Slipper Workshop

Slipper Workshop

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Not very long ago I taught a felt slipper workshop. There were 6 students including Jan. Here is the set-up in my guilds classroom It holds 6 tables reasonably well. You can see the table looms waiting for class on the left.

           

After we discussed the different styles of slippers, everyone traced their foot and sized up to make their template. We used floor underlay for the templates.

          

Everyone laid out both sides of their resist and got them nicely wrapped around

Then started embellishing them

Then it was time for felting. Start gently with some rubbing

       

Then rolling. No rolling pictures, you would think with everyone busy rolling I would have lots of time to take pictures but I guess I was too busy talking.

then more rubbing to heal the cut and on to fulling and shaping

And don’t forget to try them on to see where they need more work and in which directions. I brought new bread bags so they could try their slippers on without getting wet feet or socks.

Getting there

Here are some of the finished slippers.

 

Now you are probably thinking that at the top I said Jan was in the class but I haven’t seen her. Well, that is because Jan is the problem child of the class. She can’t just do what everyone else wants to do, and so she gets a section all of her own. Jan wants boot-style slippers. Ok, that’s no problem and you are wondering what’s the problem with that?  Well, she wants really tall rear entry boot, style “slippers”.

I had her come to class early so we would have time to discuss the how of making rear entry extra tall slippers. She says they are slippers and not boots.  You can see Jan’s diagram of what she wants in the first picture. I was explaining how the resists would work. This was best explained with a mini paper example.

Jan’s foot pattern and then her mane resist drawn out.

 

Jan started laying out wool about the same time as the others but she had much more wool and resist to cover.

she did a lot of rubbing but I didn’t get a picture of that and then she started rolling. By the end of class, the slippers had started to felt well but were not up to fulling yet. So now the next step is for her to visit me over the holidays and finish the slippers. I think this means I need to sweet-talk one of my men to bring the dryer into the studio. I am not sure where it got stored. I am sure letting the dryer do some of the manual work is a good idea. Maybe we can work on the dinosaur bag while it rolls around and around. These slippers should be good for sorting out what needs to be tweaked to make some more solid boots. These are Corriedale but we would both like to make some good boots out of Finnish wool. Have you made booths? What wool did you use?

As a measure of how much effort and concentration went into these, Jan only had about 20 or so pictures to share with me. All the pictures of Jan’s work are hers except the last one of Jan rolling.

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy Holiday Season!

Winter Solstice

Winter Solstice

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I don’t know about the rest of you but this time of year seems to move a bit too quickly. There are always extra things on my to do list during the holidays. Then this year, the football games I attend have been extended way beyond the normal season. The University of Montana Grizzly football team has made it into the national championships.

All of this to say, that I haven’t gotten much done on my forest floor piece that I showed you before.  So my post this week is going to be a bit short on fiber art content but I hope you will forgive me.

Nuno Felted Autumn Background with two felt tree trunks and stitched cheesecloth "moss".

Here’s my progress on the forest floor piece. I have stitched down the trunks and the cheesecloth moss. Next up, is to work more on the foreground rocks, and add leaves and flowers.

Since this post is publishing on the Winter Solstice, I thought you might enjoy a poem about winter.

THE SHORTEST DAY BY SUSAN COOPER

So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

They lighted candles in the winter trees;

They hung their homes with evergreen;

They burned beseeching fires all night long

To keep the year alive,

And when the new year’s sunshine blazed awake

They shouted, reveling.

Through all the frosty ages you can hear them

Echoing behind us—Listen!!

All the long echoes sing the same delight,

This shortest day,

As promise wakens in the sleeping land:

They carol, feast, give thanks,

And dearly love their friends,

And hope for peace.

And so do we, here, now,

This year and every year.

Welcome Yule!

 

Happy Winter Solstice to you all and all the best in the new year!

A card for Christmas!

A card for Christmas!

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This year we all decided to do a Christmas card exchange within the Felting and Fibre Studio group. It is just so lovely to make for another creative! It’s a bit frightening too as I wanted to give it my all. I also thought it might be a nice time to try something new and experiment – no personal pressure at all!  I was so excited to be partnered with Leonor who I know has received her card at this point.

So, I put my thinking cap on.  My first attempt was, and I am being perfectly honest here, an unmitigated disaster and the memory is probably best confined to the bin in which it quickly landed.  So it was time to move on and put the thinking cap back on.

Okay so, by way of background.  I had a poinsettia plant which I managed by some miracle to keep alive for about 5 years.  I will quickly add that this had nothing to do with green fingers, it just liked its position in my sun room with my orchids as companions (again the orchids like the room).  This summer the poinsettia developed a honey fungal disease which is a total disaster if it hits orchids so we had to part ways.  I managed to stem the spread of the disease and the orchids are safe for now.

