Fibre Things

In order to ease myself (once more) back into the world of felt, I have been playing with my huge stash of fibre... and ordering more, but that's an entirely different story.  After a period of illness (which I don't feel entirely 100% recovered from, to be honest) and also continued major involvement in my children's pre school committee, I think I am VERY deserving of some fibre therapy!  Deserving... or 'in need'... a bit of both, probably.

So I dragged out my very lovely carder and just had a play.  Both children are at pre school this morning and instead of tidying the house, I have just added to the mess.  (And I feel pretty good about it. :o))

Firstly, I carded 3 mini batts into one.  They were left over from the colourway that I used to create ruffle on a scarf... there's only 51g, so I think the new fibre blend might make a nice wrap.  I also dizzed the fibre from the carder and made a big floofy "roving" to see if it become any easier to work with.

 

Apologies for the photo quality.  I just wanted to show and tell in a hurry. :o)  I'm quite excited to work with it further.

Lastly, and I may have already posted about these, so my apologies if that is the case, I have two batts, which between them  add up to about 100g, if memory serves, that I think could look gorgeous spun out and plied together.  Since I am really only beginning on my spinning journey, and do not yet have the knowledge/talent/time to do this myself, I've considered putting them up for sale as a pair in my Etsy shop.  I'd enjoy felting with them, I'm sure but they don't call to me as felting batts.

I've called them "Stormy Seas" and the bluer of the two is the sea, with the grey one being the sky. :o)

And look at that... just enough time for a mad dash around the house before pre school pick up... who says I can't do it all? :o)



Work in Progress: Newest Scarves

I barely have time to felt any more.  I should have known that agreeing to be chair of the pre school committee would suck the life right out of me. ;o)  At the moment, it's a bit like a full time job that I do in my 'spare time' - which is when I used to find the time to felt.  Hopefully, I'll become such an old hand at the whole pre school thing in the next couple of months that it'll be able to go on the back burner again and I can bring felt making back with a vengeance! :o) 

Anyway... I have decided to do a version of ruffle scarf more suited to sunny, warmer, weather.  It's a lot lighter, very airy and almost chiffony.

Two of the scarves have turned out really well and I am very pleased with them.

The red and grey one is called "Where There's Smoke".

The pale pink and cream one is called "Be Mine" and is a mix of merino and silk.  There is a larger proportion of cream than shows in the pictures.

But the scarf that I am simultaneously most and least pleased with is this one (it currently has no name):

They are gorgeous colours that look even better in the light.  Brighter, lighter... it really is gorgeous except for...

...Parts of it are more cobweb than I would like, or would usually be comfortable with.  So, I'm left with two choices.  Attempt "remedial" work or put it up for sale with the explanation that it is potentially delicate (avoid snagging) and not for every day wear.  Gorgeous scarf, though... gorgeous.

Sadly, it has also become one of those projects that, because it doesn't  feel finished, I can't start anything else.  It's a mental block. :o)

Felt is Forgiving: And Welcomed Me Back! :o)

The end of last year was quite tough and a little bit draining... a bit of a felt drought as well, but I've picked myself up in the new year and I'm moving forward again. :o)
My first real project this year was using some fibre from YummyYarnsUK to make a ruffle scarf for the owner of YummyYarnsUK, Patricia.  To be honest, this was a project that really scared me  - what if I ruined her fibre?  What if I ended up with nothing to send back to her?

 

But, when I started, I loved my project! :o)  The fibre is fabulous to work with.

 

And, as I had some fibre left over, I decided to have a bit of a play and made a cobweb wrap, too. :o)  I added some white mulberry silk, and voila!

And I'm pretty sure that Patricia is happy with the reults, too - she made this photo montage to share with her Ravelry group. :o) 

And, that's all for now... but it feels good to be back. :o)



Hot off the Carder: "Stormy Sea"

I had some time to card on Friday night, so I had a play.  ("Time to card" = not enough time to felt, but need to play with fibre).  I came up with this - my very first art batt.  It has bits of yearn and ribbon throughut.  I''m not quite sure what I'll do with it, yet - it only weighs 37g. :o)

Life has been a little hectic of late, so finding the precious time time to felt and/or card leaves pretty much no time to blog.  I will try to do better. :o)

Hallowe'en Scarves

I've made a few one off roughly blended batts to make some Hallowe'en themed scarves.  So far, I have "Pumpkin Patch", made from the batt that I showed in the previous post:

I was so high on the thrill of using my little drum carder, that I straight away carded two more blends, to create two more scarves to fit my theme.

