Anzac weekend scarf

A three day weekend and a whole day without any plans... out came the wool!  First I had a flick through some old Felt magazines for a bit of inspiration, and in Issue #1 I revisited a great article on 'Extreme Texture with Myfanwy Stirling', by Michelle Moriarty.  Myfanwy is the daughter of well-known Australian feltmaker Polly Stirling, credited with developing the Nuno felting technique.  The focus of the article is mainly on the use of small resists that are later cut out to form colourful slashes in garments.  But I was intrigued by a clever 'bow' pattern formed with a resist that was pictured without instructions... well, I love to try and figure out how things are done!

I made one of my 'infinity' scarves incorporating the 'bow', I've made quite a number of these scarves now, many of which have been given to friends and family!  I continue to experiment and hopefully improve my design, its also a good project to try out new textures and colours like this, here I also added some blue goat hair curls.

More nautical necklaces!

I've really got into making these knotted nautical necklaces now from my hand felted cords!  Trying out different designs from the book I've had since I was little.  A friend requested a black one, not too sure whether it works in black though so I've been trying out some different shades.

Pods Pods Pods!

I have so many things to post, I need to catch up with myself!  I'm still lagging behind from the 12th Southern Hemisphere Felting Convergence that I went to last August!  The tutor that travelled the furthest to be there was Anna Gunnarsdóttir from Iceland, so it was a real honour to be able to learn her unique pod technique.  She makes exquisite magical organic forms, often lighting them up inside to give the felt a gentle glow.  Below is one of her pieces that was in the 'Feltportation' exhibition that accompanied the convergence.

Below is my effort, the photo was taken while it was still wet and it seemed better to dry it up on end.  I used a gorgeous rare-breed wool batt (not corriedale, but similar), pictured behind, that was hand-dyed using natural Eucalyptus leaves!  It smelt divine, like a forest in summer. I bought it at the convergence from a lovely lady called Tabitha of Tabandy Textiles, who has a smallholding on the wilderness coast (near Bega) and dyed the wool herself.  It was the first time I had worked with a batt, it was a revelation, so much better for 3D work than laying out the wool, the edges bound together seamlessly and the texture is amazing.  I added some raw mohair fleece for extra texture and shine.  I hope to make another one of these if I can remember how to do it next Tuesday at my local Felting group (QSWFA).  

In the photo below you can see the colours and the mohair texture better in the light.  It is next to a little pot I made in a short workshop with Anita Larkin at the convergence, who is a great feltmaker from the Illawarra and was the chief organizer for the convergence.  She has a wonderful technique for making 3D objects without a resist.

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.