As a tribute to that most beautiful poinsettia, I thought it could be my focus for the card exchange.  I wanted mixed media so I felted each petal, then I did some free motion embroidery on each one.  I hand sewed it onto a felted backing and added hand dyed stamens to the centre.  It was then mounted on the Christmas card.  It was a little too big for the card so I decided to mount it in a frame before posting it off.  The postal service can be a bit dodgy but I am pleased it worked on this occasion.  From Leonor’s message to me, I think she likes her card and  I have made more since.

Here is a little slide show of the highlights of my process.  Sorry, I forgot to photograph the hand sewing so you will have to use your imagination for that part.  Some of the photos are slightly distorted so apologies for that too.

  • I laid out merino and viscose for the petals
  • Wetting down the petals
  • The rolling stage for the petals
  • I dried the petals on a baking rack
  • I prepared the petals for free motion embroidery. I started with tear away stabiliser but it was proving difficult to get all the bits of paper out of the sewing!
  • I changed across to Solvy for the machine embroidery
  • It only takes a few seconds to dissolve the Solvy
  • Dissolving the solvy
  • Nearly there!
  • The template was actually a circle. The photo is distorted
  • The base, again a circle
  • Here is the finished Poinsettia after I hand sewed it onto the base
  • As the finished flower was a bit too big for the card, I mounted both in a frame.
  • Here’s a close up of the stitching and the stamens which I hand painted

This was a fun make with a bit of learning thrown in for good measure. You might like to make some too. If you do, I would love to see it! Also if you have any questions on the making just pop them in the comments section and I will be glad to answer them!

Wishing you peace, love good health and happiness and, of course lots of creativity over the Festive Season and for 2024!

Helene x

Title of piece plus images of items made from Bags of Inspiration
Bags of Inspiration

Bags of Inspiration

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Having just read Kiki’s tutorial  https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2023/11/19/left-overs-yessss/ on using up prefelt scraps, it occurs to me that I may not have mentioned something we used to do at our Guild (Dorset Guild of Weavers Spinners & Dyers) mainly to raise funds for the Guild but also for fun.

When I attended the Stitch and Creative Crafts Show at the Bath and West Showground in Shepton Mallet (Somerset, UK) back in 2010  – I saw a stand selling (for £8.00 each) bags containing 35gr of silk fibres, yarns, fabrics scraps, carrier rods and cocoons in various colours, left over from old projects which, when put together, made a fascinating collection for future projects.  So fascinating that I bought three of them.

They must have made quite a bit of profit on them because they appeared mainly to be the “waste” from artwork.

At that time (when I was part of the sub-committee organising the Guild’s Exhibition and Sale of Work) we were looking for a Guild Project which could be part of the exhibition or something hopefully to help raise some funds.  Well, I thought, our weavers must have lots of off-cuts of hand woven fabric, not to mention warp ends.  Then there were the spinners who would have odd bits of spun and unspun fibres of all types and colours.  We also had members who were dressmakers, beaders and embroiderers, and a soft furnisher, who were bound to have the odd bits and pieces that they didn’t really need.  So, with the blessing of the committee,  I put it to the members in the next newsletter that if they would donate to the Guild any odd bits of fibres, yarns, threads, warp ends, bits of fabric, beads, button, feathers, felt, cords, braids, tassels, sequins, sequin waste, ribbons, silk flowers and any other bits and pieces they could think of, we could make up some “Bags of Inspiration” and sell them to members of the public at our open days and outside demonstrations.  (I don’t know about in the rest of the world, but in the UK the word “bags” means “lots of” as well as “containers”, so the punning name “Bags of Inspiration” seemed apt.)

We used A4 sized polythene bags (which I was able to buy quite cheaply from our local green grocer) with an A4 sheet of card inside for stiffening, and I made up some stickers with the Guild’s logo on and a brief description of the contents, and posters also giving details of the contents.

Image of a poster detailing contents of a Bag of Inspiration
Bag of Inspiration Poster

We arranged a few bag making days at a pub in the village where our then President lived.  She had persuaded them to let us use their skittle alley at no charge, and we had a great deal of fun making up the bags and tucking in to “refreshments” from the bar and kitchen.

