WOOL ~ NATURALLY BEAUTIFUL



'Butter Rose' ~ wet felted with merino wool, hand
stitched & embellished with sari silk rose bud

'Butter Rose' ~ top 

I love working with natural fibres because they feel so beautiful to the touch. Wool, alpaca, silk and soy are a few of my favorite raw materials. They are renewable, reusable and sustainable and good for our planet.  They breath when we wear them, repel water and keep us warm.  Wool is one of the most versatile fibres because it can be dyed, spun, knitted, woven and felted into wonderful, wearable fabric creations. 

These lovely little spring lambs (all grown up by now!) are from Prince Edward County's Nyman Farms.  This photo was taken before these pristine little creatures started running and jumping all over the place, getting just as dirty as the Mum standing behind them. Wool is actually quite filthy when sheared and requires a thorough washing before combing, carding and dyeing.

Because of time constraints I buy my fibres for felting already prepared and ready to work with. My preference is merino for felting with a fairly fine micron count (19 to 22). Blue Face Leicester and Border Leicester have felted very nicely for me as well.  Gotland is much less fine but it makes very sturdy bags. I find corriedale felts well but because it has a higher micron count than merino the finished product can appear to be 'hairy' which is not a good outcome if you are expecting lovely smooth felt.

When it comes to knitting, it's true, natural fibres are more expensive than man made but the outcome is so much nicer....especially after all the effort that goes into the hand making.  Man made fibres just don't feel, wear or look the same as wool and they definitely do not felt!  I know they have a place...in the laundry hampers of those who must jam every wearable garment they own into the washing machine and (god forbid) the dryer!...but how sad to never experience the joys of hand soaking, shaping, blocking and slow drying a beautiful, pure wool thing...ever.

On the bright side, it's the washing machine people who drop off all those lovely pure wool sweaters that do felt... ("oops, it's four sizes smaller") at the thrift shop that I and many other fibre fanatics like to cut and sew into new, up-cycled, pretty things.







Leslie in 'Butter Rose'



Spring lambs ~ Nyman Farms

'Blue Skies' ~ wet felted in 2 pieces and stitched

 



'Acorn Brown' ~ wet felted in 2 pieces and stitched

Leslie in 'Acorn Brown'

'Acorn Brown' ~ top



Purple pairs of ruffled wristlets ~ hand knit merino & silk




Fall colours fingerless gloves ~ hand knit

 

Water & sky fingerless gloves ~ knitted




'Puck' pleated cloche ~ hand knit & felted
& embriodered

 



'Puck' ~ top



Amanda's fingerless gloves ~ hand knit Noro yarn

 


'French Country' beanie ~ hand knit
extra fine merino

 

FALL FIBRE FRENZY



Amanda in 'Zelda Fitzgerald'  ~ wet felted
merino wool & silk from Fleece Artist

'Zelda Fitzgerald' ~ finished with a sari silk flower

Autumn is my favorite season of the year especially around Thanksgiving.  Crisp, sunny fall days seem the perfect time for knitting and felting. As soon as the air cools and the leaves start to fly I find myself on the lookout for even more beautiful yarns and felting fibres.  I wake up every morning thinking about what I will make next.  There are always so many ideas and never enough time to complete them all!  Starting a felting project keeps me home and busy for the whole day. For other days when I am running about I always have a pair of wristlets or fingerless gloves or another hat on my needles which I carry with me everywhere I go. 

In this regard I am a firm follower of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's philosophy of knitting.  Also known as the 'Yarn Harlot" Stephanie knits everywhere despite what people think.  She says "I know they think I'm odd, but I think I'm just normalizing knitting within our culture".  If you knit, of course, you get it.  Still hands and idle moments are simply wasted stitches and wasted stitches are a crying shame!  I love her books and her Blog at:  http://www.yarnharlot.ca/

I like to complete as many pieces as possible in the fall in preparation for Prince Edward County's annual and appropriately named 'Busy Hands' show and sale. 'Busy Hands' is a fantastic artisan market place, featuring local, one of a kind, makers of very nice stuff!  It is held every December (usually the second weekend) for two days in Picton, upstairs at Books and Co. next door to Miss Lily's Cafe.  I have participated in this show for several years and love it.  It's an exciting, high energy market with so many wonderful and creative local artisans taking part and a loyal following of enthusiastic, appreciative Christmas shoppers. 

Here's what I have been keeping my hands busy with....







'Manos Multi Fringe' beanie ~ hand knit
twith extra fine merino



'Buttercup' ~ hand knit in chunky wool with organdy ribbon
(design inspired by Lynn McCallum)





























'Noro Blue Stripe' beanie and fingerless gloves
~ hand knit with mohair ruffles





























'Noro Pink Stripe' beanie ~ hand knit with felted flower



'Winter Wedding' head piece ~ hand knit

 

 

  

'Winter White' wrist warmers ~ repurposed sweater
cuffs with hand knit mohair ruffles

  

 

'Aqua' headband and wristlets ~ hand knit
with merino silk blend




'Come Clocher' ~ hand knit and felted



'Monet's Water Lily' mad hatter ~ hand knit and felted



'Monet's Water Lily' ~ top embroidered

'Shades of Pink' cloche ~ hand knit

'Pink Flower' beanie ~ hand knit




'Pink and Red Roses' ~ wet felted, a joy to create
and inspired by Monika Aebischer 