Allow me to present: "Zombie Stain"

For those fearless zombie hunters who don't mind wearing the evidence of their battles. :o)  I've been asked if I will rename it after Hallowe'en has passed.  Maybe.  I'm undecided.  (I'm aware that my chosen name won't appeal to everybody. :o) )

And I also made up the batts for "Hocus Pocus".

This one is actually much prettier in person - small patches of the frill/ruffle even sparkle. :o)  I was aiming for a much more murky, darker, mix but I'm quite happy with what appeared.  I think I was in mind of Shakespeare's "Double, double, toil and trouble" coven and came out with something created by Glinda, the good witch.  But I like it all the same.

I'm sitting here tonight niggling because I've got two further blends in bags in the cupboard, two or three more in my head... so scarves to make and a carder to play with and I have a list... genuinely, a LIST of big felt to make.  On top of my felting commitments, which I am clearly shirking as I am blogging instead, I have taken on chair of the pre school committee (which is a little more reponsibility than I anticipated but is good fun) and there just aren't enough hours in the day.  If anyone wants to open a shop selling additional time, please get in touch as I will place an order.  My creativity has suffered, my blogging has suffered and I just. need. to. felt.

The development in my shop that I mysteriously mentioned last post was that (cue anti climax) I actually made some sales, making my little  scarf showcase into a functioning shop.  I sent out 4 scarves to the US in one buk order and am now nervously awaiting feedback.  I also sold one scarf to Wales and a rose brooch to the US, so this month has been kind to me, really.

Adventures in Carding World: First Blends

Okay... so pester power works!  After spending all day last week hand blending enough fibre to use, I told my husband that I needed my Christmas present carder now... and I told him a lot.  And then I told him that, if I managed to earn enough to cover the cost of said carder, I would also be requiring another Christmas present on the correct day.

My first sttempt at blending with the carder was not too shabby... I didn't really read anything first - just went at it like a bull at a gate and came out with this:

This is "Soft Citrus" and is just a blend of yellow, green and pale orange.  Of course, I overestimated how much of each colour I had, so this little 37g batt won't make a huge amount of anything.  Maybe it can be my first spinning project, one day, though. ;o)

So... gaining in confidence :-D, I moved on.  What I really want to do is create a small range (hopefully 5 or 6) of OOAK Hallowe'en themed ruffle scarves, so I began that project last night by carding up my first batts.  Meet "Pumpkin Patch" - inspired by the idea of a spooky pumpkin patch viewed at night by torchlight (so picking up hints and glimpses of the green and orange through the dark) and, of course, the inevitable drizzle covered hallowe'en cobwebs that should be present at all good spooky sites.

This is what the little batts look like all rolled up - the 4 is a little over 100g, I think, so should be enough to work with.  If not, I have enough of the same fibre to one side to do another batt the same.  I put about equal measures of fibre into three piles, and still have one of those piles in reserve.

And these are a couple of the batts rolled out.  They are as indidual on the inside as they are on the outside!  I'll let you know how my scarf (the difficult bit! ;o)) goes.

Now that I've had my first try, I should think that I'll go away and read a bit more about it so that I can try some actual techniques rather than winging it.  But I am very happy with the way it has worked out so far.  Using the carder is a lot of fun!

Felt is Forgiving: Back at Last

It's the first day of preschool, and it feels good to be back.  I feel as if I've done so very little this past six weeks - no blogs to speak of, no felting to speak of... a little bit of marketing but probably not enough. 

As much as I appreciate my children for the very stunning little people that they are, they don't allow me to do a lot else besides take care of them and pick up the messes that they leave in their wake when they are both in residence.

So, today, I am hand blending fibre.  I need my drum carder...  But realistically need to wait until Christmas. :o(  I wanted to make some new scarves, because yesterday I had a great development in my shop :-D but, if I don't get the fibre sorted, then it will be hanging over my head until I do the job and I can't make the scarves I actually want to make without doing this bit first.  And can I just add that there is nothing I detest working with more than roving that is already starting to felt together.  It doesn't pull apart nicely... it's a struggle... I have no idea where I picked it up from and yet I still can't bring myself to give in.

Slooooooooow going:

The dark purple is the one making me tear my hair out.

Anyway... I'm back. 5 mornings a week, all being well and assuming that 1 yr old keeps to her nap schedule. I'd better make a plan. :-D  I hope felt forgives me for being away for so long. ;o)  To make amends, I made a scarf last night. :-D