The members who came to these, brought with them all sorts of goodies which we spread out on tables, so that we could make collections of pieces which seemed to go with each other.  Those who didn’t think that their colour theory was good enough, could pick out a picture from a selection of magazines and have a go at matching colours from this  It was amazing how compulsive making the bags became.  You could pick up a piece of fabric that looked so dull and dreary and be amazed how it perked up and positively shone with life when paired with different fabrics, yarns, trimmings etc.  You just couldn’t stop picking up likely bits.  The difficulty was keeping the weight of each bag between 80gr and 100gr, so we quite often ended up making up at least 2 bags with similar contents.

image of tools and accessories for making up Bags
Equipment & Extra “Bits” for making up Bags

Prospective contents of a Bag of Inspiration - fabrics, yarns, fibres etc.
Prospective contents of at least one Bag of Inspiration

We put a price of £3.50 on each bag and they went like hot cakes – we sold out on their first appearance at our exhibition and sale of work.  Embroiderers and mixed media artists in particular liked them.

After a couple of years, we didn’t get so many volunteers to make up bags but we still had mountains of “stuff”.  So we added another string for our open days – Pick and Mix Your Own.  I had remembered that Woolworths (now there’s a blast from the past) used to have a counter full of different sweets and you could take a bowl and pick and mix what you wanted, and in the process buying a lot more than you would have if just buying a ready filled bag.

Boxes of different sweets to be picked and mixed
Pick and Mix Sweets.

It worked with our stuff too.  We gave the visitors the polythene bags and they could wade through all the bits and pieces picking what they needed, and we weighed them when they’d finished, charging £3.50 for 100gr.

We had had a lot of fibres donated so we started making up what are now called Art Batts and selling them as “Batts of Inspirations”, but because we were mainly selling these to Guild spinners and felt makers, they didn’t do quite so well as they were mainly able to make their own.

In all we made around £1000.00 for the Guild in the four years we were doing this.  Eventually though the members got fed up with spending time on making up the bags and the whole thing was shelved, as the Guild seemed to be relatively well off at the time.

Some time after that I took the idea back to myself and I was making up Batts to sell at Guild meetings, using luxury fibres as well as merino and synthetic fibres.  I made up some bands to fix around the Batts detailing the various fibres included in each.

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I was also making up and selling Bags, mainly at a Needlework Festival in Dorset where most of the vendors were selling materials and equipment for crafters, as well as various craft fairs and so on.

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I was getting the odd question like “they’re lovely but what do you do with them?” and  “can you make a bag out of what’s in here?”  So I made a sign from images of items that I’d made myself over the years and that helped.

Image of items made with contents of Bags of Inspiration
Some of the things I’ve made with the contents of BoI over the years

However, once Covid started causing problems, my selling opportunities dried up.  I had been intending to try selling Bags and Batts via my website, but it was very difficult and too time consuming to photograph the Bags so that the contents were visible, because of reflections on the polythene bags.  So that sort of died a death too and I’ve now shelved that project, and am using the bits and pieces I’ve collected over the years on theatrical costumes and props.

Perhaps some of our readers’ organisations, like Ann & Jan’s OVWSG, might use this idea to raise funds?

using the same white as the snow to build up area between legs of moose
Xmass Card Exchange! (the moose edition)

Xmass Card Exchange! (the moose edition)

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I have been working on something secretly… but now you can peek!

I seem to be on a moose theme lately and after a few options, I returned to it for my Xmas card exchange. Ann had been talking about her original plans for her piece and I had liked the option of a removable pin on the landscape, so it could be viewed as either a landscape on its own or the broach integrated with the picture.

I started with the same moose image that had been used on the guild anniversary bag.  I scaled it down to 3 smaller sizes to give me options, then printed out the images. I decided on the largest version of the options and cut out the silhouette. I traced the shape onto a piece of white craft “Felt”, ok it is a non-woven fabric but the amount of wool in it is somewhat suspect. It still works as a backing to build the moose on so I continued with it.

silowet of a moose printed page of moose in various sizes to use as a template  1.1 1.2) Moose Silhouette

I again used the Maori short fibre batt in the sand and reddish brown with a T38-333 needle. I put on the audiobook I was listening to and got to work.  ….I was sure I had taken a few shots as I started, but could not find them. So I unfortunately seem to have a shot of the moose part way done. I have the basic structure built, the armature wire has been added down through the head and curled into the neck. (Which was the same way, I had treated the moose antlers on the bag.)

