More stories ... bought a new tool and began working on felted wool scarves etc. ...again.

 So, I saw this tool being used by another felted wool artist in her blog so I ordered one just to try. I was kinda dreading another season of really sore arms and my husband's too busy to help me roll.

I tried it on a silk piece that I dyed a little while ago. I added this great silvery grey and white tussah silk yarn with a bit of green in it here and there from River's Edge Fiber Arts http://riversedgefiberarts.com/.

So here is the silk and wool being felted using my new tool from Heartfelt Silks http://www.heartfeltsilks.com/.  Instead of using the mesh that comes with the tool I used plastic with a bit of water and soap. The mesh tended to get felted to my wool very quickly.

I use a washboard for fulling my silk scarves. Its a nice large one that has a well for water on one end. I find this old tool is the easiest and quickest way to get the results I want.

Here is the finished product.  Its very thin wool on the silk scarf and has just the right amount of details on the edges with its little wisps of wool.

The ends have a bit more wool with tassles.

So light one can wear it with a t-shirt. No need to wait for cooler weather.

A Look Back ...

With my schedule right now I cannot get to the felting table -- even during my "time off". So I am content to looking back at some cuties that I made a while ago. I love working in red wool and made a couple of table runners that had heart themes. Then my little foray into needle felted nisseman are so cute.

Family Fun

The family was at my house for Thanksgiving this year. Well, some of them anyway. We had a lot of fun and one of things we did was try out felting. They were interested in making vessels. For first time projects these turned out pretty good. I think they have an appreciation for the process of creating useful items out of wool fibers and now they know why I am sore and tired after a day of felting.

Then .....

These are 3 of the first purses I created back then in September, 2007. Today, after 3 years of learning and becoming more experienced at manipulating wool, I still think these are pretty good. They have unusual shapes and are a creative use of wool. I like their organic qualities and the flowers that adorn them are pretty and different. I still love using curly locks to add texture and I still like uneven edges that have a lacy quality about them. They utilize wool from Rainbow Fleece Farms in Wisconsin which I still use and they are created using a resist.

Autumn Table Rug

I've been really working on my process for table rugs - any rugs for that matter. When I first began felting wool I discovered that layering shapes onto dry wool and then trying to wet everything down often just created a mess. The shapes didn't stay where they were supposed to stay was the first big problem. The second really big problem was that I would end up with holes in the wool because I couldn't tell where I needed additional wool.

So, then I began needle felting my shapes so that they stayed together during the wet felting process. I still couldn't tell where my wool was too thin and ended up with thick and thin spots in my rug. Now I needle the whole thing. I can pick it up and hold it toward the light and tell immediately where I need to add wool. I can also "paint" the canvas that is created when one needles the base wool. That is what I discovered when creating this particular table rug. I was having so much fun "painting" with my needle that I got carried away into another world.

The wet felting process goes so much smoother when the whole rug is needled. All the shapes remained clear. The colors of wet felted wool tend to soften as the base wool is worked through. Its really a beautiful thing.

More Felting Table Projects

This beautiful rope scarf is created from merino wool. It is three strands - one blue and two orange. The ceramic bead was created especially by ALDDesigns on Etsy. I have added three felted wool "beads" and enhanced them with glass beads in a deep orange.

Have a little Kahlua with my Jacob fleece

This is "Kahlua" a Jacob sheep from Hillspring Eco-Farm in Wisconsin. I purchase the fleece from this beautiful sheep in September. This morning I received this picture from Linda - the owner - and I am inspired to process the fleece this weekend and move on to create something from the wool.

I've been busy since September. I was getting ready for Cider & Cinnamon (all those wonderful pumpkins had to be needled for that show). So, the fleece has been hanging in my garage since then. I must admit to being a bit intimidated at the prospect of cleaning all the wool. It is my first time at processing a fleece. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained! So, I've got my 5 gallon buckets and my soap and I will give it a go.

Arts and Crafts Shows

Here is my booth at Cider & Cinnamon in Rockford last weekend. I had this table of my needle felted pumpkins and they were a hit!









