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moose bags and wicker basket with felt chichadee in curling arnena
2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

2024 CanGames (and Felting) Convention Part 2 – Moose-bag

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Beginning of another moose bag.

We left off on Saturday, having just finished the Chickadee, let’s continue from there.

compleated moose bag on white plastic chair moose bag in embroidery hoop ready to start22) the latest moose bag sitting on the table with the partly 3-D moose bag sitting on a chair full of bags of wool. (proof that noose bags make good project bags)

This time I want to peel part of the moose off the bag while leaving parts in graphic 2-D.  I may or may not leave the writing visible but I will need an armature construction. I want a head, antlers, lower jaw and neck. I also need a spot where I can securely attach the armature to the shoulder/neck of the moose print on the bag.

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23.1-23.2) Adding the beginnings of an attachment point at the shoulders and then using the shape of the moose to shape the armature for the head

I used the bag to guess the size of the armature I would need. I added a jaw so I could open the mouth and add pond lilies later if I wanted to or the moose seemed hungry.

extending wire for lower jaw24) extending the wire armature for the lower jaw

As I started to wrap I realized the mouth length was too short. So, I added a supplemental extension to the lower jaw. Once the wool is felted over it, the lower jaw should be quite secure.

fiber added to lower jaw 25) Needs more lip but looking good so far

Opps! I missed a step here, I built up to the spot behind the eyes where the antlers will attach and then stabbed a steel floral stem 20ga through. I used the end to make the main branch of each antler then added the 26ga floral wire as the points/ribs. I then added more wool around the base and between the antlers so they don’t slide

using reference to build the understructure26) Using Reference pictures to help understand the shapes of the moose face

As I was finishing the wire twisting, Glenn arrived from the game he had been playing. It was time to pack up and go home.

Sunday was a family visit and lunch at the cottage but we made it back in time for Glenn to attend the evening game. I found an empty table, beside the life size kill doctor lucky game! The convention was almost over but there were still games going on, and now the felting convention was back underway! I had one of the couples who had checked in to see what I was doing stop in to see how I had done with the chickadee and liked the beginnings of the moose.

Sunday night gameing at the curling rink felting suplys on table in front of picture 27) back at the curling arena, many of the games are finished but a few are still running. 

The last few moose I have used the Maori short staple batt fibre, both for the underlayer and the overlayer. This time I didn’t think I had enough of the colour to do both so I continued with the world of wool core carded roving for the underlayer.

securing the wool to wrap the antlers to the head 28) Using the head to anchor the fibre, then wrapping up the base of the antler.

wrap the main trunk of the antler then wrap the branches29) I focused first on the main trunk of the antler then worked on the branches/points on the way back.

moose with wraped anlers the wire is stuck into the woven willow basket30) wrapped wire armature of Moose antlers and head stuck in the weaving of willow basket. Kill Dr. Lucky game progressing in the background.

game bord is drawn on sheets on the floor. players are standing in various "Rooms"31) The Kill Doctor Lucky game.

The sheets have the Rooms drawn on them. Some rooms can see into other rooms. Doctor Lucky is very annoying and has made many enemies, all of whom are at his house tonight. They all want to kill him but not let the others see them do it. With each move, you end up in a new room (not a hallway), and you get a card. Sometimes it’s a card that helps you kill or save Dr. Lucky, sometimes it’s an extra movement card or room card.  If someone makes an attempt to kill Dr. Lucky you can try to save him from cards in your hand, or if you find him alone in a room no one can see into,  you can try to kill him yourself! He is Very annoying.  https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/257/kill-doctor-lucky

There is a board game version of Save Doctor Lucky if you are opposed to killing him, but he is annoying!

secure wool to armature to create a base to add the colour and webbing32) carefully firming up the wool wrapping around the antler armature

antlers and under structures ready to add colour to antlers. chickadee is stitting on the handle to the basket33)The underlayer of moose in progress and  complete chickadee supervisor

Next to add the brown for the antlers. It will take a lot of poking to firm them up to the stiffness I want.

starting to add and firm up antlers with Maori short staple batt fiber34) I switched between single-needle and multi-tool

I am starting to lay in the spaces between the finer wires. The multi-tool punch helps firm and things the felt.   go slowly and feel for the wires so you can avoid them.

The second game of Kill Dr. Lucky was well underway when Glenn returned from his game upstairs. So it was time to pack up and head home.

