Summertime

I've really got into making cords recently, having learnt a fun and simple way to make them quickly at the Felt convergence with Martien van Zuilen.  I'm loving this summery lime green wool: the cord is tied in an old seafarers knot from a book I bought when I was a kid in the UK by the sea on the East coast, so the knot has many happy memories for me.  I made a matching bracelet using my technique described here.  I've entered this photo into the Renegade Collective 'Cool Wool' magazine competition, but although the print version of the mag said today was the deadline I think it may have passed as it says the 6th on the web, so I'm not getting my hopes too high.  At least Felt is now represented in the comp :)

Countdown to convergence!

I'm really excited to be going to the 12th Southern Hemisphere Feltmakers Convergence, it starts on Sunday!  It is a biannual event and a big thing for Felters across Australia.  I can't wait to meet some Australian artists that I've long admired like Anita Larkin who has curated an exhibition at the Woollong University art gallery 'Feltportation' to coincide with this event, and Martien van Zuilen. Two well-known international artists will also be tutoring at convergence, Anna Gunnarsdottir from Iceland and Leiko Uchiyama from Japan.

All of these artists do some great sculptural work, and the sculptural potential of felt is something that really fascinates me and what first got me really excited about feltmaking, so I hope to learn a lot. Already I get the feeling the convergence will have a sculptural bias!  To help fund the next convergence we were asked to take part in a fundraising 'swap' of a 3D piece that will be displayed through the week.  Recently Ive come across the work of Dutch Feltmaker Annemie Koenen, who adds amazing 3D surface texture to many of the items she makes.  I still have some way to go before I really suss out her technique, but in the process maybe I will develop a technique of my own!  Here is the item I have made to 'give away' at the convergence, I have called it 'Strange Fruit', I'd love to hear from you if you take it home :)

A practical project

One of the attractions of felt and indeed any craft is that its not just arty farty fun, it can be very practical too!  I recently splashed out on a ipod shuffle to listen to on the bus, but quickly got fed up with it getting lost in my bag and tangled around things.  So I came up with a felt solution - a felted ipod shuffle case!  I made a little pouch in it by felting around the lid of the box the ipod came in.  The ipod is such a snug fit in there that I don't actually need to make a fastening as the felt holds it in place, although I may sew some ribbon on at some point if I get time.  

Ruby red slippers

Believe it or not, it does get a bit cold here in Queensland in winter, amplified by the fact our house has no heating and tiled floors.  Admittedly, its not Siberia, but any excuse will do to attend a workshop to make a pair of 'fabulous' felted slippers!  I attended a QSWFA workshop taught by Philippa Rooke who is a lovely person and patient teacher, also a real perfectionist - there is no sloppy feltmaking or cutting corners in her class, which means things always turn out well.  It was a one day workshop and took the whole day of working hard to produce these slippers - I didn't quite finish during the class, I had to do the final 'foot massage' to get the perfect fit at home, and they do fit perfectly :)  so much so that it makes me wish our 'winter' lasted a little longer than 2-3 months.  Almost.

I used a relatively course grade wool (the micron is probably over 20, the lower the micron the finer the wool) - sadly I can't find the name of the wool though I know I bought it at the Canberra Region feltmakers.  It is a lovely wool with a multitude of colours in it when you look closely.  When making bags and slippers it is better to use a coarser grade of wool for durability and strength as well as less prone to pilling.  To make the slippers a bit special, I put some lengths of spun sari silk through the wool to make swirls - I love the way the spun silk curls a little on itself when it gets wet and adds a beautiful texture.  I also added silk velvet around the cuff - this was a bit daring as its not easy to felt in and took a lot of working, but the luxury effect is totally worth it.

Knit-a-Chook!

I dreamt up a pattern a while ago for these egg cosys, and have knit quite a few over the past few months with a vague idea to sell them sometime.  However, with the QSWFA open day coming up an idea had struck me - given the number of different colours and wools needed to make the chooks perhaps I could make a little kit for people to take home and do the fun part (i.e. knitting!) themselves!

The open day looks set to be a great day, there will be plenty of beautiful craft to see, and lots to learn about too with many demonstrations and some hands on activities... and if you fancy trying your hand at knitting, you could take home your very own pair of Chooks to make!

QSWFA open day

The Queensland Spinners Weavers and Fibre Artists will be having an open day on Sunday, please come down to our lovely little place in Auchenflower to see what fun we have!  From 12-2 I will be demonstrating how to make felt flowers (and maybe even a bracelet, as in my last post!). 

Bracelet obsession

I've come up with something that is so much fun to make its turning into a bit of an obsession!  These bracelets are made as a flat felt square with resists at the centre to create layers.

During the felting process I cut through the centre and to finish I turn the square inside out to form a bracelet.

There is certainly an element of surprise, as each one turns out unique and allows me to experiment with various surface additions like silk, yarn and cotton scrim.  They are also great to wear!

Fibre Fest

I have been a member of the Queensland Spinners, Weavers and Fibre artists QSWFA for around 6 months now, though its only recently that I've managed to attend their meetings regularly.  They have an exhibition and sale called 'Fibre Fest' coming up where they will display all their marvellous work, please come along if you are in Brisbane 1-3 March, at the lovely Botanic Gardens auditorium, Mount Coot-tha. I submitted my chicken tea cosy for the exhibition, but having seen some of the other exhibitors work I'm now a little in awe - perhaps my chicken will make it into the back corner of the exhibition somewhere, if I'm lucky!