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Needle Felted Nametags (and another picture felting workshop)

Needle Felted Nametags (and another picture felting workshop)

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Since last we chatted, I have been busy.

I ran another needle felted landscape workshop for the local guild. How did I not notice it was scheduled on Valentine’s Day (?). I also forgot to take progress pictures as the students worked. I did remind them to take photos, since it is helpful to see your image digitally. Seeing the picture in a digital format, helps your brain focus and actually see what you’re working on, rather than saying yes, that green blob is a tree. You can also look at your picture in a mirror or rotate the image to help see spatial relationships (negative space) and proportions more clearly.

5 Students from the Feb 14th guild workshop of picture felting, each is holding there pictrure1.1) the students and their pictures

interior room with shelve to righ, tables in front have abandoned bits from class, on table in back many big bags of wool they were working from1.2 post-class debris (this is not the studio where I usually teach)

examples of needle felting both 2D, 3-D and partly 3-D as well as 2 books 1.3) Display of 2-D and 3-D needle felting (Shark boy and the mer-pets volunteered this time), you can just see the front book is my early birthday present.

The Ultimate Guide to Needle Felted Animal and Bird Art: A step by step guide to creating stunning felted artwork, picture of cover1.4) My new book, an early birthday gift from Glenn. it looks very good, but i will get a chance to start reading it after I get this posted.

 

Now on to what I have been working on:

I have misplaced, or possibly lost, my nametag sheep, with the magnet. I think the seatbelt knocked it off when I got out of the car. So, I may still find it when the snow melts!  Which means I went into the guild social to work on the library without a name tag. I felt naked, even though I was well covered in my late mother-in-law’s apron and I even had clothes underneath it. I need a new nametag.

I do want to keep the sheep theme, so let’s do a little Google image search and see if I can find inspiration. I also checked the computer and found an old Word document with 29 pages of sheep pictures. I added it to the new 3 pages focused on Swaledales, Icelandic and “Other” like Badger faced Shetlands.

printouts of various sheep photos2.1) Some of the images I had collected

Then I narrowed the images down to 4 that I particularly liked. I inverted the images, so I could pick a left or right-leaning sheep (not political, just position on the tag).

4 images of sheep i had narrowed the options. Drawing of swaiesdale with butterfly, 3 iclelandic rams. photos are merorred execp the last which one is a photo and one a drawing fo the same image 2.2) Flipped pictures to see both direction options

You may have seen photos of the booth selling 100% wool at Twist Fibre Festival (in Quebec last August). The felt comes in lots of different sizes. You can see the large role behind the Field & Fleece sign. The ground felt I chose was the Garden Felt for Seed propagation rolls “Snailes”, which you can see on the shelf by the plants.

close up of part of the booth selling felt and felt garden products and bags of wool (at Twist aug. 2025, Quebec Canada)3.1 Felt selling booth at Twist 2025 (Quebec, Canada)

I have not tried to use it for its intended purpose, but it makes a good ground felt for name tags! It’s 100% wool but has a bit of VM still included. The fibre is coarser, than the fine Merino 100% wool felt, but it’s also cheaper. the Garden felt doses have Kemp, (you can pick out quite a bit of the Kemp, if you are really board and want to.)  If this sounds intriguing, for name tags or pictures, or you want to try planting seeds in a wool snail, the company is called “WoolGrown Company” and can be found on Facebook or online http://www.woolgrowncompany.com).

wool strip with soil lieing on top with roll and lable sitting behind it.3.2) Seed Snail, add good soil, then roll up and add seeds. From Wool Grown Company (Canada)

wool roll with soil has seeds growing out the top of teh rolle 3.3) Seed snail with sprouted Seeds  From Wool Grown Company (Canada)

Since the felt is meant for garden applications, it’s a good idea to check and remove any VM (Veggie-Matter) found on the surface.  I purchased a few rolls. I wound up with a thin one and a couple of wider ones, as well as a piece from the main large roll. If I put a few pieces of the narrow one together, so I can add one of the sheep pictures.

There are two ways that I have enlarged a piece of background felt that is not large enough for the image I want to create (or I got distracted and ran out of background before I ran out of ideas). One is to just add wool off the side of the ground, needle felting it to create more background to work on. (You saw this happen on the moose Christmas card from a couple years ago.)

The second option is butting 2 pieces of wool felt together and using wool carded roving, like a glue-staple, laid across the butted edges to join the two pieces together. (i am sure that is clear as mud so let me try saying that with diagrams and photos!)

diagrams of putting two pices of wool background togeher4.1 Attaching two pieces of ground felt

You could try pre-felt instead of loose wool as a backing to join the wool felt pieces but the loose fiber works quite well. I found that pins run parallel to the join held the 2 pieces closer together while I worked vertically. Be careful not to work over the pins!

Photos showing attachment of 2 pices of felt4.2) Attaching two pieces of felt together

  1. To join two pieces of ground felt together, start by abutting the pieces, use pins to hold them adjacent, then lay fibre perpendicular across the join. Work vertically fist, to adhere the fibre to the background. Then switch to an oblique angle to pull the pieces closer together.
  2. Turn over the joined pieces to show the backside. On the back, you will see the fibre extending through the felt ground (similar to the effect seen with a reverse needle). Use a clover or fake clover punch tool to lock these elevated fibres into the felt (this is usually the side you will decide is the good side)

working on the other side of teh wool felt useing a punch tool (fake clover vertion)4.3) flip to the reverse side, and needle felt flat

You can see a small gap, but if you are adding fibre for your picture to the backing, it will disappear, and the joint will become even stronger. (I trimmed the edges to make it a better rectangle after the photo.)

looking at the joyns held up to a light to see how the fiber is holding 3 pices together as one.4.4) looking at the joins

Now we have a wool felt base to work on, let’s pick the first sheep inspiration. I decided to use the Template technique.  You have seen that before here. The sheep had his or her head tipped a bit to the side, so I decided to tip it a bit further. I also used a piece from the wider seed snails for my first name tag.

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5.1-5.6) first sheep name tag

3 images for the next nametag6.1) One down, what should I choose next?

sheep image has been transfered on to wool6.2) The image has been transferred, and I crawled into bed to watch a murder mystery

NB: (I am not felting while watching the TV, I am felting during commercials (which I am not watching), so there will be less likelihood of blood dripping on the coverlet. That said, it’s not the best place to work; you don’t want to find a nice, sharp, pointy, felting needle as you roll over in bed! I only dropped my needle once and did find it before it found me!)

starting to add the black background, this is covering the lines i was using for registration marks6.3) The background is obliterating the registration line

Note the outline of the image (the rectangle). I used it to keep the registration as I trimmed and added the image. I could not find my extra-fine point marker (Sharpie), so there is a bit of distortion by line width, but I tried to adjust for that.  The registration line will disappear into the background, so I am not worried about it. If you are working on a lighter background, you can use a lighter colour of Sharpie (yes Sharpies now come in quite a few colours).

I am mostly using the short staple fibre, called Maori, which is a mix with Corriedale wool. It is a bit stiffer in texture than merino. Maori, can be needle felted to a very firm surface which will ware well for a nametag. it also works well with a Watercolour technique; using thin wisps, or washes of colour  in layers, above a base colour.)

working at my messy desk, i have the image and a colour blocked vertion of the image pinned to the wool mat.6.4) moved back to my horribly messy desk in the office. (I will tear the room apart and fix it……eventually….. maybe later.)

there is something that looks odd about ythe jaw, i checked with the section of the template for the face and found the problem6.5) Colour in progress, and there is something odd about the angle of the lower jaw. Checking it with the face section. It is sometimes helpful to keep the pieces you have cut out as you transfer the image.

Ok, that is 2 options, lets try one more. I need some samples for the nametag workshop I was requested to do for the local guild. (It’s nice to know the names of other guild members. I can’t blame not-remembering names on 7 hours of anaesthetic forever, can I?)

I tried a variation on template transfer this time. I was able to find a small pad of transparent stickies (like the yellow ones, but clear and feel a bit plastic-y).  i traced the image and then cut out the outline.  I could then position the sheep wherever I wanted it.

a different way to template using a see through stickie (it feels a bit plasticy) traced image then cut out the shape posisioning it where i wanted it on the ground felt7.1) A variation on the template method of transferring an image.

Name tag number 3 has me thinking more 2 and a half-D again…. ok it’s really 3-D in spots…. So I have trouble keeping pictures flat. Well, I am particularly good at being dyslexic, which suggests that I do see the world in 3-d and struggle with mere 2-d concepts  (b/d/p/q are the same shape, some have turned the other direction, others have fallen over, but they are all balls with sticks stuck to the side of them!!! Really, I don’t see why it’s not obvious to the rest of you <grin>. If I must, I will bow to the greater number of you who see a difference. Let’s not discuss the horrors of E shapes and U shapes, thinking they are other numbers of letters!!) That said, I again fell off the wagon and decided that ears and horns and a head would be better if it had more space, so off the background they leapt. (I apologize for the brief rant about letters…they are troublesome still.)

sheep now has a partly 3-D head and ears but has 2 wires (floral) sticking out the top of his head. they will be horns and not antennii7.2) no that’s not antennae, they will be horns shortly.

