Baa!

On the final day of wool week I was able to do a bit of  a plug whilst finishing a woolly piece of felt with a group of eager children!

This project was twice as big as my usual pieces and required some extra equipment  - parcel tape to stick two widths of bubble wrap and super size towel. 

As I didn't have a large bamboo mat I used a discarded (hoarded) piece of  foam stuffing to stiffen my bubble wrap parcel whilst rolling.

Fluffy layers of Shetland  - the lighter shades are the leftovers from Project Dragonfly.

Soggy Shetland!

Added Jacobs fleece features

....and a needlefelted face!

A few days later  -  children gathered Shetland fluff  from the group of adults and placed it where the body should have been...squirted it liberally with water, glided soap over the netting,...and after lots of enthusiastic rubbing, a bit of over eager squeezing, rolling and more rolling we revealed the lost sheep!

It was great making a bigger picture and even better having such willing helpers!

Rainbow Heart

....it didn't take long to make something with the beautifully

 soft         lace 

rainbow   yarn....

 on our anniversary

for my husband 

on a card

a heart 

!!

Wool Week

Quite by chance I am doing something exciting with wool on Sunday and I will be mentioning Wool Week as I do so.

To prepare my materials I had to order some rather uninspiring but very necessary natural Shetland top from Sara's Texture Crafts. I love working with Shetland and much prefer it to Merino -  I said 'uninspiring' as you will know by now that I am rather fond of colour (often more than one at a time!) and Sara has some amazing hand dyed Shetland tops in fabulous hues but I restrained myself as my hamper of fluff is already stuffed and overflowing. 

However I did sneak something colourful into my order that I have had my eye on for a while...

....a mini skein of Rainbow hand dyed lace yarn

It really is as good as I imagined, if not better!

...I loved watching the tones and colours change as I wound it into this....

....beautifully soft rainbow....

...perfectly palm sized!

I can't wait to use it....

The dying of the sun

It's here! The exhibition The Dying of the Sun for the International Day of Felt is open...there have been lots of sneak previews on the website and elsewhere and it looks like it will be a vibrant feast of firey felt! 

As it is a little too far to travel I have been enjoying the photos and hope to see a few more as the exhibition continues.

Three rectangles of Random Wooliness felt have travelled Northwards to be part of a collaborative piece:

Fire: 

Shetland and Merino wetfelted with yarn, silk, sari silk, and crochet. Needlefelted Shetland, silk fibres, Teeswater and Wensleydale curls added.

Previous experience with felt pieces has taught me they can be viewed in more than one way!

Embers:

Wet felted Shetland and sari silk with Wensleydale and uncarded black curls. Teeswater and Wensleydale needlfelted curls.

Smoke:

Wetfelted Shetland with Masham curls, Mohair yarn, angelina fibres, and washed uncarded  Greyfaced Dartmoor

This started with a bright background to which darker tones were added to try and capture the glowing firey light against a dark sky...

 The washed and uncarded Greyfaced Dartmoor is really sticky and made great natural smokey whisps

Line of fire.....

I've been waiting ages to use that pun!!

or
fire and water...

Huge thank you to Tracy and Angela for all their hard work, the inspiration and opportunity to join with fellow felters to celebrate International Day of Felt.

Hope The Dying of the Sun is a great success!