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.

Back on track

The kids are back in school. I like being back in a predictable routine. But I still feel as though I'll never catch up on household things. And I can't do much art until I do. But here are some results of the past...ahem...many weeks since I last posted. These vessels have been fulled in the washing machine. You can see them pre-fulled in the previous post.

Here is the vessel I made at the Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, WI. I still need to do some cutting on it, but I haven't worked up the courage yet. While the vessels above are made by knitting then fulling, the vessel below is truly felted. I made it using 4 layers of unspun wool, bits of yarn, and a silk cap.

The Before Pictures

Here are the before pictures of the three bowls that need to be fulled.
They do look a bit strange at this stage. They don't hold their shape very well until they have been fulled. When they shrink, the fabric becomes much more dense. Some yarns work better than others though. I've made a few bowls that continue to be a bit floppy even after fulling. It's disappointing when that happens, but it's a learning experience. The brown and green one has Lamb's pride and Araucania Nature Wool. The pink and blue bowls are made with Ella Rae yarn.

Knitting complete

I finished the knitting portion of another bowl. Now that I have three projects (I think) ready for the fulling process, I'll do the fulling this week. I'll try to post before and after pictures.
The bowl I just finished has rouching all along the sides. It is done in greens and browns.
Another bowl ready for the washer has a blue ruffly "skirt" along the bottom, which is supposed to look like a puddle of water leaking out from the side of the bowl. I attached a little i-cord coming out the side of the bowl to look like the water pouring out of the side into the puddle. I'm optimistic that it will be attractive when finished, but after all, it is an experiment. Keep your fingers crossed.
The third bowl is pink and burgundy, with little antennas all along the top. It's more silly looking than the others.
I may have a couple of other things I need to send through the fulling process, but I can't for the life of me remember what they are, and tonight I am at my folks house so I'll have to look tomorrow.

July goals

Looking back at my goals for June, I see that I got amost none of them done. I'll have to chalk it up to the kids being home for summer and having a totally crazy schedule with all their activities. July is also busy with family stuff, but here are my optimistic goals for July:

• Design a piece for TLDdesign Center and Gallery's student show in December


• Produce 5 knitted and fulled vessels including items from June that need completing


• Produce 1 wet felted piece


• Visit SEMVA


• Take the Felt Vessels class by Sharon Costello class at Midwest Felting Symposium


• Frame a my felted fish piece


• Frame my broken crayons piece

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!
We had a pretty layed back holiday. I wound some balls of yarn from some hanks I got at a second hand store. They were all labeled 100% wool, but since all wool is not created equal, I also knitted some small swatches to make sure the wool will felt. I haven't run them through the washer yet.
At noon, we had a picnic in a park. I had a lovely afternoon nap. We spent time this evening shooting off fireworks and lighting sparklers.

Find and Refine

Crossings at Carnegie is having an exhibition called Find and Refine. I submitted 3 bowls to the show. They were made by recycling a wool sweater. After I felted them in the washing machine, I embellished them with matalic yarn. The metalic yarn really made them pop.