

same table as previous lacking candy, Llama is standing on photo reference with core wool beside, behind is a partly hidden pile of second hand games from the sale. the games are partly hidden by my gray jacket.2.1) Understructure of llama standing on reference photos in front of a stack of board games covered by a light jacket.

The face is improving; I don’t have the lower lip/chin quite right, and the eyes will look better when I add colour and eyelashes. Oh, and the ears (what you see is actually the wrapped ear wires since I want to be able to adjust the ears and pose them.) I can’t remember if Sara had added the ear wires or if I am off on a tangent again.

close up showing feet of llama photo reference and spiral felting needle. 2.2) Spiral needle on reference photos, the knees and ankles still need work!  What weird feet! I have got to work on those ankles. I spotted a couple with very lumpy knees, too.

close up of face the ear wires are covered in core wool and it make him look a bit alpaca like. 2.3) He seems to have stuck his face in the bag of alpaca fibre. I guess he approves of that colour?

back of woman, waring green/gold/black plad triangle woven shawl. her hat band scarf matches in colour, her hat is straw.2.4) Green, black and gold triangular woven shawl, this is the weaver who was demoing the triangular loom in Peterborough, Ont. She is wearing a scarf as a hat band that has similar colours to the shawl.

What a surprise! Do you remember the lady doing the triangular loom demo in Peterborough a few weeks ago?  She just dropped by to see what I was doing. It was nice to see what she had been weaving on her triangular loom.

I kept puttering at my understructure as he slowly started to look a bit more llama-like.

the face has a bit more fine sculpting and the upper lip is looking more llama-like, the lower jaw is open in this foto2.5) I think I am happier with the upper lip now.

A quick break to see what is happening around the curling rink.

top photo of one end of the curling rink full of tables set up with people palying bordgames. lower photo, game involing boats in water, closest on is large and has sails. 2.6) the curling rink and a ship battle game

bord game set up on plastic table, there are cards, counters, meples and posibly cubes indicating buildings, i am not sure since i havent played this. the board itself is quite colourful and may indicate a forest with rivers? 2.7) This is one of the games Glenn had me looking for; it was called “Root”. I am not sure what it’s about or how to play it. (but it looks pretty)

Back to felting, I am still getting too many “Is that an alpaca?” comments. I need to add the ears! Llamas have much taller ears than alpacas. They also have the reputation of being grumpy and spitting, but I am not sure I could express the latter in felt.

2 photos showing first one then both ears sitting on my felt working pad. the lower end of the ears are left with the fiber loos so they can be attached to the head and ear wires3.1) Starting the ear shapes, they need to be firm but not too thick so I can fold them and attach them to the ear wires (which are already covered in white core wool)

Ear shapes, leaving a wispy end unfelted to help attach to the head.

Looking at the few reference photos that I have with me, I keep thinking of their shape, reminding me either of Rabbits or Bananas? (Maybe I am getting hungry.) That’s not quite right, though; now he looks a bit like a weird, long-legged bare koala bear?

back vew of head neck and sholders showing ears which are looking too round. i will felt a fold in them and trim with sizors if i need to. 3.2) ears added using loose unfelted fluff and attaching to the head firmly. Also, attached the covered ear wires to the back of the ear.

I need to create more of a folded ear and make it thinner. I have scissors and felting needles; I can do this!

Now that I have the body to a medium firmness, the ears are close to what I want, and I am impatient to start adding the top coat. I am going to use the shingling method to create the top coat. As I have mentioned before, there are lots of ways to achieve the same effect. I could use a reverse needle to create a fuzzy nap, similar to what you see on the back of a felt picture. Or there are a number of options to lay on the layers of top-coat to create a more realistic coat.

You can create different effects by how you choose to add the fibre. Let’s take a peek at what I did this time to make a fluffy llama ready to be sheared, then we can consider other options I might have tried (probably in the next post, this one looks a bit long already).

I usually start at the lowest part of the body that needs fur and work up. I have seen other felters start from the head or centre back and work down. Both work, but the latter requires you to lift the fibre you have applied to place the next section under it. Both options will work, but the latter feels like more work to me. But if it works for you and you get the effect you want, then stay with the method that works.

