One Hat that I'll Miss

This hat sold today and is on it's way to France, however, I will miss it a great deal. The colors were so much fun, so ethereal, and the felt was really strong. I hope the woman who purchased it will love it as much as I did.

Several weeks ago I had made another felt vessel, but when it was all said and done, it did not rock my world. So into the dye pot for good dip it went and I love the results. I first over dyed with hot fuchsia, then lilac. The colors underneath were all over the place, from greens to blues to reds and oranges. The dye pot allowed for a wonderful variation on those colors. The neon purple thingies are flattened silk pods. I love how they took the dye, wonderful color! there are also glass beads in the felt on the far left side. I think they are probably visible in an enlarged photo. I love the way they play with the light.

I am dyeing merino silks today and planning a bag for a bit later this afternoon. Again, I am struck by too many ideas, and not enough of me.

Shalom,
Suzanne

Island City Art Hop HUGE Success!

Ms. Allison finished up her boots in time for the wonderful Island City Art Hop last night. She decided to bead the rams on the outer side of the boots. They got many comments of high praise and unfortunately, they did not sell. They are so lovely, I'm sure that they will.

The Plainwell Art Hop was a a huge success, even for me in a rather out of the way location. I can only imagine that many of the folks that were in the "walking" part of show had a wonderful response to their exhibits. The main part of the hop was in the downtown Plainwell shops, all walking distance from each other. The weather was wonderful, cool, crisp, clear, no wind, not snow. It really was just wonderful for those that attended. I sold a ton of stuff and came home with far more money than I ever thought I would. Sold a bunch of hats, wraps, felted soaps, and have made wonderful contacts, including several galleries that I want to carry my items. I did not expect much, but much was delivered from this first time Art Hop. I hope everyone had as much fun as I did and brought home as much money as I did. Suffice it to say, I was shocked at my earnings. Thank you Plainwell and surrounding areas! I am honored that you spent the time and the money with me.

Since I closed my shop several years ago, there are so many people, customers, that I don't get to see anymore. It was such delight to be able to see them again. We kinda got the chance to catch up, share, talk about classes, and just be together.

Today, I will unpack the van, put stuff away, answer some emails, pack up the orders, talk with my mom, take a nap, have salmon for dinner, a glass of wine before bed, a count the many blessings of this day. Today, I will rejoice, give thanks, and be glad in this day.

Shalom and joy to you,
Suzanne

The Scent of a Woman on Felt

This past Sunday, my dear friend Alice, along with 16 others, was here for Sabbath dinner. After we ate a wonderful feast, had good fellowship, and a good bit of laughter, Alice wondered out to the front porch (my mini shop on the front of our house--that has no insulation, is all glass and where I freeze all winter, and get slow roasted all summer) to find my felted bracelets. She immediately took two of them. Alice has purchased several of my felt hats, scarves, vessels in the past, but the jewelry was quite a different thing. In the past, Alice and I have long talked about the joys of wearing felt, how the scent of the woman becomes a part of the fabric in a unique way, we think, maybe unlike other fabrics. We find this to be especially true in felt jewelry and felt hats. Alice, like me, does not like to coolness of metal jewelry. These felt bangles solve the problem of coolness next to the skin, provide some warmth, and hopefully, some pleasure to the wearer and the observer.

There are two 100% felt cuffs that were then beaded, then there are several that are felted beads strung together, and then there are the wooden bangles that are encased in felt. All have been great fun to make, the beading is getting more enjoyable ( now that I keep my cheaters close by) and so far, I think folks think they are kind of pretty.

Now to get ready for the Plainwell Art Hop.

http://renatos-veltinis.blogspot.com/

is a blog for bag gals to check out. really lovely stuff!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shalom to you,
Suzanne

Plainwell's Art Hop

For many years there have been local art hops, but this will be the first in Plainwell. It is this Friday night from 5-9pm with local business's opening their doors to artists to share their space. How gracious of them! If you live near the area, and the weather is permitting, it would be great to see you there. There will be three felt artist showing their goods. One is my friend, Dawn Edwards and myself. I will be presenting Ms. Allison's works as well. I am so proud of her artful eye.

This is the vessel that I made several days ago, now with the arrangement in it for the Art Hop Sale.

The green eye glass case has many eyes on it, one of the beaded. It it has a cord to hang around the neck, for those of us, (like me) who have a tendency to lose our cheaters or spare glasses. This was made of all merino and merino silk, with the merino silk on the inside so not to damage the glasses. I've wanted to get to some bags, but time is slipping away too fast, each day, faster and faster. Though this is relatively small, it took a good many hours to get it done. This is one of those things one makes for pure fiber play, not to sell. It might be a very nice gift too.

Shalom,
Suzanne

Bright Lights and Cheaters

Over the past few days I've been working on some felt vessels. I'll have more to show in the days to come. This one was created over a flat resist, using Lincoln-Teeswater cross, with some angora and merino added to the mix, along with hand dyed silk roving and silk fabric pieces (5mm) on the surface. It is so thick, so strong, it stands beautifully. I think I used 8 layers of roving to build up the strength and sturdiness and felted it really hard. In its final state, it measures 13x13.5 inches. After it was dry, out came the BRIGHT LIGHTS and CHEATERS! (Oh my, these eyes are getting old.) Doing the bead work was a challenge unto itself. It's something I usually do at night, and the lighting in our home is not great. The beading was fun, but challenging. I may still add some more things to this vessel, but for now, I'm giving my tired eyes a rest.

Everyone who has seen this piece thinks that it is a stone...exactly what I was hoping to achieve.