Long weekend Monday.

As with most Mondays, there was a guild social scheduled.  Since it was a long weekend it would start earlier and would have the option of sheep related board games!

Long weekend Monday sheep (and cat) related board games35) Long weekend Monday at the Gild Studio,  Sheep and Kitten games.

Sheepy Time (a push-your-luck type of game), Sheep in Disgise and Exploding Kittens, I have not yet played so I am not sure what to expect. Yes, Kittens are not sheep but I just bought it at the sale and was curious if I could get anyone to try it.

walker with bag of library stuff and 2 moose bags and a basket full of felting stuff36) walker carrying guild library bag, 2 moose bags and a basket of felting stuff

I brought the felting I had been working on over the weekend and the bag of library stuff with me.

I worked on the library for a few hours then set up for felting.

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 37.1-37.2) Bat on a stick and chickadee are supervising work on the Moose’s head. Close-up of supervisors.

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38.1-38.2) Ann was working on her May felt and stitch.

I had been adding bits of fibre to the antlers, creating the large curved shapes, then spending long periods of time stabbing it into a firm thin felt. It still needs more flattening and firming.

adding fiber to the space between the branches of the antlers39) This was the point I reached by the end of the long weekend.

Poor moose will probably have limited opportunities for further work until June 22nd which is the 75th anniversary party for the local guild (OVWSG).  I did get the antlers looking a bit better and have started the undercolour on the head. I am sure he will look much more moose like as soon as I add the ears and do a bit more nose sculpting.

using photo reference to get the nose angles closer to correct40) Progress; adding undercolour for the head and continuing to sculpt the face

I hope you enjoyed the last bit of the gaming (and felting) convention.  As well as the progress on the latest moose-bag. Until we chat again, have fun and keep felting.

 

 

 

cover image, moose on bag with bits of wool fiber to use for top layer.
Moose bag 3 as a take along project

Moose bag 3 as a take along project

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I wound up spending more time working on moose bag #3 over the last couple of weeks than I had anticipated. My hubby woke up not feeling right, and we quickly wound up in emergency. As I ran out the door I had grabbed the moose bag, and my audiobook player, (an emergency to us, can be subjective to the hospital staff who assess your emergency), but this time he was quickly seen. After a quick trip to the magic doughnut (Cat scan), they decided they wanted to keep him. Then the usual speed of emergency kicked in, as we waited through the day for a spot to open up in the ward he was being sent to. Good thing I had my moose bag project, which helped keep my worry down. Glenn slept and I worked on the moose, there is no photography in the emergency ward so no picture of either of them, moose or husband. The wait was worth it, as he was transferred to a private isolation room on the ICU floor, (it happened to be the one that became free not that he was in need of isolation) at the far end of the ward. It was quieter and the lights could be dim which helped him feel better.

While he slept, I got to work on moose. I had built up the underlayer mostly to my liking using the greyish-brown Maori short fibre batt. I had begun to add the lighter tones for the legs and upper lip. I was still not happy with the head and spent time working on the upper lip and face details.

felted moose on canvis bag. wier armature in antles and neeles sticking out of his hed 1.1 The under-structures are mostly good, now adding the last details and starting the leg colour change.

1.2 The walker made a slightly low table.

By the 27th of January, the room was needed by another patient, so we were told we would be going to one of the ward rooms. That plan quickly changed and we were sent to a semi-private room, but not the bed by the window.  As he got comfortable in the newer bed, I got back to work on moose. I had printed off reference photos from online and had been propping them up against my hubby (he was sleeping and didn’t notice). He was very helpful in holding them for me while he slept.

useing my sleeping husband to prop up my forto refference moose fotos2) Consulting photo reference for the surface colour of a moose

I had rushed off to Dollerama to get word and number puzzles for him to work on. I also spotted little cat brushes (like hand carders, but really tiny) so got 2 to help with blending for the surface colours. You may be able to see part of them just to the left of the bag with the reference info. They were perfect for making tiny amounts of various colours. Carders are faster and more ergonomic than hand mixing if you are making many little amounts or a larger amount of a base colour.

moose with little amounts of various colours with carders and refrerence on the hospital bed 3) Tiny carders (cat brushes), the reference photos, a pallet of small bits of wool, scissors and moose enjoying acupuncture

