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.

More Playing Around

This week I've been playing ... again. Its become a daily thing! No more work, just play. Love it! I made a prototype for a large custom scarf (pictured here). This turned out even better than I imagined. The scarf is of soft merino wool and the dreds are just a playful addition. Wonderful. I might have to keep it for myself.

Earlier in the week I played with my new felting machine. I love the fact that I can create big sheets of felt and not have to kill my arms and wrists doing it. So, I made some journal covers using different wools and textiles, silks, yarns, etc. Really --AnyThing felts! Just not fingers. :)

Creating this Week ...

I am playing around with my pumpkins this week -- making tons for the stores and for the CASA show on Nov 7. I'm experimenting with putting faces and hats on some just to mix it up. That's my project for today and I'll post some pics later. Today is gloomy weather but I will create my own sunshine with orange wool fibers !! I'm still looking for boutiques around the country - especially at ski resorts -- in which to place my scarves. And I'm waiting to hear from my friend in Oregon whether she wants some for her boutique. More later ...

Felted Pumpkins Featured on Etsy Front Page

It was a wonderful day Friday (10/23). My needle-felted pumpkins were featured on the home page and almost 500 people clicked on the store to view the pumpkins. Those views resulted in 25 item hearts and 19 new shop hearts. Wonderful! Also I traveled to Wisconsin to Windmill Antiques & Co.. This is my new location for scarves, etc. I took 5 new scarves and new flower pins along with some other home accessories.

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.

Fall Pumpkins

Recently I purchased a wool batt such as a quilter would use and turned it into about 100 needle felted pumpkins. This was before the Cider & Cinnamon Art and Craft Fair. I sold many of these at the Fair and have only about 10 left. Each pumpkin in covered in a variety of orange wool then the sculpting begins by adding lines for shaping and curly locks for dimension and texture. I make the leaves out of a variety of green wool. I have discovered that dry felting works well with the leaves as they are thinner and see-through, just like leaves that are dying. My only regret -- not buying another wool batt so I could make more. Well, there is always next year.

In my next post I'll tell you about my recent travels to Wisconsin and my new shop location!

Flowers, flowers ... I created all these flower pins for my new space at the Edgebrook Shopping Center store. I really like the beading in the last two but it takes time and thus adds more on the cost of the pin. We will see how it sells. The flowers themselves are quite lovely. I would like to try some other styles of brooches -- perhaps something a little more avant guard?