Here is the other side of my booth with my display of felted wool scarves and other things I've created such as my purses, bracelets, penny rugs, and vases. I had many compliments and educated lots of people about hand felted wool.

More from the felting table ...

I love these scarves and so do my customers. I call it a bubble scarf and it is a flat piece of felt into which I set marbles and then boil on the stove for a while. I let it dry completely and then remove all the marbles. The puckers stay put and the effect is wonderful. This is a beautiful emerald green polworth wool that I bought in WI a couple of weeks ago. Not as soft as merino wool but very useful when felted with the marbles as they tend to set up quite well.

The orange scarf is what the bubbles look like when they are dry.

Cider & Cinnamon Fair, Rockford, IL

I will be exhibiting felted wool at the Cider & Cinnamon Art Fair in Rockford, IL on October 2 and 3 (Saturday and Sunday).

What's On the Felting Table

This is an almost finished large scarf/wrap. I used this beautiful 70/30 merino/silk roving that I bought in WI a couple of weeks ago at River's Edge Fiber Arts. The colorway is Peacock and it has blues, lights and darks. I added merino wool in teal and navy as well as a significant amount of "carbon" merino wool (it shows up as brown in the picture. The pic is not very well lit as it is taken in my basement felting studio. Since my basement has a concrete floor which can get wet it is very convenient for wet felting. This scarf has beautiful dreadlocks, short and long. I finally have a method for achieving the full and wavy dreads that I most love. There is almost a pound of wool in this wrap. Its very warm and will be beautiful over denim. Love it! I'm just sad 'cuz I checked River's Edge website and I cannot get any more of this wool.

Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival

I had a wonderful day at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI recently. I picked up quite a lot of lovely wool and visited my friend, Patty Reedy, at her booth. She is co-owner of Rainbow Fleece Farm in New Glarus, WI and has wonderful wool from her sheep. I have visited her farm a couple of times and have used her wool in some of my projects. I just loved her booth with all the beautiful colors of wool.

Felting Satisfaction

Have you ever been totally satisfied with something? I am now. This purse (and the two other purses I made along with it) turned out just beautiful. I have been using resists now for a couple of years and each time I just don't think I calculate the size and shape of the resist in just the right dimensions. So I have kept on working at it, and now, Success!

New Felts

Here is my output for today. Two

very different projects. The lariat

is light and pretty in a literal way.

The silk and wool scarf is a little

mysterious and dark. I love it-them.

Silk and Wool

Here is a new way to use silk for those who are sensitive to wool next to their skin. I felted the silk into the wool, which only goes around to the middle of the neck back. The silk can encircle the neck to protect from the wool and secured with a loop through the holes in the piece. The wool used here is cormo and merino which is the softest of all wools. I think this piece looks very formal because of its form. It isn't a full scarf, rather more of a "cravat" which I think looks dressy. It would look really great with a turtleneck sweater to set off the color of the wool, brown with red highlights.

Today's Project

I started creating this dreads scarf a few days ago. My thought in laying out the wool for this one is to create a more random weave rather than the grid. The dreads will hang from all 4 sides. Over the next couple of days I will wet it and begin the felting process. Because of its size it will take a couple of days to roll.

Perfecting Wool Projects

One of my goals for next year is working on perfecting a type of felted wool art project. I have been making several of my "dreads" scarves and trying different lengths, widths and manners of laying out wool. Here is my latest creation. I am very satisfied with the way it turned out. In laying out the wool I have pulled apart the long lengths so that they are very thin and airy.

The cross pieces have been woven in and out of the longer lengths. The important factor is to vary the weave so that the grid in not uniform. My next scarf is going to be layed out on the diagonal which I think will have an interesting effect on the dreds and the ability to make the scarf grid more varied.

I have also been working on the perfect length of scarf. For this dread scarf there are two measurements that are important -- the body of the scarf (the solid part) and then the length and width that the dreads add to the scarf. On a tall person (5'6" and up) the measurement that works best is at least 80 inches in the scarf body and then about 40 inches additional in dreds. The scarf pictured here (a Christmas present) is 120 inches in total lenght (10 feet). When wrapped around as a scarf the dreads are not too long and when used as a wrap the body of the scarf is sufficiently long to stay over the shoulder if desired.