Moose with antler armature  2) Working on a half 3-D image of moose with armature in near side antler

I had used a thicker marker than I wanted to use (I am sure I put the fine one somewhere……safe) so I need to both, solidify the space between the legs and get rid of the residue of the outlines. To do that, I added white wool. I pulled it into little pieces, about .5” long and made sure the fibre direction was very disorganized.  Once the in-between leg spaces were firmly felted I started looking for my good scissors. I had seen videos of the beautiful cat heads being cut from their felt backing before mounting them on another fabric for framing, so I was sure it was possible. I carefully trimmed around the outside of the moose. I used the good embroidery scissors to bevel the edges so the white would not be seen, then added a bit of wool where needed along the edge.

close up showing white between moose legs and snow in landscape3) I used the same white I was using for the snow in the background picture.

Next was sewing on the broach pin, I should have searched more for the white buttonhole thread, but I did find the black which should be strong enough to keep the pin attached. You can find these pins in various configurations at craft stores and online at Aliexpress. I have a bag of various sizes, … which has again wandered off somewhere. (Pre-new Year’s resolution – clean up my studio!!! or stop putting things in “Safe” places.)

bag of broach pins in various colours sizes and latch styles 4) Broach pins, in two styles and many sizes and colours.

checking size of broch pin to moose attaching broach pin with button hole thread pin attached to moose5.1, 5.2, 5.3 Attaching the pin to the moose (not the same as Pin the Tail on the Quadrupedal Large Animal.)

I also added extra white behind the body to make a level surface for the broch pin.

Close up of the antlers vewed from above 6) Close-up of antlers.

Here is an overhead angle showing the back antler is flat while the front antler has an armature wire and is curved. (This is why he got a little travel box and not a bubble mailer). The odd pink thing is my T38-333 needle with a pink elastic which is helping him stand to show off his impressive rack! (of antlers)

Since you can see the foam pad I am using for this project, I should probably talk about it. This is a gift from Ann. Her husband picked it up at his work. Its original purpose was for packing of, I think,  air filtration equipment. It has a plastic-y top layer and a softer foam underneath, so it would both support and cushion the delicate bits it was packed with. The top layer worked well to felt on.

parking foam, made from two types of foam 7) Foam from shipping equipment

It sits comfortably on my lap as I worked.

Next, I put on a new audiobook (Which again derailed my memory to take regular photos as I worked) and moved on to the background the moose could inhabit if it was not out adventuring with his recipient. As I considered what elements to include, I settled on snow, leafless trees/branches, a small pond with cattails, and a dark night sky with moonlight.

For size, Ann said from about 3×5 to postcard size. I started with a piece of good wool felt (from the Black Lamb) and marked out the design on a 3×5 scale but realized the poor Moose would feel squishy in such a small landscape. So I went searching the desk for postcards, I know I had one from Monika at the Olive Sparrow and one from Heidi Feathers. I found Monika’s first so started expanding the landscape to fit it.

postcard from Olive Sparrow checking size of picture to postcard, postcard is bigger and cn be seen extending mostly at the bottom of the fel;t picture 8.1, 8.2) checking image size against the postcard.

To check size, I compared the landscape, with the Olive sparrow postcard. It needs to be a bit wider and taller. I tried a bit of Tugging then added more fiber extending the sides. A good thing felt is forgiving if you want to expand your image.

You have probably read before or heard me in person strongly suggest you try to work to a size that can be economically framed. That means choosing a finished size that will fit a standard matt size. In my earlier days, I spent 13 years as a custom picture framer, mostly archival framing and hand mounting  (I also worked with parchment but I discovered that not everyone is as excited by it as I am. With the help of a friend, I even made some deerskin parchment!)  When I found my postcard from Heidi Feathers I realized that yes, there are different standards of sizes from North America to the rest of the world!!

My solution was to expand the snow and sky so it could be cropped to fit into a standard size frame on either side of the water. The other solution would be to float the felt background in a shadow box which could allow the edges to be visible.

In the 1990’s there was a framing trend called a memory box, it had a front or back hinge on a shadow box frame so that you could change what was on display. It was advertised to show off holiday trip photos and mementoes. I have found a few of them turning up second-hand and have grabbed the ones still in good condition.  You may want to keep an eye out for them too.

background for Moose pin, adding to the top of image 9) First, I extended the top adding height to the sky, trees and moonlight.

adding to the bottom of image 10) Then I added more to the bottom snow and under the pond. There is a bit more to the right of the largest tree.

Moose now has more space to stand and admire the reflection in the pond.

checking spacing for moose on the landscape 11) Checking if the moose fits in his landscape, yes much better!

Now what have I forgotten? Oh! He can’t see the pond or the reflection since he doesn’t have an eye, I can fix that!

adding an eye to the moose so he can see the landscape (trees in back ground, pond and cattails in pond with reflection of moon. 12) Added an eye to Moose and repositioned him in the landscape.

