Sunday, November 28, 2010

felting frenzy

Here is what I have been up to the past several weeks, and I am loving felting more and more, and as someone said, do anything a thousand times and you will be good...or something like that, but at any rate I can definitely see my felting improving as I work more at it. The hats were fun to do and embedded silk was definitely a great addition, as for the gauntlets, well, what can I say, I have a serious addiction to them and love wearing them. Keeping our pulses warm keeps your whole body warm, of course I did not go naked in the snow with just the gauntlets on, but I am sure it works....lol
Some I put thumbs in and others I did the wild and crazy on them, and that is folded up and can be worn either on the top or bottom of the wrist, and they look stunning, (she says with no apparent modesty). I love how when we make something it becomes its own thing and stands on its own separate from the maker to some degree, at least to the degree I can love them and not feel like I am bragging about my work, but just that they look great as their own thing.

The beige ones I really enjoyed, as I made them in white and then dyed them in walnut, which brought out the different textiles, silk, prefelts etc, that I used...I also finished the edges which
I liked the look of. These I took to the Xmas faire and all my collars and cuffs were a huge hit, and that of course was just the excuse I needed to make more for the next show coming up next week-end. It will be a two day event so I am felting like a felting fool, and dyeing with shrooms and lichen and generally having a lot of fun and not too many aches and pains from felting.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

fall is falling


Very appreciative of the dermocybes I found, three types and took the stipes off them all and separated them by color although I am never sure exactly what I have...I have red cap reddish stipes and red gills, semi sanguineas, and some red cap with beige stipe...so three kinds and some very large caps which was great...so I will go again once the rains ease up a bit and perhaps there will be more.\
I have been felting, dyeing with lobster mushrooms, and phaeolus, and am craving some bright yellows so I will put some weld on to cook. I grow that in my garden and it such a clear yellow.
More lobster mushrooms to be done, as friends are gathering for me also, which makes for a lot of lobsters. I did a batch the other day, and then once it cooled I put vinegar in the ammonia/lobster juice, and then reentered three separate sections and got some variegated lobster mushroom wool.
Very fun. I am working for two Christmas fairs and felting like a felting fool...so much inspiration these days. Pictures will follow...