I could not find where I had put my swax (from Sarafina fibre arts) –it makes the wire sticky so the wool wraps easily. Well, comparatively easier. I also could not remember where I had put my tacky sewing glue. I will have to either go through all my teaching boxes or buy another bottle. So I proceeded without them.

You may have noticed from the fabric behind the wool mat (in its freezer Ziploc bag) that I have again retreated to the bedroom to watch Midsummer Murderers and felt during commercials.

one horn is doen and carefuly stisted into shape . the other is bare wire7.3) first horn wrapped about to start the second

sheep now has body and background is starting to be added 7.4) body added and starting to lay in the background

insperational sheep with needle felted sheep on name tag 7.5) Remember to check back with your inspiration and reassess as you go. You don’t have to be identical to your inspiration. It’s the same as landscapes; you are the God of your landscape, you can move trees, or make them thinner, or just remove them if you don’t like them.

i have added felt shadeing for the eyes but may add fine beeds i am still thinking about it7.6) I have added eyes, but am now considering adding tiny beads for the eyes. I will put it aside and consider eyes again later.

If you get stuck, and are not sure what needs to be tweaked (you tried the mirror, digital image and inverting the image and reference), or if you’re not sure it is really done, you may want to go ask friends. This can be online, or if you are lucky, you can wander off to a guild social. I took the nametags into the social to get Ann’s opinion. I also wanted to decide which one I wanted to add a name to first.

nametags in zip lock bags sitting on the computer table wating for Ann to arive at the social.8.1)  taking the 3 name tags to the guild social

She liked them, but thought I should try a different theme, other than just sheep. I have other, non-sheep images collected and ready to try next, so we agree.

My husband had kindly stopped at the dollar store to pick up a roll of “Black satin ribbon”. When I opened the roll it was dark green velvet. It was very nice, but did not go with the tone of black I had used on the name tag. Second try at a different Dollerama, he returned with 6yrds of black satin ribbon. The ribbon is to make a necklace for the name tag. I sewed down one end and measured out extra length, using a pin to secure the other end. Once i have decided the length that is comfortable to take on and off i will sew down the other side or i may decide to add velcro to make it easyer to put on and off.

For the letters, I used fibre that looked pin-drafted, possibly merino. The section I have feels slightly felted. It was very easy to work with, even more so than the yarn I have used before.

picture of name tag with name added, labled arows indicate velvit green ribon, black satin ribin and white unspun pencil roving as well as 2 needles stuck into wool pad8.2) The green and black ribbons and unspun fiber I used to finish the name tag

Tools and fibre for this project:

If you were curious about what needles I was using, you can see the two single needles in the wool pad. On the left is a Spiral, also called a Twisted (Triangle) 42-333 , this one has a purple shank. On the Right is an uncoloured T38-333. I also used the fake blue clover tool, which is full of T-40’s (the real green one is smoother and less noisy, but it’s somewhere in the boxes of workshop supplies).

The wire was the 18inch black unlabeled(no gauge) floral wire from Dallerama. I suspect it is around a 20-22 Gauge it was strong enough to hold the horns in position.

The fibre I used were small amounts of carded short-staple Maori (a Corriedale mix) and a bit of off-white core wool from World of Wool. I was working with sandwich baggies of mixed colours.  Greys black and a blue, the white/beige and yellow (both from the chickadees), a mix of browns (from the Moose bags), pastel colours mix from Fibercraft and some brighter greens and yellows from The Olive Sparrow. These were all small baggies of fibre, most of which I had previously mixed for other projects and did not use. The short crimpy locks were from a sheep pin project, and some of the long locks I have been collecting for Mer-person’s hair.

3 pictures of various colours of mostly short staple wool in ziplock baggies. these are all left over from previous projects8.3) Some of the baggies of fibre I was working from.

If you don’t want to start a big project or are looking for one that is small and portable, you might consider making a name tag. They are lots of fun, you can have more than one and people remember you if you remember to wear it!

Metal bead shaft for decorated key ring, with a small ring on one end and a small globe screwed onto the other
A Few Oddments

A Few Oddments

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On looking through my file of possible posts I have found that there are several subjects on the list about which I don’t have a lot to say, so I thought I’d put them all together.

First, my work basket.  You may recall that I told you about the craft basket makeovers that I had done some years ago https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/06/12/craft-basket-makeovers-part-1/  After we moved to Dorset I acquired a marketing basket, can’t remember where from now but at the time it was “in” to be seen wandering around the shops with a basket on your arm.  I didn’t use it for that for long though as I was worried about my purse sitting on top of shopping and being a bit of a temptation.  So I decided that I’d turn the shopping basket into a work basket.  At that time I hadn’t been introduced to felt, I was still spinning, crocheting, tatting, sewing and embroidering so a market basket would be ideal for that.

I used some more of the fabric remnants which I had bought from the same shop in Maidstone where I’d got those which I’d used for the spinning baskets.  I lined the basket, having attached some internal pockets to the lining and made a padded/quilted lid.  That was fixed at one end of the lining and a covered button and loop held it closed at the other end.  I had found a miniature washing basket at a charity shop and I turned that into a pin cushion and I made a small pouch to hold small accessories like cotton reels.  That was fixed to the side of the basket lining with a snap fastener.

The basket got quite a bit of use, as you can probably see from the state of the lining.  One drawback I’ve found to sewing the lining to the basket is that it makes laundering it a bit difficult!

One of the first projects I undertook once I had learned to needle felt was a challenge from a company which used to supply packs of mixed yarns – at least I think it was from them though it might have been a Guild challenge.  It was back in 2002 and as I did not make any notes that I can find, I’m not entirely sure.  I seem to have taken some progress images as I have found lots of these though unfortunately they are not of particularly good quality.

What I do remember is that I had decided that I would make a miniature of a herb knot garden but |’m afraid that my memory of how I found/chose the design is now so hazy that I can’t be precise. I do remember that when I learned to needle felt our teacher gave us pieces of old woollen blanket on which to draw a design that we could fill in with needle felted fibres.  The idea was that we could then wash the work and it would become permanent.  I have amongst the progress pictures images of the design as drawn on a piece of blanket and of the lines becoming “box hedges” and the spaces being filled with “flowers”.  I can also see from the last couple of pictures that I added a “topiary tree” in each corner.

A couple of years later, I acquired a quantity of (I think) Jacob fleece which had been carded all together so that what I had was a sort of grey mixture.  I didn’t really want to spin it as I think I had been duped into buying a bag of really rough fibres.  At about that time I had become interested in stone carvings – gargoyles (water spouts), grotesques, and  heraldic beasts – particularly the Queen’s Beasts which are statues on display at Kew Gardens.  Anyway, I decided that I’d have a go at needle felting some gargoyles using the grotty grey Jacob.  No progress pictures I’m afraid, just finished pieces mounted on fabric covered card or canvas blocks.

Finally  you may remember that Ann M told us about some sheepy key rings that she had made.  https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2025/06/13/sheep-key-chain/ These looked so good that I’m afraid I stole her idea.  I told you back in December 2024 about the Norwegian Gnomes that I made at our local Museum Shop, for sale there. https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/?s=The+Museum+at+Christmas

Ann’s idea made me think that some miniature gnomes impaled on the metal “spike” could look good as bag charm gnomes to sell in the Museum shop.  I had to change the description from key chains to bag charms because the gnomes were a bit too fragile to sit inside someone’s bag/purse, but should look good dangling on the outside.  Here are photos of the “shaft” on which the gnomes are made, and a few of the gnomes.

 

Needle-felt Brooches and a Print Exhibition

Needle-felt Brooches and a Print Exhibition

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Since my last blog in November I’ve been very busy, though not necessarily making felt. I did, however, have a week’s exhibition with two friends in a local gallery the second week in December, and this afternoon I’ve dropped off 12 pictures for an open-call print exhibition, so that’s what I’m going to talk about today. 

Sitting in the gallery, I had time to do a little needle felting – I generally prefer wet felting but needle felting is better suited to gallery-sitting.  My friend Lynzi (yep, same name but different spelling) asked if I’d make two small brooches for her to give to her mother for Christmas. Lynzi liked some earrings I’d made previously …..

….. so asked me to make a mussel shell and a starfish brooch. I’d not needle felted a brooch before but didn’t think it would be very different from an earring so I set about it.

The trickiest thing was that she wanted them very small: she suggested between 2 & 4 cm. The smallest mussel shell earrings I’ve ever made were about 5.5cm and the star fish – which was a one-off – was considerably larger.  I didn’t think 2cm was practical, not least of all because of the size of the pin needed to attach the brooches, so we agreed on approximately 4cm. The mussel shell was relatively straightforward.  For earrings I make them curved like shells. For a brooch, I just made the back solid rather than curved and was sure to felt it very firmly so I could sew the fastening pin securely onto it. 