Now that moose is happy in his landscape it’s time to tuck him into a bubble pack and then into a cardboard box, which is covered in tape and brown paper. Then send him on his exciting journey to his new home.

Moose and landscape going into buble wrap bag moose and landscape wraped in buble wrap ready to go into little box to travel!13.1,  13.2) Moose entering his bubble wrap bag for his big trip!

He went off to the local postal station to start his exciting travel adventure.  I am now waiting to hear he has arrived safely.

AH HA!! He has arrived and I can now show you! I hope Marie will let us know if Moose is behaving or if has he run off to World of Wool. (He is closer to Wool Meca than he was in Canada!)

I hope you had fun seeing the mini-Moose and his landscape come together. Next time I promise to take pictures before enjoying an audiobook! I am looking forward to seeing all the cards once they have all arrived.

PS Marie’s Card of Festive Trees has arrived!! Thank you!!

A Christmas Card for Lindsay

A Christmas Card for Lindsay

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As you’ve heard, here at the blog we did a Christmas card exchange. Well, not necessarily Christmas but I went with that theme.

I worked out my idea in my sketchbook and didn’t (I was sure I had) take a picture and now that pad has gone AWOL. It was simple trees. OK, I can use my computer to make a triangle by using the draw a shape thing in my wordprocessor program. No, problem. Now just drag it bigger to make the start size……nope triangles do not do that.  I switched to publisher and with much fuss and bother and guidelines, I added the same amount to all sides and made a larger one.

I have already unpacked my stash of prefelt and put it into draws just like I was an organised, neat and tidy person. Well, that will last until I get everything else out of boxes and have to find a place for it all. Anyway, I got out the red and the white. seemed like appropriate colours. the red for the background and the white for the trees.

I wet the prefelt and shrunk it down to the size I wanted. checking against the picture I drew in my sketch pad.

then I cut the 2 sizes of trees the small ones will get needled onto the background and the big ones will be wet felted.

 

No jumping forward, I didn’t like the white trees but again I was sure I had taken some pictures here.  Clearly, I was doing something wrong.  I had my bag from the felted sheep glass handy and started adding curles.  See the messy tendancies do come in handy sometimes. Now they are much better, textured, colourful and happy.

 

Here are the triangles ready for their turn felting

Again wite was do stark so I added some wool to them first. Blue, Green with sparkle and White with silk.

and all done and as shrunk as they can go.

I then added some curls as garland and embroidered some stars at the top so they look more like Christmas trees and not just random triangles. sorry no single picture of the green one.

 

 

 

For these trees, I added some pins and some gold string so they could be pinned or hung.

I thought about adding some baubles but |I thought they looked crowded on the small trees. They finished at about 2 inches I think.

Next, I pinned the trees to the card. I was going to send it this way but the packaging would have been too fat and turned it into a parcel and doubled the shipping.  I took them off and put them into the envelope separately.

Usually, I make my cards postcard by ironing a print of the back of a paper postcard to it using fusible web. But I couldn’t find it. I printed out a card and tried to sew it onto the front of the card. I tried 3 times to do it and then gave up. I stuck some self-stick velcro dots onto the card and pressed the felt to it. No picture of that either as by then it was late and I wanted it in the envelope and ready to take with me to work the next day. It managed to fly over to the UK in record time and arrive safely at Lindsay’s house.

Lindsay kindly sent me a picture of what it looked like on the card.

Tree Specimen Book Open
Tree Specimen Book Update

Tree Specimen Book Update

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I thought I would update you on my progress in my junk journal Tree Specimen book. I use up left over paint to paint pages after I have worked on another project. So most of these are plaster pages that I have added to.

This shows the progression of one of the pages. I had painted the background with walnut ink (I think, but it was a while ago). The ink didn’t stain a portion of what I think was a medium that was mixed into the plaster. I don’t have a picture of just the white but it is the lichen portion. I decided to add a variety of blue green paints to represent lichen on bark.

This page was using leftover yellow paint. That was way too bright for me! So I added a variety of oil pastels and rubbed them in. I think this page needs more added to the layers. It doesn’t feel finished yet.

Book page with painted plaster background and applied tissue paper with rubbing of poppy foliage.

This page I had already painted the plaster background. I had made a few rubbings on tissue paper of my California poppy foliage. It looked very tree like so I used matte medium to put the tissue paper on to the background. Does it need more?

Book page with painted background, relief pine cone, free motion stitched moss and label.

I have shown you the pine cone page before but I am thinking of adding the bit of machine stitched moss on the bottom left and the label at the top left. The page feels more balanced with the additions.

Plaster book page with first layer of walnut ink.