2 shots showing adding fiber to hip and low back of alpaca.3.3) Alpaca in progress, adding fluffiness starting

llama lieing on his side on table with coopertive or solo adventure game. box lid in back ground, middle of table has spiral bound book of maps, there are cards and a carictor sheet also on the table to the left is a dice bowl and dice. 3.4)The Llama and I joined a cooperative game.

Llama was having a hard time playing since I had not finished his eyes yet.

2 photos top show positioning of fiber with tips up and cut end down on side of alpaca. lower shot shows deeply embeding fiber into llama body about half way beteen tips and cut end.3.5) Positioning the shingle of alpaca locks, then felting perpendicular to the staple length.

body of llama is now covered in alpaca fiber mimicking a reasoably scruffy llama in need of a hair cut. the neack is still bare he is standing up on one of the gameing tables.3.6) quite fluffy and scruffy alpaca, almost to the point of adding the neck fibre. It will need to be shorter than the body fibre length.

I am working cut end down and tip end up. I am also attaching the fibre quite deeply since this is actually a fine alpaca fibre I am pretending is llama. Deeply felting, it will help it stay secure.

2 of the 3 types of alpaca fiber that was in the bag i was working from. the two clumps one larger one smaller are sitting on the photo refernce.3.7) The bag I am selecting fibre from has a few odd, coarser sections. I have put them aside for now.

this is the third section it has darker base at the cut end and light chocklet coloured tips. it is a bit softer and has strong lock structure.3.8) alpaca fibre dark brown with chocolate tips

This is the section I am working from

  2 shots of the head neck of the llama as i am about to add fiber up the neck. the expresion is somewhat quesioning.3.9) About to start neck, llama is looking either inquisitive or confused

I am not sure if he is questioning my judgment or wants to be a different colour.

Another quick break to see what’s going on at the other part (gaming) of this convention

I had signed up as a replacement if one of the 4 players in a mystery RPG didn’t show up. One was late, but they eventually all arrived. Drat. If it is offered again next year, I will sign up earlier.  You got to play one of 4 little old ladies who were in a book club together. Someone dies (there was mention of Lovecraftian circumstances!!) and you have to find out what is going on.

Glenn helped to carry the walker up the stairs, then back down when all the games arrived. It is an old building and has accessibility issues. It is very hard to find a venue that suits and will not bump them for a wedding or other more lucrative booking. All that climbing was not fun, so let’s take a moment and look around before heading back to the Felting Convention Corner.

2 photos top has game booth for nightmare schematic smileing woman in hat has tray of cookies at front of table. lower photo shows play testig same game4.1-4.2) games at the convention, one that is being play-tested is offering cookies!

Glenn’s coughing was increasing, so we decided not to stay around to watch the Kill Doctor Luck (life-size) game, lest we pass on his plague, and head home a bit early. I packed up the box of felting supplies, one almost furred llama, and folded up the little table. Glenn packed it all up in the car with a few more games that had been labelled free and left on a table for redistribution (I picked up a few for the cottage!)

2 of the 4 tables set out with games that were now free to any convention goer. there are some quite old games as well as some newer ones. 4.3) On Sunday morning, games left for free distribution after the sale were put out on tables (4 tables this year).

from the hatch back vew of the inside of my car, showing pile of games under blanket, walker and large felt box of felting suplys and llama almost done.4.4) the car, loaded up with walker, games under black blanket, and a box of felting fibre, tools and a mostly done llama.

This was again a fun (felting and) gaming convention. You never know, next year we might double the size of the felting component and have 2 needle felters working in the corner! There was definitely more interest in needle felting this year.

 

I would like to chat more about the technique referred to as shingling to give the illusion of a coat. There are a number of options, such as the direction you lay down the fibre (top to bottom or bottom to top?), the staple length, do you fold it over, if so, how much half and half, 1/3 to 2/3’s or not at all?  Which fibre do you select to mimic an appropriate scale replica of what you are making? Long, soft and drapeyer as I was working on, or do you need shorter and stiffer?

I found an eyebrow brush. I did not realise that was a thing to do. I can see it being much more useful to me to gently arrange the fibre I just put on. We can also adjust the top coat with scissors if it’s not just right yet. I love that felters can cut staple lengths if they don’t suit the purpose wanted.

Let’s chat about that more later. Have fun and keep felting!