I had to adapt the starfish design as the centre of the starfish – which had to conceal the brooch pin – had to be a larger part of the overall design than it was for the earring.  I started off using a small star-shaped cookie-cutter to help me get an even star shape.  I concentrated on working the length of the arms and the centre of the starfish, so that when I stopped using the cookie-cutter I could work into the sides of the arms to make it less like a star and more like a starfish.

Here are the end results.

Mussel shell and starfish brooches
Brooches with a coin for scale

Lynzi was delighted and I’m looking forward to hearing what her Mum thought.

Now here we are in 2026 and I’ve had to put in quite a lot of studio time this week to create work for a print exhibition. Another local gallery (The Horsebridge Community Arts Centre in Whitstable) had an open-call for a print exhibition. The only requirement was that pieces had to have some element of hand printing. I wondered if my felt pictures with a printed tree would meet the criteria so had a chat with the organiser.  She said ‘yes’ so I decided to enter some.  The deal is that you pay per piece for a framed, wall hung item and you can put up to 5 unframed items per wall piece into a browser.  The gallery takes 10% commission on sales of the framed pieces (which you’ve also paid to submit) and 35% commission on the unframed, browser pieces (which you haven’t paid to submit). I opted for 2 framed and 10 for the browser.

These were the framed pictures I already had

And two unframed pictures presented with a card back and mount. 

So, I just needed to make 8 more unframed pictures this week to fill my quota for the wall and browser.  That didn’t seem too unreasonable when I decided to do it, but it has felt a bit less sensible given the time I’ve had available. It’s also quite cold here (for England). My studio is in an old industrial building (it used to be a bottle capping factory for Shepherd Neame, the oldest brewery in the UK). It has very little heating, so I had to decamp to my house part way through the week when my hands just could not cope with any more freezing water.

The unframed pictures have a mount with an aperture of 20 x 20 cm (about 8 x 8 inches) so the felt is about 24 cm square.  I thought the best idea was to make 4 pictures in one sheet and cut them apart during the fulling process. By ‘best’ I mean most efficient while still being a size I could handle on my felting table. I drew myself a little sketch to help me decide where to put the silk

Option 1 would mean the nuno felted area was the same in all 4 pictures so it was an easy decision to go for option 2.

I spent quite a long time sifting through my embarrassingly large collection of second hand silk scarves to select the pieces I wanted to use. 

I was keen on a grey leopard print scarf with a white background but it had stripes of more and less dense silk running across it. I thought I should just check that the dense section would felt OK so I did a very scrappy little sample. If you’re wondering why I got so little shrinkage, the felted scrap started off considerably bigger than the non-felted one.

It’s not easy to see here – more visible on the finished picture – but the more dense stripes produced a little more ruching.

It all seemed to felt fine so above you can see the first batch part way through the fulling stage.

Below is the layout for the second batch of pictures

I put a stripe of second hand wool (usually tapestry wool) along the top of the silk section. For the brightly coloured marbled scarf I auditioned a few different colours (red, yellow, dark brown, green)

And went with the green

So, here is the first group of 4 pictures with their printed trees

And here’s the second group of 4

I took the photos very hastily today and not in very good light: they are not as grey as some of the images suggest.

I’ve presented them with a back board and white mount and dropped them off at the gallery this afternoon. The deadline for submissions is tomorrow so, that’s pretty good for me. I have marked ‘last minute’ tendencies.

I print the images with a heat press – the kind of thing you might use for printing and image on a t-shirt. As I was heating it up anyway, I pulled together some pieces of felt that were test pieces or offcuts, cut them into small pieces and printed on those too. I will make these into cards.

Well, that’s me for now. Wishing everyone a joyful, healthy and creative 2026.

My year in review; 2025

My year in review; 2025

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Belated Happy Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, and Merry Christmas. I hope you are still enjoying the festive season (hopefully with fibre and felt!)

What in the world did I get done this year? This should be interesting, since most of this year was a blur of post-surgery and anaesthetic recovery (including a few very tiny but powerful pain pills – I have no idea what they were, but I vaguely think they may have been green?), I am extremely curious to see if I actually got anything done this year. If you are curious too, let’s take a look!

 

January: I was trying to get organised after getting bad medical test results (I was never good at tests) and found out I was going to have another surgery at the end of the month. Then be out of commission for a lest a couple of months afterwards.  I focused on getting notes ready for the other librarians to take over running the whole Guild library while I was out of commission.  I also taught an inkle weaving workshop and took a workshop on tablet weaving.

A big cheer up was the felt Christmas card from Eleanor. I was not feeling well after diagnostic testing and dreading the impending surgery, so perfect arrival timing!

Felted cristmas card exchange from 2024, a 3-D christmas tree and a raven on a branch in black / white/ grey1.1) Above the card from Eleanor, below was the card I sent to Eleanor

 

February 1st found me getting a drive home from the hospital rather than going to the Spin-in in Chesterville, Ontario. I have photos of the guild’s February meeting, and a few shots from other guild members of some of the things I missed. I know I was doing things, but I don’t remember any of it.

 

March was also a write-off. Anaesthetic and my brain are not friends. Luckily, Ann and Ann were running the library.

 

By April, one of the Librarian Anns had to step away from the library due to illness. I returned to work,  a bit early, Glenn dropping me off and picking me up (driving was not an option yet), it was unfortunately shorter than normal hours. I was not really up to speed; it took all day just to keep the library running. I brought in felting to work on if I got my library work done, but no luck.moose head and moose bag i had been working on at the end of 2024 but was not getting enuff work done to work on them in January2.1) Moose head and moose landscape bag. At this point, it was still probably a good idea not to be doing a lot of stabbing with sharp objects.

April was not all frustrating and forgotten, I also got a surprise to cheer me up! I was watching Marie from Living felt on YouTube and had been commenting on her videos (not that I remembered doing so shortly after each episode), one of which was her store’s Birthday party. My anaesthetic brain at the time did not remember winning anything, so I was so happy and surprised when one of her deluxe wet felting kits arrived! Thanks, Marie, that really cheered me up! (and I got to try it for workshops much later in the year).

Living felt from Texis wet felting tool kit and bag2.2)A surprise from Living Felts on line Birthday party

 

May arrived, but was still mostly lost in the fog. I seem to have worked on the Library report, and I am pretty sure it was Glenn who drove us down to the fibre festival at Spencerville (south of Ottawa). I have vague memories that I was very sore getting there and back, but it was so nice to get out and see friends and look at shopping.

3.1) Spencerville Fiber festival 2 photos of shoppers and booths3.1) Spencerville Fibre Festival

The long weekend in May (Friday to Sunday) was also CanGames and ghelting convention, which I have told you about before. I finally thought it might be safe to try a needle felting project. I may have been a bit premature in trying that. I somehow wound up with 6 fingers on one hand, and my under structure wrapping was not as tight as it should be.

3.2-3.3) Oops still can’t count! hand with 5 fingers and a thumb 3.2-3.3) hand repaired to only have 4 fingers and a thumb3.2-3.3) Oops, still can’t count!

evicting racoon in live trap from the garrage3.4) I somehow forgot we evicted another garage dweller. He was not impressed.

 

By June, I was feeling safer to make expensive decisions, but I limited it to one new camera. The old one was over 13 years old and was needing an upgrade. I still don’t really remember much unless I am looking at the photos from what I was up to. (I am glad I took pictures, or I would not remember doing anything!)

4.1) new Nikon bird watching camera with sneaky powerful zoom feature.4.1) new Nikon bird watching camera with sneaky powerful zoom feature.

4.2) I continued to putter on the Mer-Boyfriend I was creating for the missing Miss Mer 4.2) I continued to putter on the Mer-Boyfriend I was creating for the missing Miss Mer.

June 07, we tried to be in two places at once, the Lamsdown Fibre festival and the Dickonson Day Demo. I was doing shopping and photography, so no felting!

4.3) Demo at Dickonson Day4.3) Demo at Dickonson Day

4.4) one of vendors at Lamsdown 4.4) one of the vendors at Lamsdown

I had been trying to be careful about large perchasess with anesthetic-brain but I had been waiting for a stock tank of about this size to go on sale, so I bought it!

4.5) 75-gallon stock tank, becomes perfect fleece washing station. 4.5) A 75-gallon stock tank becomes a perfect fleece washing station.

With the addition of a fleece washing station in the side yard/Driveway, I got to work washing my way through the fleeces from the last couple of summers I had not felt up to working on.

4.6) Glenn was very helpful working the spin dryer for me. (its an old RV hand washer/spin dryer) 4.6) Glenn was very helpful working the spin dryer for me. (It’s an old RV hand washer/spin dryer)

4.7-4.8)the father’s day weekend brings a blacksmithing workshop to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan Onrario (East of Ottawa) - black smith made sisors on display on a folding wood table 4.7-4.8)the father’s day weekend brings a blacksmithing workshop to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan Onrario (East of Ottawa) - needle felting mer-person4.7-4.8)the Father’s Day weekend brings a blacksmithing workshop to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan Onrario (East of Ottawa).