Wow! Felting Lots of Scarves, Purses, Etc.

This has been a very busy time for me in the hand felted wool scarf world. I have been experimenting with different kinds of wool. Been reading my new favorite book: The Knitter's Book of Wool-The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Using, and Loving this Most Fabulous Fiber by Clara Parkes. I received this as a gift and it has some really great info on wool fiber, sheep and the properties of wool. I have been using Merino wool which is characterized as a "next-to-the-skin" wool and is probably one the best known wools. Lots of sweaters are made of Merino wool and I think next to cashmere (not a sheep wool it comes from goats) is pretty well known. Another soft wool is Cormo and I've been using that in my hand felted wool scarves. It felts great! and is soft and a bit fluffier than Merino wool. Here is a great scarf that I made of the Cormo wool and cotton gauze fiber.

The wool is torn and laid out in squares and the cotton gauze is cut to fit in the middle of the square. The result is a very lightweight scarf with lots of beautiful texture.

I also used the Cormo wool and combined it with wool yarn for a fun texture in this red scarf. Again the Cormo seems to felt into a fluffier consistency than the Merino. I'm still researching why this might be and it works to create an illusion that the wool is even softer than Merino wool. Very good for those who thinks wool is difficult to wear on the skin.

I've been creating hand felted wool scarves with dredlocks and perfecting the different ways to lay out the wool, how much to use and how long the dreds need to be. Here are two of my latest scarves with dreds.

The Making of a Scarf/Shawl/Wrap

I've been working on this scarf for a couple of days. Just to give you an idea of its size, the table is 72" round. Laying out the dry wool took me about 3 hours and 4 pounds of wool in black and gray. Merino of course. The dry size was 24" by 93" -- the largest one I've ever done. I've made two other shawls but not in this format.

Here I am hand rubbing the wool. The whole felting process took about 8 hours over two days (not including the time to lay out the dry wool). The dreds dry range from 45" to 30" and each dred needed to be rolled on a piece of non-skid cloth.
I was so concerned that the dreds would either come off or be felted together that I was only able to roll the body of the scarf for a short period. Which meant much more rubbing to felt all the grid together.

Here are pics of the finished scarf. Four pounds of wool is very heavy and the volume is really too much to handle easily. After I got the scarf to the soft felted stage I began to throw it on the table to harden the felt. I couldn't see trying to rinse the scarf in my sink as I do with my others, so I filled the washer with water and vinegar and rinsed it in there with as little agitation as possible. This really saved my arms (which are quite sore today). I also spun the water out in the spin cycle and then put it in the dryer with my trusty tennis balls. The finished size of the scarf is 19" by 63" and the dreds average about 30 to 35 inches with a couple of them quite long. The dreds turned out quite thick. I was worried that they would be too thin and would be out of context to the rest of the scarf.

The mannequin stands about 4" 10" and I don't have any sun today which is why the pictures look quite dark. The flash just makes it worse. The black side of the scarf is much more of an open weave than the gray side.

It is really an amazing scarf. Very dramatic and will look really great and be quite warm.

Felting is hard work!!

Now that I am felting almost everyday so that I can create enough to fill the website and 2 store locations I am realizing the difficulty of creating by hand vs. creating with machinery. Really, I can only make about 2 scarves a day, plus a couple of smaller items like my flowers or booties. The smaller items take almost as much time as the scarves to make. But, the physicality of felting is really hard on my arms, elbows and shoulders so I try to work only in the morning until about 1 pm and no more than 4 days a week. This past weekend I traveled to New Glarus, WI to a wool supplier and on a whim decided to stop in Evansville. Jean Wyse runs a really beautiful antique shop there called Windmill Antiques & Co. It is so nicely organized with beautiful and artistic displays! I bought two vintage sweater chains (remember those?). I was wearing my felted wool vest (see older posts) and Jean asked me about it. We got to talking and she asked if I would like to sell some of my scarves in her shop! Wow! I said yes, and now I'm working on getting at least 8 scarves and other things to put there. Well, off to felt some more. Oh, I forgot to tell you about this basket -- its made of wool and will keep your bread warm for your table.