Jan in green sweter and floral apron working on adding fiber to Llama's neck. taken on the monday long weekend social at the local guild.4.5) photo taken by Ann

Two skeins of hand spun alpaca fibre side by side, the one on the left hasn't been washed and the one on the right has.
My wheel gets some maintenance and the alpaca gets a bath

My wheel gets some maintenance and the alpaca gets a bath

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How often do you do maintenance on your craft/hobby/fibre/work-related objects? That is, how often do you oil your wheel, change the needle on your sewing machine, clean your carding brushes? I bet this isn’t a type of question that gets asked much outside woolly circles (although “how often do you wash your hairbrush” really should be a thing in my opinion!)

A while ago, my Lendrum spinning wheel started squeaking a bit. Every rotation, I’d get a “squee, squee, squee” sound that annoyed me to no end. It finally dawned on me that it may be time to show it some love and add a few drops of machine oil onto its metal bits. I pretended I knew what I was doing, hummed and harrumphed a few times (like how I imagined a seasoned mechanic would when looking at an old car) and what do you know? The squeak was gone. Hoorah!

Then it dawned on me that other parts of the wheel might also be in need of some TLC. I bought a WooLee Winder a number of years ago and although that, too, had been subjected to some oiling in the past, I had never once disassembled the thing to do a deep cleaning. To put things in better context, I’ve been spinning raw alpaca… If you know your camelids, you’ll know those adorable guys can get very dusty! My winder had started to stutter and stop in one specific place lately, and I could see dirt accumulating on the outside of the shuttle groove, so I really needed to do something about it.

WooLee Winder on a Lendrum wheel
Photo courtesy of the WooLee Winder website. This one looks pristine, mine looked dirtyyyyy.

Being the independent woman that I am, I forged a plan: watch a couple of YouTube videos, dismantle the thing, clean it thoroughly, drink a well-deserved cup of tea afterwards and enjoy my feminist success.

I did Step One very successfully, then immediately changed tact: I delegated the task to Husband (meaning: I chickened out of playing with an expensive piece of equipment and asked him to do it for me, so I could blame him in case it all went awry).

Two hands are shown in the process of taking apart the WooLee Winder
I was offering useful supervision the whole thing (meaning: I was the backseat driver)

Trust me, the photo doesn’t begin to show how terribly dusty the whole thing was. Once it all came apart, I was aghast at how a piece of shiny metal could actually look dull and brownish. See the amount of fibre I removed from the inside!

Closeup of my hand holding some fluff I removed from the WooLee Winder
This was the fluff that was preventing my winder from working properly. Or so I thought.

Now the plot twist: once the WooLee Winder was reassembled, I was happily back at my wheel and ready to gunk it up with more alpaca; I was spinning away, when the thing kept stopping exactly in the same spot as before it was cleaned. Why, ye gods, why?!

The answer? I only thought I’d cleaned it correctly. Turns out, the amount of fluff you see in the pic was just the tip of the iceberg. Husband, I require your services and tools once again! This time we spent time really looking at every nook and cranny, and managed to remove some more debris. It wasn’t actually much more, but it was enough to prevent the mechanism from moving as it should.

It was finally working like a charm. I felt I went from driving a beaten-up Alfa Romeo to a Ferrari – that thing was faster than I remember and I had to adjust my wheel’s settings because as it turns out, I’d been making my Lendrum work harder than it needed to compensate for my inadequate maintenance efforts.

Now, to illustrate how much dust I’d been adding to the WooLee Winder, I present one of my alpaca skein baths. This was the second wash.

A skein of alpaca hand spun yarn is under very dirty brown, soapy water
Ew.

Is it any wonder my equipment needed some TLC? You’ll be surprised to know I am now planning on cleaning the winder again after I am done spinning this fleece…

Finally, a picture of two skeins of hand spun alpaca side by side. The left one is before washing and the right one is after; notice how the fibre has bloomed. I’m never short of amazed at how much fibres transform after a warm soak.

Two skeins of hand spun alpaca fibre side by side, the one on the left hasn't been washed and the one on the right has.

Next on my cleaning list is coming up with a way to clean my (currently very dusty) wool carders without water. Any ideas? How do you maintain yours?

I hope this post has inspired you to look at your precious tools and offering them some love. They help us be better at our crafts, after all. We need to keep them in top condition! Don’t be like me…

 

The handsome Hector the white alpaca, fleece shaven, looks straight into the camera
My first foray into plant print screening

My first foray into plant print screening

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I just looked up the meaning of “foray” and I must say, I really didn’t plunge into this activity with any violence. Sorry if I mislead you. If anything, my incursion – is that a better word? – begun because of love.