This was a great chance to do some photography of blacksmithing, and do a bit more felting, on the young mer I had started last month.

4.9)There was also a demonstration of finishing a blanket by walking it. (walking is likely spelt differently when applied to a wet blanket thumped repeatedly on a table.) 4.9)There was also a demonstration of finishing a blanket by walking it. (walking is likely spelt differently when applied to a wet blanket thumped repeatedly on a table.)

 

July continued fleece washing, a bit at a time. I still seem to keep over-exerting myself, but I was feeling so far behind.

5.1) 3 more bins to sort and wash. 5.1) 3 more bins to sort and wash.

5.2) Trying to sort without a skirting table 5.2) Trying to sort without a skirting table.

This month, I was back to the Glengarry Pioneer Museum to demo felting for them at their Fibre/Textile day.

5.3) 3 of the Mer Family and their pets get out to a demo. It was an extremely hot day and they seemed happy to be in the shade of the porch.5.3) 3 of the Mer Family and their pets get out to a demo. It was an extremely hot day, and they seemed happy to be in the shade of the porch.

 

In August, the guild had a workshop on Cyanotype printing with felt. It was a half-day workshop and ran twice. I took lots of photos, which reminded me of playing with the enlarger in the dark room.

6.1)Cyanoprinting with felt6.1)Cyanoprinting with felt

August is also the time of the very large fibre festival Twist, about an hour away in Quebec. Glenn came with me as my attendant, and I filled in at the guild demo table with the Mer boyfriend I was working on. I missed getting a roll of garden felt, so I went back on Sunday. (We had the comfy duck sandwiches twice this year!)

6.2) I missed out on this size, but got a piece from the big roll 6.2) I missed out on this size, but got a piece from the big roll

There was more shopping, a bit closer to home, at Stash-it Fibre Festival in Kempville, Ontario (about a half hour south of Ottawa)

6.3) I seem to be focused on fiber acquisition again, I see more fleece washing in my future.6.3) I seem to be focused on fibre acquisition again; I see more fleece washing in my future.

 

September is Almonte Fiberfest (about half an hour west of the west end of Ottawa). I again did a “few” photos for the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum, who run the event (I hope I remembered to send them!)I am pretty sure I showed you the Booth Birds of a Feather by Catherine

7.1) Birds of a Felter booth, at Almonte FiberFest7.1) Birds of a Felter booth, at Almonte FiberFest

A few more fleeces to wash, the stock tank has been helpful, and fall seems to be holding off, so I may get these done before snowfall! One was a lovely but horribly dirty ram Shetland fleece

7.2) big Shetland fleece (looks like he took a mud bath before sheering)7.2) big Shetland fleece (looks like he took a mud bath before shearing)

 

In October, I tried a wet felted Slipper workshop with Ann. I was sure I could make a simple pair of slippers in a day…. No, not quite yet, it seems, but I had lots of fun, stayed reasonably dry and am looking forward to finishing up the slippers when I have another burst of energy.

8.1) Jan’s almost finished slippers at the end of Ann’s Class.8.1) Jan’s almost finished slippers at the end of Ann’s Class.

This month, I also spotted a cottage for sale, very close to my brother’s cottage. It had just had a major price drop, which might have potential, so worth taking a look at it.  There is also a Quonset hut, on about an acre of land, not too far from that’s for sale too. One is better for spin and felt in’s the other would be better for blacksmithing. At least neither is attached to a piece of protected swamp, which was almost everything I have looked at for the last few years!

8.2) cottage option8.2) cottage option

October is also the month for KanataCon Board game and Felting convention! They are the gaming convention with the HUGE second-hand game sale where I found a game about alpaca and one about lamas! I also got a lot more work done on the Mer-Boyfriend for Miss Mer.

8.3) Fiber related board games8.3) Fibre-related board games

8.4) Glenn with the young Mer-sturgeon now with bumps!! (on the mer not Glenn8.4) Glenn with the young Mer-sturgeon now with bumps!!

The day after the gaming/felting convention was a new Fibre festival in Merrikville Ontario. It was a nice drive down, fabulous weather for photographing the locks and a bit of good shopping.

8.5) Fall colours and the locks at Merrickville8.5) Fall colours and the locks at Merrickville

October was very busy. The day after Merrickville, we jumped in the car and headed for Toronto. We did a couple of shopping stops on the way to Oakville, but made it through all the Toronto Traffic! (Rush hour may be nearly 24 hours long!)

On Tuesday, Glenn and his brother did legal stuff, and I had a lovely day staring at architecture, photography, and felting.

8.6) Happy with his hand upgrade8.6) Happy with his hand upgrade

The next day, we stopped to shop with Monika at the Olive Sparrow on the way back to Ottawa. By the time we made it home, I felt wiped!  I think I could have slept for at least a week.

 

November arrived, and it’s time for the Guild Sale and Exhibition. This event is run by Ann, and I help where I can. I am still noticing I am not back to full steam yet. I usually can photo-document the event as well as run the music and demo felting. Not this year, photos and music were all I could manage. Most of the signage and layouts could be updated from last year, so not as much pre-work either. We had a couple of good felters with booths this year. If you check back in the blog, you will see the photos.

 9.1) Ann showing how a drop spindle works (she is wearing her new name tag) i cant remember when i made her her new name tag?) 9.1) Ann showing how a drop spindle works (she is wearing her new name tag).

At the end of November, I ran the needle felted landscape workshop. We look at wool in a painterly approach. Ann took this workshop and has been having fun with mist and trees!

9.2) November students and their felt Paintings (it looks like they had fun)9.2) November students and their felt Paintings (it looks like they had fun)

The next day, I got up nice and early and headed back to the guild. This time Ann was teaching, and I was the student. I was oddly tired (as if I had been very busy the day before) even before we started, but it was fun (and dangerous, you could get wet). I was able to get all the rolling done by the end of the class. I still need to do a bit more shaping to finish off, oh, the want of free time!!  I am not sure where all the time goes, but I seem to be missing more of it this year than usual!!!

9.3) my odd shape black hat in progress9.3) My odd-shaped black hat in progress. (Can you guess what it will look like?)

 

It’s finally December, and I’m not sure I was ever going to make it to the end of the year, but I am happy I did. I had a workshop teaching beginning Inkle weaving, with great students again!

9.4) Inkle weaving workshop9.4) Inkle weaving workshop

Inkle looms make straps, belts, trim, ties, and narrow woven band. It is usually woven where only the warp is showing, and usually the colour order of warping will determine your pattern. There is the option of Pickup (for which there are other better teachers), and I have taught the “inkle Two” class of many of the truly weird things you can weave on an inkle loom, but may or may not want to.

 

Throughout the past year, with the help of the other librarian, I have continued to volunteer at the guild library. I usually put in over 500 hours each year.  I am about to get to the number crunching for the library year end data. (which, considering my lingering deterioration of math skills, may make this more of a challenge this year)

I am glad this year is almost behind me. It was interesting to see what I did, even if I didn’t remember doing it, until I saw the pictures. The heavy fog seemed to go on for more than the first half of the year, with mini fog attacks even up to recently (I will be able to add again any time I want to soon). I am going to try to avoid having any anaesthetic for as long as I can in hopes my spelling improves, and my little bit of math comes back!!

 

I am optimistic that you are as excited and hopeful about 2026, it’s a pleasant shape, for a number, so I am optimistic. I also have some wet felting to finish and some dry felting to find! Have fun and see you Next Year!!!

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays

Comments 11 comments

Happy holidays, everyone. Christmas for us this year will be late. We won’t have family dinner until Sunday, when everyone can be together. The littles will still get Christmas day and Santa, but we big people will wait. I am hoping that that means I can play in my studio on Christmas Day. I think that will be a great present for me.

Currently, I am still working on my picture from Jan’s class.  This is how it was in the last post. I don’t like the tree trunks I added at the end, and I am not fussy about the fog.

First thing, take the tree trunks off and pull back the fog. I also want to soften the bottom edge of the fog. Although we do get fog that is just like that, with a hard line bottom sitting several feet off the ground, it’s not looking great in the picture.

I did try adding a leafless tree near the shed, but I pulled it off again before I took a picture. I also do not like this fogound tree. The branches are too round. I like the trees behind it and to the right. That will have to be next.

Jan suggested I try a frame on to get a better look at it. The picture is a little bigger than the frame opening, so I tried it with a little less sun and with a little less snow. Sorry about the bad( worse than usual) pictures. I thought I had them straight when I took them. I think I like it better with a little less snow and a lower horizon. What do you think?

I am still thinking about a fence along thetee line. Jan suggested making it at an angle across and out the side. I am not sure. I like the snow. I was thinking of adding just a small clump of grass in the snow on the right to balance things.