This is another plaster page where I added walnut ink. That’s the first layer. Who knows what will go on top.

Tree specimen book (junk journal) opened to middle of book.

Here’s a photo of the book open. It’s such fun to page through now. I only have a few more completely white pages that need some color. I always have fun getting the book out and adding a bit here and a bit there.

Completing my sample book.

Completing my sample book.

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The previous post on the start of my sample folder is here:

https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=60081&action=edit&classic-editor

For the pages of my folder, I have used some more pieces of the linen sheet that I had discovered in a charity shop. The pages I have made are double sided, so I have eight pages in total, along with the front and back inside covers.

I stitched some more pieces of fabric, and the fabric elephant shapes to the pages. The fabric pieces are hexagon shapes from a previous project some years ago.

 

 

I have also used 2 fabric placemats, and I stitched these to 2 of my linen pages. These are not really practicable for use as placemats, but they are very decorative items. They had been gifted to me by a family member following their visit to Japan some years ago. So I have more of them for other uses – I wonder if I could use a couple for nuno felt? An experiment for next time perhaps.

 

The linen sheet is really interesting.

There is a line of fine mending on the linen that is not immediately noticeable, but on closer inspection it is more visible.  See below photos. The repair to the linen is lovely and gives further life to this fabric. It can be imagined that it’s life was not part of a ‘throwaway’ culture that is often talked about today. The cloth can still be used as bed linen or to make clothing, and now, many years later it remains useful to me. I think this repair shows how skilled women and girls were at mending and needlework. Fabric may not have been as plentiful or affordable perhaps, world conflicts will have impacted many people, and make do and mend became the norm.

               

 

I have placed some of my flat felt sample pieces in my folder.

                 

 

               

The pages are attached along the centre of the folder using a few stitches with embroidery floss and tied to secure.

I am really pleased that I have a place to keep these little pieces, and that I will know where they are in future rather than rummaging around in various drawers/boxes. I may add more pages in due course.

Not for Hélène’s eyes – Christmas “card” swap

Not for Hélène’s eyes – Christmas “card” swap

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This year, our merry (see what I did there?) group of crafters/blog writers decided to do a card swap among us. It didn’t really have to be Christmassy, it just needed to somewhat resemble a card.

The idea is to overthrow the ephemeral notion of a Seasons Greetings card on its head and make something with your own hands that a fellow crafter will appreciate and want to keep.

I was partnered with Hélène, felter extraordinaire, so I was naturally stressed out. I knew my card wouldn’t begin to compare with anything she created, but I put those pesky defeating voices aside and got to work.

It took me a few days to come up with a jolly (ha, again!, I crack myself up) theme for the time of year, and decided to join two strengths of mine: pattern search and knitting. Off to Ravelry I went browsing, and settled on Stay Cool  by Drops Yarn.

Ravelry first page results for patterns with the term "snowflake"
First page results on Ravelry for the term “Snowflake.” Pretty, but not very card-like…

Stay Cool is meant to be a pot holder but I adapted it to be slightly longer on two sides and kept the back plain so I could attach it to cardboard. In hindsight, I could have knitted both sides in pattern, but at this point I was still a little fuzzy on my end goal. (Sorry, Hélène!)

I used my own hand spun yarn because I wanted the “card” to be as handmade and personal as I could possibly make it. If you want to get geeky with me with specs, I used white Shetland spun woollen from pencil roving for one yarn, and an Alpaca/Polwarth blend spun worsted for the brown.

A printed version of the pattern on top and the finished knitted snowflake "card" on the bottom

Not unsurprisingly, the back came out “longer” than the front, despite having the same number of stitches. I should’ve predicted this because fair isle knitting constricts patterns a bit, but alas, I didn’t remember.

Now came the daunting part for me: wet felting. I wanted the end result to be a fuzzy and smaller version of the knit, so off I went to the kitchen sink armed with bubble wrap, soap and very hot water.

If you think this felted right away, you’d be wrong. Nothing happened for the longest time! In fact, I nearly despaired because my idea was to fuse the back to the front, and that never happened. Apparently, knitted jumpers accidentally machine washed only become tiny versions of themselves if you never intended for them to shrink – Sod’s law!

After what seemed like four years of wet felting, here’s what my snowflake looked like:

Knitted snowflake after wet felting, on cardstock background with "Merry Xmas" written on top with iridescent ink

Hopefully it still looks like a snowflake to the untrained eye. I punched holes onto the thickest paper I could find and attached the wool to it with string, because I want Hélène to be able to take it out and use it as a coaster (or something else functional of her choice). This way she can always have a laugh every time she reaches for a hot drink and sees my meagre wet felting technique.