Like painting, it’s nice to have a pallet of colours to work from.

more small mixes of coloured wool to make up the moose pallet4) Working from the pallet of blended colours while moose hold bits of wool in his antlers

Since my husband was busy with napping or specialists, I decided to add an articulated jaw and brought in a wire to do so. I added the wire but I think that instead of a loop with a single wire, I should have used a “u” shaped wire, so the jaw would have two points of wire attachment to the skull. (That would make a better TMJ joint, temporomandibular joint.) I may have gone a bit overboard and added a pink tongue too. You may be able to see it when his mouth is open, (the moose, not my husband). You can also see he now has a felted eye, which has moved slightly higher, closer to the antler base.

 

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 5.1-5.2) mouth opens tongue is slightly elevated, and the eye has been added, in felt not a bead this time.

In my quest across the internet looking at Moose(S) (why is Moose the plural of Moose?), I found an article on the wonders of the Moose’s nose. It included a fabulous series of diagrams of moose nose muscles. Did you know they have muscles that can close their nostrils so they can root around in the muddy bottoms of ponds for plants and not get mud in their nose? How Brilliant!! If you are curious about this interesting topic you may want to look here to see the myology of a moose nose;

https://people.ohio.edu/witmerl/Downloads/2004_Clifford_&_Witmer_moose_nose.pdf

Moose almost done just waiting for my hubbies paperwork so we can all go home.6) Moose is almost done just waiting for my hubby’s paperwork so we can all go home.

By the following Saturday, he was feeling up to a trip out to the Chesterville spin-in (he snoozed in the corner for parts of it). Both Moose were much admired by the spinners, some of whom bought their own un-embellished moose bag. I hope they will add weaving, spinning or felting to theirs too!

at chesterville spin in moose bags, embellished and unembellished, Ann is in the background on the Left and Wendo is on the Right.7) moose bags, embellished and un-embellished, Ann is in the background on the Left and Wendo is on the Right.

a vew of teh moose from above, showing odd nose 8) Another shot of that nose it is truly an odd shape!

Hubby is much improved but has a lot of medical appointments over the next few weeks particularly. while we are waiting, I still want to do a tiny bit of firming up on Moose’s hooves, but otherwise, I think I am done. I may have to start another moose bag to keep me busy at doctor’s offices waiting for appointments. Good thing dry felting is an easy take-along project, easier than carrying a floor loom or a wheel to appointments!!

PS. While we were in the ward we had nurses and other patients drop by to see what I was doing. I explained about needle felting, and how the needles work and told them how much fun it is, (and that they should try it too).  I heard that moose was very talked about by the nurses and I was referred to as the moose lady. I was very impressed with their work too, taking such good care of my husband and being supportive and positive about his progress. I am sure his recovery was greatly assisted by their attention.

 

75th Anniversary Moose bag -Needle felting on a ground fabric

75th Anniversary Moose bag -Needle felting on a ground fabric

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History

For the last few years at least, you have occasionally, through the blog posts, been invited along to see what the local weaving and spinning guild is up to.  There are a few of us, on this blog, who are members of the Ottawa Valley Weavers and Spinners Guild.  (The guild goes beyond spinning and weaving, having also a number of felters, dyers, and other fibre arts). The Guild was started in 1949 by a group of local weavers after returning from a conference out of town. By the time I joined, over 30 years ago, the weavers had already been joined by spinners (and changed their name from OVWG to OVWSG).

I am sure you noticed that 2024 will be our 75th Guild Anniversary. There are a number of projects planned to help celebrate this momentous occasion.  (The compiled list of suggestions was quite long and the planning committee narrowed it down to 5 projects, there may be more!) Today I want to show you one of them.

One of the suggestions was a project bag to commemorate the occasion. We wanted a bag that was reasonably sturdy, big enough in size to hold a project and it would need to have a graphic and text element that would allow its use, even after the event.  Bernadette took over the quest for a bag to be printed on. I pulled out a lot of the ideas I had been working on for logo and bag options the last time I was asked to work on ideas.  I also did graphics for a few other ideas from members. One was Glenn’s moose antlers as a skein winder idea. I found a free clip art silhouette of a moose which was a bit pixilated and needed to be redrawn, but it would work as a prototype.   I added the yarn to the antlers and it was added to the other images up for selection.  It was the only funny one.  Although,  the octopus trying to weave spin and do fibre prep was funny too, but it was a bit too cluttered as an image. (I still liked it! maybe for a future bag?)