'Pink Pistachio' fingerless gloves ~ hand knit with Noro
wool, silk and mohair ruffles

'Shades of Purple' ~ fingerless gloves ~ hand knit with
wool and soy and mohair ruffles

'Purple Roses" ~ wet felted



'Misti Purple' pork pie ~ hand knit
alpaca with locks



SUMMER FELTING WORKSHOPS

Monika wearing my wet felted 'Virginia Woolf' cloche

In July, I took a wet felting workshop with Monika Aebischer from Toronto,  http://www.monikaaebischer.com/ .  It was a fabulous experience and, although we were all exhausted after four, very full. eight hour days, I wished it could have been longer!  Monika is a delightful and extremely proficient teacher who learned felting techniques in Switzerland.  She is a painter by trade with an amazing sense of colour and design which extends into her felting. 

Monika exudes creativity.  Her inspiration and practical guidance created an electric learning environment for all her students.  There were seven of us, most of whom arrived at class early and left late each day!  I absorbed a mountain of information and improved my felting skills tremendously. I also had a wonderful time.

Although the summer has been too busy for even one little post on the Blog,  I'm going to make up for it now, with lots of photos of things I have been busy making! 

The final class project ~ A bag made from Gotland wool
& extra fine merino fibres.



'Rose Bud' flower made in class with Monika~ wet felted



'Water Lily' made in class with Monika~ wet felted



'Coral and Yellow Roses' ~ I love making wet felted flowers
...it's addicting!

'Rose Buds' What's not to love about felted flowers?
Delightful to look at and lovely to hold in the palm of your hand!

Later in July I took a one day flower felting workshop taught by Barbara Poole from Boston.  http://bfelt.com/ .  This class was held at Rose Haven Farm Store in Picton, ON. which is my home town.  Barbara designs and creates marvelous fashions from felt which she embellishes with lovely felted flowers.  Since Monika started me on a flower making journey, I thought more would be good...and it was...and very different too!

I'm quickly learning there is no right or wrong way to felt.  Just your favorite way and what ever works for you!  The more you felt, the more you learn about fibres, techniques, and all the very weird and wonderful implements and tools that can be used to make felt. I have an interesting collection of screens, bubble wrap, bamboo mats, juice container lids from Value Village, wooden rollers and mallets, an antique glass and wooden wash board, pool noodles and Ikea drawer liner mats.  These strange items, along with a scale to weigh the wool fibre, a good pair of scissors and a big roll of white poly foam (laminate floor underlay to make resist patterns for each project) are indispensable when making felt.

'Plum Blossom' made in class with Barbara ~ wet felted

'Apple Blossom' ~ wet felted




'Violet Blue' ~ wet felted



'Violet Blue'  ~ wet felted



'Yellow Bloom' ~ wet felted

And here are two bags I made earlier this year that are finally finding their way onto the Blog! "Clutch" was on display at the Arts on Main Gallery in Picton. 







'Clutch' bag ~ wet felted and embellished



'Clutch' bag ~ back

'Button' bag ~ wet felted and embellished

'Button' bag ~ back

BUTTONS & BOWS

'Pink Me Up' cloche ~ hand knit & felted

Embellishing knitted or felted hats is what adds those little extra finishing touches to a completed project. I'm big on bows because ribbon is such an absolutely, lovely, "Miss Bennett" - ish,  sort of thing. (I do appreciate that everyone does not feel the same way about ribbon as I do.) I just find it so very pretty. Organdy, silk, satin and velvet ribbons in a myriad of beautiful shades add sheen, texture and a splash of colour which can blend or contrast with the soft matte finish of the wool. 

Vintage buttons and feathers, a little bit of vintage fur, a bejewelled brooch or even a felted wool and silk rat tail always add something unique and special to any hat. Flowers, whether made from silk or felted wool just look so pretty set at one side or right in the centre, especially when tied with ribbon or a bow. These beautiful, frilly, girlie things all tie in so well with my love of pinks, purples, reds, oranges, greens and yellows. Very feminine!

I am especially lucky to have so many beautiful models to show off my hats including my nieces. sister-in-law, friends and friend's daughters.

'Flower' beanie ~ hand knit



'Snow White' mad hatter ~ hand knit & felted 

'Balloon Beret' with rat tail ~ wet felted

'Balloon Beret' ~ top



'Balloon Beret' ~ with a pretty surprise inside



Rat tail inspired by Miss Peaches ~ who never shows hers
because she knows people prefer them felted!



'Belle Cloche'  ~ wet felted
(Hat design and flowers inspired by Jannio ~ France)

'Belle Cloche' ~ top

My tendency to work in bright colours and to add embellishment to the hats I make is why I don't often make hats for men. What's the point really...if I can't add a bow...or at least a very pretty button? That being said, I have been able to put aside the ribbon and buttons occasionally to make hats for my husband, sons, brother, nephews, cousin and sons of friends, but only because they are all so nice. For them I make an exception. No strings (ribbons or bows) attached!







Vintage WW II pattern



Sailor's watch cap



Military watch cap



Tweed beanie



Katmandu rolled brim beanie

Rolled brim beanie with tassel



My cousin's birthday beanie complete with 
detachable (knitted) candle!





A very good sport helping me out by trying a theatrical
one on for size...despite his better judgment!