Detail of "Merry Xmas" wording on card showcasing the ink's shimmer qualities

The ink I chose has gold shimmer in it, which I found quite Christmassy. I hope Hélène can forgive the “Xmas” instead of the word proper – I ran out of space.

(Aaand, a little confession: I cheated and sent my card swap partner something extra… ‘Tis the season, after all!)

A very cute needle felted Christmas tree with baubles and a star on top, made by Eleanor Shadow

That’s it from me. I have a newfound respect for anyone who takes the never-ending task of wet felting. What advice would you give me for future soapy endeavours?

OVWSG 2023 Sale and exhibition (part 2

OVWSG 2023 Sale and exhibition (part 2

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Part 2

Let’s take a quick look around the rest of the OVWSG 2023 Guild Sale. I hope you save some of your Vicarious shopping money for the rest of the booths!! So far you have only seen the Guild booths and the exhibition (OVWSG 2023 Sale and Exhibition (part 1) ).

The booth next door to the Co-op booth is one of the local Felters, Wendo Van Essen.

Wendo's Booth, Wendo, sootcase with kits Wendo's Booth, flying felted animals, sheep and pincoshens17) Wendo’s Booth

She makes extremely whimsical hanging figures, pin cushions, and pictures. You may recognize her felt from Fiberfest in Almonte where I also sneak up on her and take pictures! I am sure you would enjoy stopping and chatting with her, but I have to drag you away so you can see the rest of the show!

mohair in yarn and fiber Mohair yarn and socks18) Les Belles Bouclettes (Isabelle Perdigal)

As we move on to the next booth, you will find Mohair, In fibre, top, yarn and even socks. As I hope you can see the lustre of the fibre as the sun hits it in the afternoon. Those blue purple colours make me want to create a wild sky over an untrustworthy cold sea.

Judy Kavanagh and Don Haines booth19)  Judy Kavanagh and Don Haines

Judy and Don are woodworkers as well as weavers and spinners. Judy is well known for her beautiful spindles and decorative rigid hedles for Scandinavian band weaving. Don has been making beautifully weaving accessories and now a loom to hold a rigid heddle or tablet/Cards for weaving. He also has tools for spinners too, did you see those doffers? Take a look at Judy’s tapestry of canoeing at her family cottage, she also made and is selling the loom she is demonstrating the tapestry on! She also had patterns to make those lovely mits. Lastly, she also has dyed fibre and braided roving or top.

Studio 320)  Studio 3  (Jean Down & Roberta Murrant)

Jean and Roberta are local weavers who always have amazing patterns and colours in their booth. The cards are mostly miniature overshot patterns woven in warp the size of sewing thread. (I did buy 3 more this year.)  Once you have picked out your scarf, take a few more steps and check out the next booth.

Top of the Whorl Spindles21) Top of the Whorl Spindles

This is a new booth to the show and had a large selection of spindles. There were also bowls to use with support spindles and cases with ingenious lids that turn into supports for the spindle within. The glass whirls caught the light and had colourful shafts. There was a support spindle made from a porcelain drawer pull that cot my eye.


Wööl, emporium de laine  22)  Wööl, emporium de laine

This booth had Fleeces that were for sale at Reinbeck (a big fibre festival in the States).  These were fleeces that won awards at that show. They were too nice for me to pass up and  I bought a bit of fibre from a couple of the bags, Teeswater and grey Mohair. There were kits including basketry, as well as a number of natural dies including Indigo.

Wööl, emporium de laine wool locks22.1) Mohair and Teeswater


Luna 23) Luna

As you pull yourself away from the fibre and turn to the next booth, you will find woodworking, weaving and felting.   The yarn bowls had this amazing glow that I had trouble catching in a photo. I have to tug you along to the next booth so I apologize, I can’t let you linger longer.


Fab Fibre Two24)  Fab Fibre Two  (Jean Sharp & Bernadette Quade)

Both Jean and Bernadette, who were sharing the booth, had handspun yarn. Bernadette also had batts that work well for felting as well as spinning. Jean also had both knitting and woven finished items. Check out the fabulous colours in the shawl. After you have picked out a skaine or two, lets move to the next booth.
 

Handweaving by Janet Whittam 25)  Handweaving by Janet Whittam

In the next booth you will find Janet Wittam, a local weaver/Basket maker from south of Ottawa. She has been weaving for decades and makes amazing wraps, shirts, jackets, ponchos, rugs and baskets. I enjoyed taking a basket weaving class from her many years ago. She had us go for a walk along her country road collecting vines and other basket making bits, then we made a basket from local materials. It was a lot of fun and i would recommend it if you can catch one of her courses! if you turn and look across the way you will spot the next booth to visit.