 

A Felt Landscape Class with Jan

A Felt Landscape Class with Jan

Comments 13 comments

I keep wanting to take this class with Jan, but it always seems to get scheduled when I have a class the next day or when I am at the Farmers Market. I finally got to sign up. My class was scheduled before Jan’s. Then I got the dates for the Christmas markets. The hat class was planned for the day after the last market. It would have to move. I would still be exhausted the day after the market. I don’t want to do that to the students or myself. So now I am taking Jan’s class on Saturday and teaching Felt hats on Sunday. I am sure it will be fine. I got all ready for my class early in the week, so all I have to do is load the car on Sunday morning.

To start, Jan emailed us some pictures so we could choose what we wanted to make. There was one I really liked, but thought it needed something else. So I had a chat with Jan about that. She does say you are the God of your picture. And she never does what everyone else is doing when she takes my classes. I went searching on the internet to see if I could find what I wanted to add. I did not have much luck. Google thinks it knows what I want to look at even when it doesn’t match what I put in the search. I found out later that I should try the in cogneto mode to get better results. Jan sent me a couple of pictures, and I found what I wanted.

I picked the one on the top right, but wanted to add a small shed. I know you were expecting one of the ones with sheep, weren’t you?

At the workshop, Jan had lots of her work to show us, to help us understand what we were doing.

 

 

Jan gave us lots of information about different ways to work. She explained all the needles she had given us to try out. You can see them stuck in the orange noodle. She included different versions of our pictures to help us pick out the wool we needed.

Then we had to pick our wool. She had a lot of wool. The bags covered 3 6-foot tables. There were also several books on the table for us to look at. I have no picture of the books. We were all wanting to get stabbing. I will ask Jan to look at the landscape book she has that I haven’t looked at before.

On to working. I chose to do a rough outline of where things were by holding the thin felt over the picture on a window. It was fun and absorbing, so I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have.

My friend Judy took this picture of me working.

This was my neighbour, she was working on a musk ox picture.

And here is a shot down the tables, of others busy stabbing away.

After adding the fog, I put in a little shack.

As we neared the end of the day, I went to add another layer of trees in front of the fog, but I couldn’t get them right at all. I think I was done with trees for the day. So I added the snow in the foreground. I may add the grass with stitching.

So now it is a few days later, and looking at the pictures, I can see the fog needs to fade out more. And maybe not cover all the trees. I will remove the tree trunks and fix the shack door.  Taking a picture really shows you what you can’t see looking at it live. I am not sure where I will go with the trees. I think I swapped the picture I wanted with a darker one. I may bring the fog down and add a few trees in the mid-ground, maybe with some snow on them.  We will see. I will take it to guild socials and continue.

Jan included a large instruction manual for us( 32 pages) in case we want to do another picture and forget everything we were told (completely possible, there was a lot to learn).

I think we all need to pester Jan to make this an online class or a book.  She has so much of it already done.

Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 2

Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 2

Comments 9 comments

October 22nd 2025

As we prepare to head out of Oakville, we were sad to leave. We have so many happy memories, of visiting Glenn’s parents, the years we were walking our giant black barking “cat” through the neighborhood, even a couple times past the hotel we were just in. That was a long time ago.  We stopped at his parents Church and visited the memorial garden. It still had flowers even this late in the fall.

Memorial garden with arch, benches, and blooming roses and other flowers. brick church with stain glass beside gardens7.1) Oakville Memorial garden

Now its time to get on the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way), the highway that turns into the Gardner Express way….. don’t let the name fool you it was not expressing speed….

As we trudged along in heavy traffic… it’s now well after 10am, the young Mer seems happy smiling out the window and looking at whatever is attracting his attention. Eventually the road turns north and becomes the Don Valley Parkway, still not moving fast but the scenery is now trees with tall building looking down into the valley. We even spotted a subway car crossing under a bridge. It all must be very exciting to a young mer on his first big trip. I had made cryptic notes, and checked with google maps before heading out, so we found the building without difficulty. It looks like an old industrial building that had many loading bays and production area for about 2/3rds of the building and the last part was a 2 story office area. It made me think of an old newspaper or print shop.

Finding The Olive Sparrow

Monika is upstairs, there is a small elevator so we can yet again avoid those evil stairs. Why don’t you join us and see what I found.

Holding the door open you can look past and see some of her felting supplys8.1 Monika welcomes us to the Olive Sparrow

If you have seen Monika’s booth at various fiber festivals you will remember walls of bags of colour in various fibers, tools, fine theads, needles and other distractions. I was looking for something to help a friends project and I was curious to see what else she may have that she hadn’t shown us at the various sales.

The Olive Spairrow sign and some of her store bags of fiber Bags of silks and specialty fibers most in white and off white felt rolls, and carded batts More carded battsMore carded bats i think this was some of the short staple Maori More bats in grays and brownsanother vew of bags of colours of fiber!! and some balbrasa8.2-8.9)the Olive Sparrow, an overwhelming amount of fibers and colours!! I noticed more things in the photos than I saw while there!!

husband book in lap napping beside display of long locks9.1) Glenn found a comfy enough chair to read and nap as we chatted.

I explained what I was looking for today and we found a few options, including some viscose in excellent colours. I had not found more maori short fiber batts locally, so was extremely pleased to see she had all the brown tones I had used to make moose for the moose bags. I found it compacted to a dense even felt.

 

Monika showed me a piece she was working on. there are lots of ways to transfer and image to felt or fabric ground, but once you start working you can obscure the guide lines.  we are both of an age that remember overhead projectors used at school. She had found some of the transparency sheets and had transferred her line drawing to it. so she could use it to check her layout. This is brilliant, it is easier then trying to redraw an outline as you are working or using proportional dividers.

a fox Monika is working on. from the Right photo, felt picture and outlinetransparency overlay with line drawing on it10.1-10.2) line drawing, picture felting on antique linen and reference photo, and using a transparency overlay on the image to check proportions and progress.

I wonder if I could add registration marks, or use pins, magnets, or bulldog clips to keep the transparency from shifting? I have not seen the acetate sheets for overhead projectors, since I was a teen ager, that was a while ago. (I will be doing a search on line!)

Monika also shared a method of blending and storage of the blended fiber she was using. Instead of just hand blending (stacking and separating until the desired colour is achieved. Which works well for small amounts but can be harder to reproduce the same colour each blending, for larger quantities.)

stacking and pulling fibers apart to blend top coat (keep the fibers parrilell)11.1) hand blending

Instead she lay out the colours in thin wisps similar to how you would lay out fiber for wet felting. Then lay wisps of the other colours on top. Alternating thin layers of wisps.

laying down a thin second layer of a second colour layeing down a 3rd layer alternating back to the same as the first layer of colour finished 3rd layer adding 4 layer of whisps of ligher tone11.2-11.5) blending larger quonties similar to wet felt layout but stacked in thin layers

She then took the line and from one end rolled it up keeping the fibers in the same direction.

from one end of the row she carfuly rolled up the fibers keep the fibers parrelell11.6) rolling up the fiber keeping the locks parrelell

She then worked from the stack she had just made and repeated the laying out of thin layers as she had just done.

she again pulled out thin wisps and layed them in a row she then added more thin layeres she repeated untill she had the amount of bending she wanted11.7-11.8-11.9) she continued to layer the wisps then rolling until the amount of blending she wanted had been reached

Once  she had the colour she had wanted she took a sheet of paper placing the fiber on it, then folded the paper over the fiber. this kept the fiber parallel. she then rolled the paper with fiber inside and labeled it for latter use. If I have been storing blended fiber for later use I tend to lay it into a zip lock bag which I usually label.  Storing it in a folded then rolled paper will keep the parallel alignment which is more helpful when making topcoat for a peice.

 

folded paper to hold fibers then folde over the end she kept foldeing/rolling untill the end of the paper she added a small pice of tape to hold the fiber secure and labbed it (fluffy)12.1-12.3) keeping the blended fibers organized and ready to use

I was very impressed with the collection of needles Monika had available.  She had be able to get one of the ones I was very curious about, the “teardrop” shaped felting needle. this odd needle has all its barbs on one side. What would a one-barbed-sideded-needle be used for in Industry? It is used then a woven ground fabric, has fiber added to it. the theory is that the teardrop shape will pass through the woven ground fabric without braking the warp or weft threads and embed the fiber to be attached.

I spotted this in the industrial info a few years ago and immediately was curious, would this work for hand needle felting too? But did not think I would get my hands on a sample. Monika had one and liked it, I am looking forward to investigating this odd needle further.

3 samples of felting needles she sells13.1) some of the needles in sets, she also has a broad selection of individual needles available too.

the Young Mer sitting on top of a paper bag full of fiber i had perchused!14.1)The young Mer seems happy with my shopping and is being helpful holding my map notes on our way back to the car. (the Mer-Boyfriend is enjoying his improved hands!)

 

I found viscose in various colours, a mill end and more Maori short staple batts . She also sent me home with small samples of two core wools she was selling. I think the Young Mer enjoyed the shopping trip and visit with Monika! Now its time to head back to the car and start the return to Ottawa. Once we are back there is more to do to get ready for the Guild sale and exhibition.

