Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Lanadeflor and Hookedonfelt


Lanadeflor is an etsy/business name of a fantastic felter in Ohio. I've not asked her if I could use her full name, so I will not as of this writing, so we'll just go by Debora. I first saw her work on Etsy several years ago and loved the delicate-ness of her work. The jewelry she makes is sooo very beautiful, very classy/artful stuff.

The scarf shown on the blog is made from wool and my hand-dyed merino silk. I love what she did with it and had to show it off for those of you who do not know of her work. Rare is it that one gets to see the final results of a hand dyed fiber. This one is just stunning, IMO. For more of Debora's works, please visit her etsy shop. Write in Lanadeflor in the search. You'll be so glad that you did!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Guilt can motivate too!


OK, so I blogged about making felt yesterday, then got to feeling so guilty about having a blog about felt-making, with little or no felt-making on it. So guilty in fact, that I decided ( or had a stronger than sleep desire) to make a felt hat. It is merino, merino silk, and silk. I love the way it turned out and I may have found my "felt grove thing" again. Whooooo-hoooooo!

(Sometimes, guilt just works! If it is painful enough, it does bring about change...and in this case, a felt hat too.)

Monday, June 16, 2008

Finally, a felt!


Finally, a felt. This is a small piece of traditional wet felt that was originally a multi-colored piece of felt. I was not content with the colors so it went for a dive into the dye pot. Many of the other previous colors have left their mark on the felt and added another dimension to the finished piece. Once the wet felt was done, I added a bit of sequenced fabric, cover it with hand dyed Wensleydale locks by needle felting them into place, then covered all of the locks and fabric with a thin, ultra-thin layer of silk from a hand-dyed silk hankie. I hope to get it in a frame at some time, but for now, this is what it looks like.

I a so anxious to get back to making felt. I have too many ideas going through my head and not nearly enough time to get them all done. Isn't this a common concern for so many of us???? I have perhaps spent too much time with with dye pots, but that is so much fun too. Seems that I plan to felt nearly everyday, then suddenly I am asleep and there is no felt fairy that has shown up to make my ideas a reality while I sleep! (What's up with that?) Still, I will take the time to draw out the felts and put them on my mental shelf of things to do. To everything, there is a season....making felt too I suppose.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

God is in the details, Acts of God, Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival

An amazing fiber event at Hoosier Hills. Amazing amounts of courage of both vendors and customers, amazing teamwork among vendors, amazing about of rain...9 inches fell Friday night alone. More and more rain fell throughout the day on Sat. By 3:30, roads were being closed, water rising in rivers, roads impassable, booths filling with water, or in a state of drying out...slowly. Was the fiber event the best I've ever attended? No! Was it the most memorable? Yes, Yes Yes!

Ya know, we go to the events to meet people, connect with customers, see what's new, teach, learn, touch and to be visually stimulated. As a vendors, we also hope to make our expenses, and make some money. Did that all happen? Slightly. Met some cool people, made my expenses, but mostly, we got home safe ...in more pouring rain.

I suppose I could be upset, sad, frustrated, angry, and a whole bunch of other unhealthy feelings. Rather, I've decided to be grateful, thankful, delighted, happy, content, and am simply mindful that God is in the details, including and not limited to, the rain! My God Reigns! My God Rains!

There will be other fiber event, but I doubt that there will be others as memorable as 2008 Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. I'm still glad that I was there for the event. It will be one that we'll talk about for years to come.