Glenn’s Moose idea was eventually selected, and suitable bags were found and printed.

2 large 1 small box 1) Three boxes containing the new bags arrived in the studio

The bags arrived mid-week. I found them when I arrived to work on the library and was asked to unbox and take photos of the contents.  So, I took pictures of the unboxing to let the rest of the guild enjoy the anticipation of discovering what was in the boxes.

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2-11) the unboxing

A few close-ups;

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12-14)close up of bag details

Part of the idea of the project bags was for those who purchased them to make them their own, by embellishing them. It could be as simple as sewing on some yarn through the red screen printed yarn on the bag. The weavers may want to make a scarf to add to the moose.  Or it could be more elaborate, adding a background to the image.

I would like to show you what I did. You probably remember how I have trouble keeping 2-D images not wandering into 3-D places.  First, let me mention this is a mid-weight canvas cloth and that I have not tried felting on this type of fabric before. I guessed on gauge and pulled out two T-38 333 needles, in case I broke one. (Which I did not, but I did manage to misplace one of them…. Maybe I should go find some footwear?) Next, where did I put my embroidery frames? I haven’t used them for a while…. Ah in the bedroom? I started with one of the middle-sized ones that fit the head and antlers.

15) Moose on bag set into 7-inch embroidery frame.

16) bag of unknown fibre, labelled with a warning it might be superwash. The (7) boxes of needles are in the background.

Now it is time to add wool. I found a mystery bag of charcoal fibre, which may be super-wash merino wool. Laying over the pre-printed shape I started to add the fiber.

17) starting to add wool to the ground fabric

The angle of the needle is perpendicular to the fabric.  I am felting into a very old block of foam that is 7”x 6” and 3 inches thick.

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18-19) You can see there is good adhesion of the wool to the ground fabric.

Time to add the antlers, The bag said  “Finn sheep, roving – semi wersted”. I got it early this summer and it was 6.00/oz. the antlers I wanted to keep more 2-D so I could augment them with yarn later.

20-21) Inside and outside of the bag, the moose is already starting to turn a bit 3-D

I found it easy to follow the edge of the antlers and moose.  The wool is still adhering well to the ground fabric.

Once I had a base of felt established I started to create a more 3-D element, unfortunately having chosen the black fibre it is not as easy to see the contours.

22) Adding ear

I created an ear (I am pretty sure this is supper wash, it took a while to felt the ear) and added it.

23) 3-D view

I had now reached the edge of the hoop and needed to move it to continue working. I decided I did not want to put the areas I had already worked on under the edge of the hoop. So, I would have to locate the bigger hoop I was sure I had. There is a really big one in the basement near the furnace, but that would be too big to fit the bag… Ah, I found it in a different spot in the bedroom… why are most of my embroidery hoops in the bedroom? I have moved them to the office.

24-25) After some tugging and adjusting I got one side of the bag into the 14” hoop.

26) adding wool to the legs

I had to decide which legs were on which side of the silhouette. You could just leave the back-side legs wool-less. I didn’t investigate the gate of a moose, so hopefully I have selected the correct legs on the correct sides.

I continued to add wool but worked at a more shallow angle now and did not feel the needle entering the ground fabric. I added more wool to the back edge of the mandible, the withers, the back edge of the belly, the shoulder and hip.

27)3-D-ish

I am pleased with the moose and antlers, but I need to add an eye. I wanted a blue eye (I did not research so I don’t know what colour  Moose eyes should be. Yet!)

 28) added eye

It was not as visible as I had hoped. So added a bit of light bage (maori) fibre to the underside of the eye. That helped, I also loosened the thread that held the blue bead and it looks better.

Next, we need to add the yarn to the antler skainwinder. First I added threads for the back of the wrapping. (I did not wrap them but sewed them back and forth between the antler prongs. Sneaky)  Then I added the top of the wrapping. I used two shades of blue to add more interest. The careful application of blue has covered up the red from the original silk screen. If there is gaping I may try couching the strands in place.

29-30) close up of added yarn to the antler

Overall, I am quite pleased and hope this will inspire more moose embellishment! The project bags will go on sale at the Guild sale Nov 4-5th (2023) which is for me tomorrow (for you it would be today!)