Love, you ask? Yes, my undying love for Hector! My husband knows he is only second to Hector and is alright with it. You’d understand if you saw him. In fact, let me add a photo of that handsome chap for your enjoyment, and then you tell me if you’re not equally in love.

*drumroll, please*

The handsome Hector the white alpaca, fleece shaven, looks straight into the camera

Isn’t he the most handsomest chap ever? Wouldn’t you sign up to an eco printing workshop if you got to spend some time with this beautiful alpaca? That’s exactly what I did.

Allow me to backtrack just a bit: Hector lives in Birkhill House, and I’ve met up with his human Lara on a few yarn festivals to chat and peruse her wares. I bought a few batts from her, and by coincidence they were all from Hector. Coincidence… or fate? I decided it was fate and from then on decided this was the love of my life and I’d do anything to one day meet the grower of the only alpaca fibre I’ve ever genuinely loved (the others I’ve spun/wore feel itchy!)

Fast forward to the day I bought a full Hector blanket to wash, process and spin. No, fast forward a bit more, to the day Birkhill decided to debut their eco printing workshop. I was so keen to finally meet him! I could thank Hector for the amazing yarns I’ve gotten out of his fibre so far.

First things first, I needed to actually participate in the workshop. Fine, I’ll make that terrible sacrifice. In I go to the working shed and play with plants, merino fabric and wallpaper base.

Plants used for eco dyeing on plastic trays
Plants ready to be chosen and laid out
A strip of fabric with plants on top in an "aesthetic" way
My flimsy efforts. Knowing what I know now, I’d definitely have filled the negative space with more plant material.

Like I said, this was my first time playing with eco printing. I had no idea what I was doing. I was well instructed by Sunshine, our tutor! Love her name, very fitting to her personality.

After we had our plants properly squished between the layer of paper and fabric, and tied up, it was time to add them to the dye bath for a bit. Intermission to look at Birkhill’s plant garden.

Wait, did I mention this workshop was a two-parter? After we looked at the plant garden, there was more fun to be had in the form of solar dyeing. I confess I had a little knee-jerk chuckle at the notion of sunshine dyeing anything in Scotland, but then I remembered I get more sunshine here than I ever did in London and shut up.

It was time to peruse the vast sample of plant dyes available for us to play with. Although I’m familiar with acid dyes, it being my bread and butter and all, I’m very ignorant of natural dyes – so I appreciated the labels for me to read and see what colours they’d yield.

We were given two silk and silk-and-merino micro skeins to add to our jars (mine used to house caviar, how fancy) and were given full freedom to choose which colours and how many to add. I chose three in the red-purple family. After arriving home I placed it by the window and waited.

At the time of writing my micro skeins are almost finished soaking up the dyes and are looking properly red and purple. Unfortunately, also at the time of writing, I have a cat on my lap and we all know it’s illegal to move them, so you’ll just have to imagine how lovely it’s looking at the moment.

Now comes the best part of my visit: alpacas! Have you ever booped an alpaca’s nose? They have no cartilage there and it’s like booping a velvety marshmallow; it feels magic. The next best thing? Feeding an alpaca.

Leonor feeds Hector the alpaca through the fence and has a very goofy smile whilst doing so
Thank you Lara for the photo! My happiness is very real.

I heart Hector!

After all this, our eco printing was ready to unravel and dry.

And that was my half day at the farm with eco printing and alpacas. I hope you enjoyed reading it, thanks for letting me share my love of Hector. I’ll leave you with some Hector skeins I’ve spun so far, all with different techniques. My favourite so far is definitely the semi-woollen using rolags, the yarn is so fluffy.

From left to right: spun semi-worsted from batt, 2-ply; spun semi-worsted from batt, chain-plied; spun semi-woollen from rolags, 2-ply; spun semi-woollen from textured batt turned into rolags, 2-ply (my favourite).

Four skeins of alpaca yarn, hand spun from Hector
I hope you like my cat socks, I left them in for your enjoyment.

Thanks for reading!

Wrestling with the horns of a dilemma – Art Yarn!

Wrestling with the horns of a dilemma – Art Yarn!