Sami Lemperger Artistry 26)  Sami Lemperger Artistry

This vendor was new this year, she had these subtle coloured wraps. She had a lovely display, which she changed through the show. I like the long fringe on the blue one, and the green one had interesting colour changes that looked like water. Compared to Janet, she is a vary new weaver but she is making such elegant wraps with interesting colour changes. i look foreword to seeing what she has next year! Oh i think you are already distracted by the next boot so we should continue the tour.


Beaux Arbres Basketry27)  Beaux Arbres Basketry

We have a couple of Basket weavers in the guild but the others are weavers who also do basketry. Michael Peterson has been a basket maker for 30 years. He is Inspired by historical basket techniques and locally available materials. He also teaches basketry classes, which i hear are also lots of fun. He is vary knowledgeable bout the history of baskets and local materials used  to make them. He can also tell you about how he has repaired old baskets. Michael is lots of fun to chat with, but we should not linger to long or you will no see the rest of the show!

  Sprout Handwoven28)  Sprout Handwoven

Moving on past the baskets you will see this booth, with tea towels, dog scarves, bags and lovely shawls. I particularly liked the shawl in blue and brown checks at the front of the booth. i hope you have selected your tea towel, they were going quickly!!  Did you notice the handwoven bottle bag, it would make a perfect bag to carry a spindle and some fiber when your out and about.

Wayside Weeds and Wool29) Wayside Weeds and Wool  (Amanda Carrigan)

Amanda has a natural die garden, where she grows her die pants and then make them into dies. She dies yarn and knits beautiful mitts and gloves. She also sells kits so you can knit your own mitts and gloves. You can see how the colours look in the late afternoon sunshine. Did you get the kit or just buy one of the pairs of mits or gloves? Oh, i bet you just spotted the next booth, so lets move on!


Felt by Molly 30) Felt by Molly

Yes its Molly Underhill! Molly is another one of the felters in the Ottawa guild. She has a booth with a diverse selection of pictures and other felted items. I love the felted flower framed between two layers of glass. In the afternoon the light shifted, you can see how it made the flower glow. It was quite amazing. As a former picture framer i was impressed with the double glass and frame. it showed the delicacy of the felt but also protected it. I am sorry, but again I have to drag you away or you will never see all the booths!


Carmen Deschênes, Lise Susin-Horth, & Elisabeth Davy 31)  Carmen Deschênes, Lise Susin-Horth, & Elisabeth Davy

This booth had fibre batts, felt and handwovens by Carmen, Lise and Elisabeth. This was a fun booth when they were not chatting enthusiastically with customers they were chatting with each other! The wild patterns were eye catching but i kept coming back to look at a couple of the simple pieces.  it was fun to watch the large E-Spinner, did you see the size of that Orifice?


Mapi Creations32) Mapi Creations

As you pull yourself away from the previous booth, I am sure all the colourful batts and braids of fibre will catch your attention in the next one! The batts kept trying to entice me into buying one or two.  The light turquoise batt kept making me think of ice burgs. (It was much too early to think about ice!!!) Maybe you will find a braid of top or roving that will call to you?


Off the Loom33) Off the Loom  (Liliane McKennirey)

Liliane has been a weaver for a long time and is known for her recycling of fur coats into new items. I have one of her throws and it is lovely, soft, and warm. The through pillows are so soft but i fear i would fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.  You should ask her about the steps involved in working with an old fur coat to prepare it to be woven into a new coat, through or pillow.


Lin en ville 34) Lin en ville

We have finally reached the last booth (back beside the co-op booth where we started). Here there were fabulous tea towels and lovely soft scarfs. I purchased one of the tea towels last year, the thread count is vary high and it is beautifully woven.  the scarves were soft and drappy. i hope you got one of the tea towels, they sold very quickly!

 

I wanted to share with you what I had found at the sale, technically I had purchased the moose bags before, but I was demoing the second moose bag and they made a nice background for the photo. The Combs were listed for sale online and were dropped off at the sale, but I did pay for them when they arrived,  so technically I did buy them there too. I wonder if you can see where I found all the great finds?

35) My shopping

 

I hope you have enjoyed wandering through the guild sale and you found some fabulous acquisitions. If you are near Ottawa during the first weekend in November 2024 we will have another sale and it will be the Ottawa Guilds’ 75th anniversary year with an exhibition to celebrate it!

PS; i am curious, what would you have bought and which booth would you have gone back to chat and look through more?