I hope you have enjoyed the trip to Toronto and got as distracted by the reflected light and shadows on architecture as i did. i hope i can have another shopping trip to Monika’s store (i know she will mail things but its so nice to be able to feel the fiber and have a visit with her!) I promise I will tell you more about the tear drop needles when life gives me a moment to have fun and investigate.

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Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 1

Finally Mer-Felting! in Toronto Ontario Canada part 1

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Finally Mer-Felting! 

Monday, Oct 20th 2025.

Monday Morning arrived much too early. Instead of my original plan of donning my apron, a cherished reminder of my wonderful mother in law, and heading to the guild to work on the library, Glenn was loading a couple of suitcases and a project box into the car.  It’s going to be over the usual 5.5 hour drive, with a brief stop to feed the car and ourselves. We are adding a couple quick shopping detours once we get into the Toronto area (primarily, Board Game Bliss). So maybe it will be quicker if you meet me in Oakville? The hotel has a pool you could wait in, but its hours are limited, and it was really chilly the last time I was in it. (No wet felting in the pool while you wait!!!)

map showing root from Ottawa to Toronto ont. canada1.11) A map of  the edge of Ontario, between Ottawa and Oakville, to give you perspective of where we are going today

It was a long drive down, is it possible that either Ottawa or Toronto have moved farther apart?  By the time we got into Oakville, and found a spot to eat dinner, the Pool was closed. So, how about we meet on the Go Train platform just down the street from the hotel, and you can come into Toronto with me, it’s the 8:30 express train. Don’t forget your umbrella, the forecast is rain all day.

 

Tuesday, October 21st 2025

One of Glenn’s Brothers ( brother #4 of 5 brothers) is joining us today, having flown in from the States. I am sure you will like him, he is a math teacher and thespian.  We hiked down from the hotel to the Go station. Oh my! The Go train has a raised platform for wheelchairs and walkers to more easily get on and off the train. The Train worked beautifully and was very comfortable.  Unfortunately, when we got to the subway station, the lifts for the subway were not all working, so it took a bit of extra time to find the lifts that were and get back from the detour the helpful transit people had sent us on. Good thing the building we are looking for is not too far from a subway stop. We arrived just in time, instead of early, as Glenn’s brother thought we would be. (Avoiding stairs always takes much longer when using public transit.)

We were going to a posh law office in a very high tower, in a canyon of high towers, reflective glass and old stone buildings.

some of the landmarks i could see looking out the window i was sitting by 1.12) Some of the landmarks I could see

There were comfortable couches and snacks by the reception desk, and an open stairway in front of a tall window. This window alcove had 2 chairs and a few plants, and a fantastic view looking, I think, sort of south or southeast. (It was hard to tell on the 16th floor, all my normal landmarks are at ground level, and I never had a direct view of the sun. Later consultation with the map suggests I was looking west-ish.)  The Brothers wandered off to a room on another floor to do legal stuff. (I am not a beneficiary, I am not one of the 5 brothers, so I didn’t go with them. I am just here as Glenn’s Driver, moral support, and to do some felting.)  I gave up the too-low comfortable couch for the area under the stairs in front of the window with my box of felting supplies. I checked with the office manager that I would be out of the way there, and the huge window could prove interesting if the rain holds off longer.

interior desk, wating area and behind a hint of the open stairs.1.2) This is a nice office, I don’t want to be underfoot, and the lighting is better over by the window.

window in back ground with glass towers in for ground 2 plants and a chair with my project box of Mer-Felting stuff1.3) Settling into a corner under the stairs.

vew out window with buildings, Hudson bay, Old city Hall New city hall1.4) There were some iconic buildings in my view. The Hudsons Bay building, a church(out of shot to the left) and what I finally figured out was old Toronto city hall and New City Hall.

I spotted an odd building that may not have been a building. I have seen a program on a subway system, I think it was Boston, but it could have been New York (both were discussed in the program), they had buildings that kept their facades, but had been gutted to add ventilation systems for the subway tunnels beneath them. I think this may be one of those fake buildings. It looked very interesting. I would love to have had a tour of it!

old brick building with turbines in center of it.1.5) a shell of a building? 4 massive turbines stick out of the middle of what remains of the stone building.

As I was getting organised to start felting, I noticed I had more than just architecture to watch this morning. I have seen roofers working before, but it’s always from below (not a very enlightening perspective). This was a flat roof, too, so not something I have seen done in person before.  This will also give you an idea of the actual zoom on my camera, as I got curious about that, too.

no Zoom
Some Zoom
More Zoom

1.6-1.8) Oh no, now I have made all the guild members very nervous!!!

While they are getting to work, adding plastic sheeting and rubber membranes to the sides, I should get to work too. As much as the Mer-boyfriend wants to do his own abs, I should really give him a hand (ok, literally). I am going to focus on hand and arm musculature today.

I started with forearms and strengthening the wrists. The density of the felt was too soft, and the wire strength was overpowering the wool felt through the full forearm. I want the arias just above and below the wrist to be much firmer so the wire will be persuaded that bending at the wrist is correct, while bending in the forearm is not. If you are making a figure that will only be in one position, this is not as big a consideration. Since I don’t know how they will eventually decide to pose,  I want them to have options.

Diagarm trying to show one way of trying to help the wire bend where you want it to is firming ether side of the joint and less firm interior felting at the joint.2.1) Diagram of wool density around a joint

Note: if you would like the surface over the joint to have the same superficial density as the surrounding felt, you can use a crown needle or use shallow felting to firm the surface, but leave the under layers less densely felted.

needle stuck in forarm extensor muscles2.2) working on the muscles of the forearms (the extensor group)

working on superior aspect of arm just above the elbow 2.3) working on the posterior aspect of the upper arm just above the elbow joint

 

It’s handy to have good myology (Muscles) and osteology (Bones) diagrams for this. If you don’t have an extensive selection of anatomy and myology books, Google can be very helpful with its search “Images” tab. Good research is part of the fun of felting!

Once I had firmed up the arms, I focused on his hands. I have the fingers wrapped and have added the beginnings of the thenar and hypothenar eminence at the base of the palm. The fingers can be tricky or fussy to work on. If you only work from one angle, it will flatten the look of the fingers, so working all the way around the fingers works best. Make sure that your needle has the first barb close to the tip so you don’t have to stab deeply to move the fibre. This is again a good spot to switch to a crown needle; it’s not as fast with only a total of 3 barbs, but it doesn’t need to go as deep to engage the fibres.

working the needle around the thumb reduces the tendency to flatten the digit by only working in one areabuiding up the mucsles at the base of the palm (thenar and Hypothenar emences) there is no exam at the end.2.4-2.5) working around the thumb

the Young Mer takes a brake on top of his project box2.6) Mer resting and having a break in his project box (needle in lat border of the palm).

I checked in on how the roof repair was going. I was trying to figure out if the gravel part was done or if it was yet to be done.

watching roofers lay out plastic on top of black layer, and wondering if the area with rock is finished or yet to be worked on.zooming in i can see the gravel is the top finished layer and it is yet to be added to the secion being worked on.3.1-3.2) watching roofers lay out plastic on top of the black layer, and wondering if the area with rock is finished or yet to be worked on. Using the zoom, I figured out that the gravel is the top layer.

The reflections are interesting with the stormy sky and landscape reflecting in the glass tower in front of me. The clouds have varying looks of impending downpour pour but so far, no rain has fallen. In the glass tower in front of me, I can see a landscape reflecting what is past the building I am in. As the light shifts and changes, the reflections shift too. It is distracting from my felting, and now I wish I were working on a landscape (don’t tell the young Mer, I will get back to working on him again!)

gray sky and building reflecting in glass tower in front of me3.3) Storm clouds and reflections in the glass tower before me.

If you look to the lower right side of the reflected building, you will see the landscape that captivated my attention. I am not sure if it was just the shifting lighting or if it was the segmentation of the image by the window frames. I spotted a brief sliver of light on the fall trees as it passed and disappeared.

close up of landscape reflected in glass with a patch of sunlight brakeing through the clowds3.4) The landscape reflected in the glass with a sunbeam piercing the clouds, highlighting a stretch of trees and houses.