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For a long time, I have been promising myself that I would take a workshop to get some sort of grip on how to use a spinning wheel.  My friend Trish Kerr runs Irish Alpaca Yarns and she has for a long time been offering me a space on one of her spinning workshops – the stars never aligned as, invariably I was busy on the day.  Then, in December, the offer was once again made and, I was actually free!  The beautiful venue was not far away, Cornstown House (https://cornstownhouse.ie/) which was not far away from me.  Happy days!  Unfortunately there was a huge storm the night before but, despite fallen trees, we awoke to a clear bright day and I negotiated my way to the venue.

We were spinning using alpaca fibre.  I hadn’t realised it until then but some people who have an allergy to wool fibre can wear alpaca.  The irritant in wool apparently is the scales and alpaca does not have scales.

There were 5 students and some had previous experience.  Luckily Trish is an amazing teacher. I had warned her that, given my hideous coordination when learning something new, that this could put a serious strain on our friendship.  She laughed it off.  Trish has great patience which she got to draw on in bucket loads when it came to teaching yours truly!

We were working off Louet wheels which she supplied.  She is quite an expert on the older more traditional wheels too, and she was able to offer good advice on how to get an old wheel which a student had brought, back working again.

  • A traditional wheel one of the students brought in for some advice
  • What a beauty, owned I think by our host Fionnuala
  • All she wanted were cuddles

Trish got us all set up and was very attentive throughout the morning.   The first skill we worked on was treadling, as a first timer it took a lot of effort but after a while I had the wheel moving in a clockwise direction.  She set us up with alpaca fibre and soon we were all spinning.  Some (by this I mean most) much better than yours truly here.  But I was having fun.

Trish started us all off drafting setting us up with Alpaca yarn

The morning flew and we stopped for a delicious lunch and tour of the farm, both supplied by our most gracious hosts, Fionnuala and Dominic.  The tour was great fun, featuring  lots of Alpacas, some rare breed sheep (including one that loved to be patted, a cow and donkeys.  The farm offers Alpaca Trekking and workshops along with other events. When I explained that I primarily was a feltmaker and showed an interest in the Teeswater, Dominic disappeared for a few minutes and arrived back with some raw fleece for me to play with when I got home.

  • I had to include this photo. The pumpkin was still going strong!
  • She just wanted cuddles
  • Chatting up the girls!
  • The donkeys were very friendly, and happy out if you had a carrot in hand!
  • Just look at that pretty face!
  • What a beauty!
  • Those eyes!

When we returned from our tour, Trish gave us a presentation on alpaca fleeces which was very interesting.

  • So soft and of course no lanolin!
  • Trish showed us what to expect from a quality fleece

We plied our yarn in the afternoon.  Now that I had ‘mastered’ the clockwise, introducing the ‘counter-clockwise’ was, let’s say, interesting.  This is what I produced.  It is, I believe, kindly referred to as ‘Art Yarn’.  Now, I am in the horns of a dilemma.  I want to spin more but I don’t want to ever spin a nice even ply.  The general consensus in the room was that once you perfect the spin you can’t return to the Art Yarn.  Now, while I appreciate that at my learning speed, perfection is a long way down the road.  I don’t want to get there but I would like to spin more art yard and, if I’m honest, I would love a new toy in a spinning wheel.  Any ideas?

My plied alpaca art yarn

I played with the Teeswater when I got home.  Here is the result:

  • Scouring the teeswater
  • Final view
  • another view,lit by LED
  • A view of my experiment with Teeswater

Last year, I wrote up a number of posts about various dyeing  workshops I had attended.  In one I dyed a lot of fabric samples and wondered what I should do with them.  I think it may have been Ruth who suggested that I could think about stitching into some.  I have never embroidered by hand before but decided to give it a try over Christmas.  Here is my first effort.  I was inspired by a photo online.  Once completed, I padded it with some cotton batting and backed it with linen.  I might frame it  at some stage but I will need to find a suitable frame.

Using the dyed fabric samples, I tried my hand at embroidery over Christmas

I totally enjoyed my day spinning, even though I was pretty dreadful at it. But I love the result and for once, I really don’t want to improve greatly at this. Long live Art Yarn!

Do you agree? Any hints and tips on how I can retain my current standard? All suggestions will be very gratefully taken on board. I’m just looking for an excuse to buy a wheel.