Christmas Gifts Made

For my grandmother, a hat with ear flaps. Modeled by my daughter.

For Sandy and Dennis, felted coasters.

For the kids' godparents, felted Christmas ornaments.

December ramblings

Today, I mailed four pieces to Bluff Country Artists Gallery in Spring Grove. They were wet felted pieces-2 large and 2 small.


There will be an "artists clearinghouse" at Crossings in Zumbrota in March. I have a couple of months to get ready for that.

Rochester Athletic Club Artists' Morning

Last weekend was the RAC Artist's morning. I'm glad I participated. It was an easy way to get an idea how to do a show, what things people liked, how to arrange the table, etc. I didn't sell very much but that was ok.

Fabrications IV: Fibers and Finery

I just got back from the Fabrications artists open house at Crossings. It was tremendous fun to meet all the other artists and hear about what kinds of things they do.


There were several jewelry artists. I admit, I'm not much into jewelry, but I am starting to appreciate the different types and methods of jewelry making. There were some fused glass pieces that I liked a lot, as well as some made from metalic clay that is then baked or fired to reveal the metal. They were all pretty. One lady was also a painter, so she had scanned some of her artwork into pendant sizes and made necklaces.


The silk fusion pieces were beautiful. Another artist dyed silk. I bought one of her scarves for my mother in law. The wool hooked-rug pieces were attractive...much more contemporary designs rather than the traditional looking pieces you might expect to see in hooked rugs.


There were all kinds of knitted scarves, weaving, pieced table runners, and Native American mandelas. There were even vessels woven from water-colored paper.
I must admit I was quite pleased when Crossings owner, Marie Marvin told me she like my pieces. I guess I am a praise junkie.


Here are some of the pieces I submitted for the show.

My felted vessel

This is the vessel that I started in Sharon Costello's Felted Vessels class at the Midwest Felting Symposium in July. I brought it home without any surface decoration except for the silk cap on the outer surface. My kids said it looked like a pumpkin...not what I was going for. Finally I got brave and did some cutting on the surface. Then I needle felted some variagated wool yarn onto the surface and added beads to the cuts. The result is something like flowers. I am quite pleased with it and will NOT be selling this one. I guess I'm a bit sentimental since it is my first one.

November knitting

I submitted 5 entries to Fabrications IV: Fibers and Finery at Crossings at Carnegie. The acceptance email came Thursday, and I can bring in other things as well, if I choose. I submitted 4 knitted and fulled items, and one of my large felted vessels. The pictures are not the best. DH suggested that the color of our table is not a good background. I've noticed that our camera does funny things with pinks.




I am still working on the hats. They are a lot of work. One I made with random leftovers that I had. I took it off the needles but I'm not sure I'm done knitting yet. The other hat is 6 colors with lots of stripes. It is a bit complicated in construction, but I am almost done with the knitting part and will be able to piece it together soon. Meanwhile I have gotten a load of felting books from the library (thank you Interlibrary Loan System), and I am trying to generate some felting (not fulling) ideas to try when I get these hats completed. There are so many things to explore. I love doing vessels, but I may try some felted hats as well. Maybe I should take a class before I try it.

October check in

It's almost Halloween and that means that Crossings at Carnegie will soon be having its fiber art show. This year it will be called "Fibers and Finery." I need to pick 3-5 items to submit. They've asked me to make some hats that are similar to my bowls. I might get one done by the submission deadline, if I really get to work.
I have 2 felt bowls (traditional felting, not knit-n-full) that I will enter, unless I decide to send them to Bluff Country Artists Gallery. I was stuck on these 2 bowls for awhile. They didn't seem finished to me, but I couldn't figure out what else they needed. Finally, I got brave, and did some cutting on one of them, revealing the contrasting colors of the layers of wool beneath the surface. I may add some beads as well. To the other one I needle felted some strands of variagated mohair yarn and curly wool locks and added some beads. I really like the sparkle added by the beads. They adds a lot of interest to the pieces I've used them on. I've added beads to some of my knit-n-full pieces that I wasn't quite satisfied with, and the beads, combined with needlefelting really made a difference.
I'll have to put up some pictures.
In an ideal world, I would: knit'n'full 2 hats, make 2 more felted bowls, frame some of the work I've already done, create some pictures using needle felting, as well as knit Christmas gifts for everyone I know.