The clouds cleared for a moment, a bit later, but were quickly followed by a thick grey miasma of impending wetness….

storm clouwds behind building but blue sky reflecting in glass clowds streach over the city and only a hint of blue sky left in the glass reflection3.5-3.6) It was particularly striking with the blue sky reflecting in the glass and the storm rushing in behind the building.

blue sky and white clowds reflecting in glass of tower3.7) The storm rushed past, determined to dump water somewhere else since the sky cleared and the reflections of clouds were fabulous

I next turned my attention to the old City hall (the new one is a half-circle tower, not nearly as interesting a building). The old tower and main building are dwarfed by the much taller buildings around it. Unlike the many new reflective towers, this building has ornamentation and detail to look at. I hope you are fascinated by architecture as I am and will be inspired. If not by the architecture, then maybe it will give you thoughts of who would live in a building with such interesting windows and what they should wear?  What would the gargoyles look like if they got up and flew off? Or, maybe the patterning around the clock face tower will inspire a vessel or scarf?

old city hall with new city hall in the back ground 4.1- old city hall disappearing into the new building surrounding it

copper roof and some of the window patterns in toronto old city hall4.2- just peeking over the building, the fabulous fenestration and detailing are just visible,

Gargoils jsut under clock face on tower one on each of the 4 corners 2 are visible in this shot4.3- Gargoyles!! Oh, the dentils in the roof and repeated under the gargoyle’s ledge! What is that pattern just under the clock? If only I could get closer…

detail of clock face and what i thot was a pillaster untill i zoomed in.4.5- Oh yes, I can get closer!

more decritive moteafs on a gable end of part of the roof4.6)- more patterning on this gable end, the sun with swords, circles with a bar and plain weave?

the light is deepinging the shadows showing more of the deail embelishment of the stone work and gargoil4.7-In the late afternoon, the sun came out, giving this raking light, creating depth and accentuating the details

light reflecting of nabouring glass town is cast on building and roof making intersting distorted patterns 4.81-  As the sun swung further around and pierced between buildings, it finally struck the glass neighbour of old city hall. Bathing the old building in reflected light and shadow patterns from its towering neighbour.

the shadows are darkening between the towers but the sky is blue with flufy white clowds. the relections on old city hall are continuing.4.82) Sunset is approaching, and the reflections off the glass tower onto the stone and copper roof are intriguing but almost lost amongst the urban landscape. 

young Mer showing progress on his hand. he is smileing and looks pleased.5.1)The young Mer showing the progress on his hands

close up of hands5.2) Hands can be a suggestion, or you can spend a long time adding knuckles and surface detail (ask Google to show you surface anatomy, and you should find diagrams of the superficial features)

By late afternoon, I had been switching back and forth, from felting to photography, as the light shifted and played off the reflective surfaces. That landscape I had been watching in the reflection of the building across from me occasionally had highlights of sunshine between clouds, causing parts of the landscape to be illuminated while other parts were darkened. It was very dramatic.

another late afternoon patch of sunlight hits the landscape behind the reflected building 6.1) Another sunbeam strikes the landscape reflection in the building across from me

The sun was getting lower, and I was hoping for a fabulous sunset.

the cast light is getting weaker but still creating intersting relections on nabouring buildings6.2) The reflections and cast light were getting interesting!

 Glenn was sent down by their lawyer (for brothers #2 through 5), to say I could go upstairs and join brothers 4 & 5, since a possible agreement had been found… but when I got there, ah, not quite yet. Glenn had carried my Camera, which accidentally stayed in the room with him, and I went to the hall by the elevators. There was a small table beside the door labelled mail-room and a perfectly placed pot light. So I unloaded my project box and got back to work. Unfortunately, I missed the sunset, since there were no windows in the hall. I did have a lovely chat with a lawyer (not involved with mediation) who was working late as well. I give her a quick demo-brake, explaining needle felting and the Missing Mer-teen dilemma and making a Mer-boyfriend to tempt her out of hiding.

The process ran into the evening, but I had an audiobook and was happily felting. Eventually, they were done. No one ever saw brother #1, but he must have been there somewhere. Brothers #4 & 5 and I all headed back towards the subway, the Go-train, and eventually back to Oakville. (Drat, it’s too late and the pool is closed again). (The floating would have been nice, but I am really not fond of the wetness of the water. Water would be much better if it was warmer and drier.)

Wednesday, October 22nd 2025

Very early in the morning, we said goodbye to Brother#4, as he headed off to the airport to fly back to the States. It was very good to see him. Hopefully, we will be able to visit the 3 brothers living in the States in the future, but not until the law applies equally, women regain their rights, and sanity returns.

 

We also packed up and contacted Monika, of the Olive Sparrow, to check if it would be ok to drop in on the way home. She is not too far off the Don Valley Parkway, south of the 401 highway. She would meet us in about 2.5 hours, lots of time to get to the other side of Toronto!!! ………..

We loaded the car with suitcases, the project box, and the Mer-Boyfriend looking out the back seat window and waving at passing cars (I did take the needle out of his fingers so it was easier for him to wave, if he wants to)  (to be continued shortly)

Remember, the sneaky comment button is still hiding at the top of the page as I am writing this, if you would like to comment or just say hi!

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Saturday

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Saturday

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Surprise, it’s the continuing adventures of a Mer-person’s (and Jan’s) busy weekend. Last post, we made it through Friday at the Kanatacon. Let’s see what happens next. (I am sure you can already guess!)

Saturday Morning:

Glenn, the Mer and I hopped in the car early so we could line up for the sale. Unfortunately, by the time we reached Kanata, it was raining, so they kindly let us line up inside.  We were number 26 and 27 (the mer waited upstairs with the felting stuff since he wasn’t shopping). The instructions were that you could select up to 5 games, then go buy them. If you wanted to buy more, you went to the back of the line and went through again.

3 photos of games piled high on long rows of tables filling the room and people strarting to shop through them5.1) The first time through, a lot of games are already gone! I hope I can find the alpaca and lama games!! How many gamers in front of me are Fibre People?

Success!!! I have scored the Fibrr barring animals!!! I also found 2 card games with birds for one of my sisters in law ( they were sent to her, but I have not heard if she likes them yet).

boxes of games, lama alpaca cute monsters and cats on covers5.2) First round of shopping, I got both the lama and the Alpaca games!!! Plus 2 that had tempting descriptions, and the boxes looked interesting.

tables mostly full of gamers playing various games5.3) A quick look around, and there are still shoppers downstairs.

I took the elevator back upstairs, dropped off the games with Glenn and took a quick look around the convention before getting back to work. One of the tables near me was playing a board game about Rome. It is a visually stunning game with detailed buildings, cards with drawings, a colourful board and many tokens. It all fits in a very, very, big box.

4 photos of the game about rome with small buildings and monuments in close up5.4)A game about Rome, lots of buildings and monuments

This is where we are with this young Mer-person. We are now at the part I have most trepidations about, creating the bumps running down the fish’s back and sides. (Scutes -back and Denticles -sides)

Mer-boyfreind back facing towrds us, lying on reference photos of stergons6.1 )Saturday Morning, after the first round of game shopping.

After reviewing my reference photos, I decided on the lighter (“White”) sturgeon. With further inspection, I could see that the first few(4ish)points along the back were spaced a bit closer together, and the rest were farther apart. The number varied from 11-14 Dorsal scutes; I went with 12. To get the spacing, I used sewing pins.

2 photos showing pins used to space out the Scutes along the back6.2)pins used for spacing

I kept adjusting until the spacing seemed correct. Next was to add small amounts of wool to create the point of the Scute and to felt down the space on either side of the point. For the second one, I realised it worked better if I lowered the space between the points first and then made the point. It is more of a half cone on each side of the ridge. The body colour also accentuates the cone-like shape.

felting the first scute (bump) pins mark spots for more scutes6.3)working on the first cone link-shaped bump

A second shopping with dropped prices was announced, so back downstairs I went (ok, I did not do the stairs). I mostly wanted to see how much had gone and what was left. I was not very quick getting to the basement, the elevator needs a key, and it took a bit longer than the stairs. This meant I was at the end of the line in the hallway, which left me standing by the cashing out table at the back of the sales room!  So I got shots of the remains of the game piles and the fervour of reduced price shopping! It was actually calmer than some of the fibre festival shopping I have seen (Black Lambs’ bag of cashmere and silk mill ends comes to mind)

2 photos and insert of games piled on tables with people shopping 6.4) At 11 am, the second go through with reduced prices on most of the games started.

boxed games Gillotene, Patchwork, Code, Cards agenst humanity (family edition)6.5) I found a few more games that looked interesting, but most had no fibre theme.

The table beside where I was working had a game going; these were a pair of steampunk airships battling each other.  (The map and miniatures were very cool; the math to figure out if their various cannons and guns hit each other eluded me, but they seemed to be having lots of fun even with the math.) They spent over an hour chasing each other around the board, trying to blow each other’s airships up.

2 airships heading towords the other players 2 air ships. they are moving above a hex map of landscape and a bit of water.6.6) Steampunk airships battle over a landscape of hexes.

Switched to a new book;  Kristen Painter’s “Embrace the Suck: First Fangs Club, Book 5” (this one has some mobster-like vampires, and other supernatural naturals). Now time to get back to work.  I continued blocking in the general shape of each scute.

2 shots of the smaller superior scutes6.7)the smaller closer closer-spaced scutes

have all the scutes blocked in.6.8) Scutes are blocked in

With the scutes blocked in, it was time to turn and work on his upper human body. I need to firm up his arms. I brought the reference diagrams I was using for a minotaur project I was working on.

Mer with feling needle in his chest, sitting on little table, in back ground gameing contiues.7.1) Turning to the human parts, let’s firm up and define muscles 

Firming forearms is not as exciting as it sounds, so I took a break and I tried a bit of the skin tone on his head and some of the fish colour on the fins. I think the skin tone is close the fin colour will need more work.

Mer on table arms are firmer but still need more work.7.2) building up the definition of muscles and firming up the wool in the forearm 

I got a bit distracted listening to the new audio book and concentrating on the arm myology, so there are not a lot of progress shots.

I had a few of the gamers come over to see what I was working on this time. I did a few explanations of needle felting as I worked.

This is always a fun spot to felt and watch the gamers have fun. I should go with Glenn on their regular gaming night occasionally, too. (I might even try a game?)

I know that sometimes I am not a particularly fast felter, I am not in a rush, and I enjoy the process, and I felt quite firmly. So it may not look like I have accomplished much for two days of felting. Good thing the young Mer-person seems quite pleased!

Husband holding Mer-person, both looking happy.7.3) Glenn and the Mer in progress, both looked quite pleased with the weekend so far! (and it’s only Saturday!)

Dare I tell you what happened Sunday? How about we save that for later?

Do you have any sheep-related games in your collection?  Have you tried the Alpaca or Lama games?  Have fun and keep felting

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Friday

A Mer-person at Kanatacon gaming and felting convention; Friday

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What a busy seven days! No wonder I feel like falling over and having a nap on the floor (which is lying and saying it’s very comfy and I should fall for it!) Chunks of the last seven days were even fiber related!!! I will not overload you with all 7 days at once,  or even all 7 of them! But let’s start on Friday, Oct. 17, which was the day my last post went up, about squishy-fish-centres.

The Fish-person in question from the last blog (AKA The Mer-Boyfriend), and I, along with a green folding tote of fibre and needle felting tools, and a cloth bag of snacks and more fibre. We all got in the car and headed off to Kanata (Glenn will be joining us after work), to go to the Kanata Games Club’s annual 2-day fall convention. This is a popular convention and is at the church they have their regular gaming evening the rest of the year. This also explains why the convention starts on Friday, since someone else already has the church booked for Sunday activities.

By the time we got there, Gaming had already begun. From previous years, I knew that the few empty tables would soon be full of gamers. Good thing I brought my own chair (walker), and I had my little folding table still in the car from demoing earlier this summer. I had the same spot at the back of the hall by the coat racks as last year. I can watch the fun, but am out from underfoot and not too far from the bathroom!

picture of friday morning bordgameing, logo for kanata gameing convention, photo showing part of mettle table, and felting suplys with mer-man in progress1.1) little table and felting supplies for the next 2 days

signs saying which games were going to be play tested and demoed. second picture of seting up a new game1.2)  The temporarily empty 2 tables directly in front of me will be filled with Playtesting and new game demos’

I got myself sorted out, got my audio book playing (Wen Spencer’s “Black Tie and Tails: Black Wolves of Boston, Book 2” (mostly werewolves) I was almost finished that so soon continued with Dianne Freeman’s “A Daughter’s Guide to Mothers and Murder: A Countess of Harleigh Mystery, Book 8” (nothing supernatural in this one).

mer person, 2 braids of fiber simmiler to the photo reference of a white strugon.2.1) I consulted with the young Mer about his fishy-part’s colours. It’s a bit early to start adding the top layer, but I am putting off deciding how to approach the Scutes and Denticles.

I have had fun with variegated braids for landscapes, since you can pull out a bit of whichever tone you want. If you don’t like blending to get the colour you are looking for, this may be an option (but blending is not difficult and fun to do too).

one of the braids unbraded to show the colours sitting beside refrence photo2.2) Part of the braid undone so you can see the colour variations.

Since I can’t work on the final colours if I don’t have the under layers to the correct shape, I need to put away the fish colour and work on adding the fins.

mer-person on foam nealing pad, with punch tool and photo reference. showing v notch in dorsal fin starting2.3) Adding the Dorsal fin, it has a “V” notch on the back part of the fin and is thicker at the leading edge.

wrapped wier and adding fiber over wrapped tail wiers. mer person's tail is on foam mat curved bladed sissors, punch tool and fiber sitting on top of it. reference pictures are sitting adjacent.2.4) starting the Heterocercal and Caudal tail fin

showing the building up of the fiber along the upper front endge of the tail fin. ref. photo is shown to comparie to tail2.5) There is a thicker area along the top edge of the heteroceral tail fin

As I was working, the convention continued around us. There was lots of cheering as well as quieter playing.  I am not sure which game this was; it caught my attention due to all the various game pieces.

hand moving game pices on game bord.2.6) I am not sure which game this was, but all the odd playing pieces caught my attention.

close up of fins in progress a bit more progresson fins this photo shows full mer-person2.7-2.8) the tail, Pelvic, and Anal fins have been blocked in, but the shape is not correct yet.

If you were curious as to how I am making fins.

To give each fin structure and poseability, I used floral wire.  To give it extra support, I added a couple of supports for the dorsal fin and a lower wire for the caudal section of the tail fin.

There are two choices: the wire can be part of the armature, or added as a supplemental element (not attached). I used both methods this time. The Pectoral fins were added to the armature when I reached the hips as I wrapped the first layer of core wool. I twisted the wire around the central aluminium wire armature, then out to the sides. I then kept wrapping wool below the wire along the fish body. The two parts of the tail are also directly attached to the main armature.

pictures showing the floral wire attached to the main armature3.1) fins that are part of the main armature, Pectoral and Heterocercal tail and caudal fin

 

The second option is to insert the appendage without attaching it to an armature. This is often done with individual bird legs if you are not making a full armature. For the birds, you can insert the straight wire and use a drop of glue to help secure it until you build up the fibre to support the wire. You can also insert a wire with a curve or loop to make it harder to pull out after more fibre is added around it. I used a single wire for the anal fin that went through the core wool, then the wire was twisted back upon itself.

A single wire can be used to create a single fin, as I did with the Dorsal fin, which went through the fibre in 2 spots, leaving a loop in the centre and one longer and one shorter wire on either side of the centre loop. I again estimated the length for the three sections of wire and twisted them.  When you are (prototyping), ok, guessing the lengths you will need after the rest of the core wool has been added. You can come up a bit short. I suspect the anathetic was hanging out in the measuring and estimating section of my brain. You may notice the change in plan as we get further into the project.

photo and exlanitory diagram showing the pathway of the wire in the core wool. more fiber will be added after wier is inserted.3.2) single wire insertion to create a secure Dorsal fin. (More fibre will be added to the core wool after the wire has been added.)

I this case, for the pelvic fins (there are two fins, one on either side of the abdomen), I ran the wire through the core wool at the level I wanted the fins to start, estimated the length, making a bend in the wire, then twisted it (this will both strengthen and shorten the wire). Then built up the core wool fibre of the fish body to further secure the wire.

Pelvic fin wires inserted through wrapped wool. the wire is then folded back to the estimated length. shows twised Pelive fin wires.3.3- 3.4) Pelvic fins are a pair of fins on the underside of the fish before the single anal fin.

It is easier to hide the wire and attach the fibre for the fin if I first cover the supplementary support wires with wool. So, like wrapping tiny toes and other fine appendages, start with a thin, narrow piece of fibre (or roving), you can always add more, but it’s a pain when you have added too much.

I secured the fibre that I will be wrapping around the supplement wire to the body at the base of the wire. Once secure, I will wrap the length of the wire. When the fin wire is wrapped, I added a thin layer of fibre over the wrapped wire, and tacked it into the fibre that wrapped the wire. I folded the fibres over the leading edge with the wire and then used the punch tool with fine (40-42g) needles to secure it to itself and compact the fin. I expanded the fin area with more thin layers of fibre and secured them with the punch tool.  I am keeping the fins thin, since fins are thin and I will be adding more fibre when I add the surface colour. If you wanted to do even thinner fins, you may choose to build this underlayer with your finished colours. I used the final outer fibre with Mrs. Mer’s fins, which are white and relatively thin (butterfly Koi).

felted fin resting on foam mat with punch tool sitting beside3.5 ) using the fake clover punch tool to flatten the fins at his hips.

Tip: support your fin on your work surface edge and use the punch tool to flatten the felt as much as you can. Pieces of pool noodle can be helpful to support parts of your work as you needle felt an appendage. Sara has a mini version of her stabit rice and burlap pad that can be used in the same way.

Tip: We are felters, we are not spinners who shun scissors as the work of the devil, and would never cut their spinning fibre. If you get the fin to the thinness you want and the general shape, you can use scissors to correct the shape. Remember to check that the cut edge is solidly felted.

In the evening, there was an announcement that we could go downstairs to view the games that would be on sale tomorrow morning. Luckily, there is a small elevator, close to where I was working, so I could check out the sale too. After looking through the extensive piles for games with sheep themes, we did not have luck with sheep, but I did find one game focusing on alpacas and one about llamas. If I get them tomorrow, I will take them to the next long weekend social and see if we can play them.

two shots of the gient game sale with insert of alpca and lama games.4.1) previewing the room full of games for sale.

It was getting close to 10 pm, Glenn had fun with the games he had played, and I had a good day of felting and audiobooks. It was time to head home. We will have to get up early if we hope to get such exciting games with fibre bearing animals! (I promise not to leave you in suspense for long!)

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