Ms. Allison

I've been working with a young lady, Ms. Allison, who has long enjoyed my hats and is now learning to make felt herself. She was in a class a few entries back and made a black and pink bag, that was wonderfully made. We've struck a deal. I'll teach her something felt related for a day then she'll work in studio for me for a day. She is young, she is eager to learn, she is talented and I so enjoy her company. She is a dear.

Here Allison is working on a pair of boots with flat resist. She also used prefelt inlay for the ram design. She is going to embroider around the ram in black yarn to make him pop. The boots were made from a lincoln-teeswater cross wool. The results were spectacular.

















The fingerless mittens I made. I started them out as a lime green but the color was too intense for me and lacked a great deal of personality, in my opinion. I over dyed them and now think they has a decent personality. (Sometimes I wish a plop in the dye pot would change my personality, especially on those snarly days.)

I've also picked up a couple of new books over the past few weeks. One looked great for interior design and felt, but to my dismay, it was all commercially produced felt, not that that's bad, it was just not my focus. Some of the ideas are pretty cool, and I may try some of the ideas in the future. I'll try to get them listed in the next few days.

Lots going on in life right now so it may be a bit before I get back to the blog.
Make happy felt!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Beads, Bangles, and Bracelets

I've decided to use up some of the little things laying around here. These are the beads, bangles and bracelets that I've come up with. They are little things, things that are fun to play with. My granddaughter loves them. She is 17.

I am finding new ways to fill some voids while I am felting. I used to read a lot but now that felting has become the daily focus of my life, there is rarely time for that, and frankly, the energy. So I've made a trip to the local library to begin getting books on CD. Wonderful! I am currently listening to: THREE CUPS OF TEA. It's been a fascinating listen, and it soothes my "multi-tasking" heart. I often listen to music, jazz, classical, piano, flute, hymns, and praise music. It feels good to be adding some reading to the mix. Any good books you can suggest?

Do you work in silence or do you have music or TV or waterfall? Just wondering.
Shalom,
Suzanne

I'm growing more and more focused on creating some order in my life. There is so much going on that I need that somewhere, and for now , I am choosing my home. My beloved granddaughter Mollie is helping me with so many of the little things that need to be taken care of. There is too much to get done and only one of me. If I could only turn the ideas and the brain off. What a help that would be sometimes!
Often, when there is so much to do, I can only start a small thing that I know I can finish. These are the 'small things" that I've been able to do over the past few days. These are 50/50 merino silk, in 4 ounce bundles. I love to felt with these--it's what i do my felt flowers out of, and I love to spin this stuff! Anyway, I've posted them on Etsy if anyone is interested. I'll get back to felting soon, but for now, Mollie and I getting lots of things done. It feels so good!

Udder Panic!

It's been a busy time here and the house is in utter despair. I keep promising myself that I'll get it taken care of right after(blah, blah, blah)......and some of you know what I mean. I'm at the point where if I get the dishes done, toilets cleaned and the vacuum run, I'm doing good.

There have been many orders, which I am thankful for, but they do take time to fill and ship.

My baby sister had a baby boy this past week. She lives in Boston, so we are in the midst of planning a "Mail Baby Shower" for her. It's taking a lot of coordination and computer time I usually don't spend.

My beloved husband has been sick for several weeks with what started out as a really bad cold. He had about 4-5 days where he started feeling better, then he relapsed and has lost his voice. For most people that might be a small inconvenience, but we run a radio station. He is the voice of the morning, news, weather, live ads, updates and bulletins. This morning he announces that I am doing the news, weather and live commercials. Utter panic! I was able to get through it, but like most folks, I don't like to hear my own voice and especially on the radio! YIKES! I hope his voice comes back very soon....like NOW!

After the orders were packed, I did get to make some pre-felts for some upcoming ideas, and I made this hat yesterday. I have to re-felt the little 'stove pipes", they are firm, but I am planning on putting a dowel up inside of them and felting them to very firm. The locks coming off of the top of each of them is Teeswater. Love how they felt! I am hoping to do a series of these hats. They are just fun to wear! I wore this one of my daily walk a got a bunch of comments. One gal says it looks like udders on a cow, but she liked it. It makes people smile and that makes me smile too. Just a great way to greet the day!

Keep Smiling and make great felt!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Oddities and Some Great Finds!

Lost in space and time and a strong sense that I have no idea what is going on in the world, or in my own world. Being pulled in so many directions these days, so many who need my time and attention, and deserve all I can give to them. It is a different level of fatigue...it is mental fatigue, not so much physical.
I messed up a breakfast date by not calling back, made a hat that was horrific in color--(tried to put lime green and purple together--unsuccessfully, I might add!) though very good texture and had to over dye it to save it (shown here on this entry), went to Goodwill to look for silk scarves and found a bunch with great colors and designs for .99 each. I also found a plastic bracelet that just needed to come home to be felted. I wanted to try it for one of those classes that could be easily used when teaching children. It took little time to felt. Actually beading it took longer than felting it. However, I do think it would work well with kids. Would be a fun thing to teach for gift giving for Mother's Day.

It's been bitter cold for several weeks, but we've had a warming trend the past couple of days. After my morning walk I pulled into the drive way to find this huge 4 foot icicle hanging from the utility wire that runs from our house to the street, and it was right above where I step out of the car. It must have formed around the wire as it clung to our house, but then with the warming, it broke off from the house and slid down the wire, dangling right above my head! Decide to park on the street until it melted and dropped off. It finally did today. If it didn't kill me, it would have done damage to the car. It was just weird to see this huge icicle hanging from a wire.

I am having a small glass of wine and then heading off to bed. Tomorrow is another over-filled day of appointments, orders to fill, products to order, family and friends to love, prayers to offer for so many in Haiti, those who need help, those who are providing help. I watched the news on this tonight and the despair in Haiti is incredible. I cannot help but wonder about the children and how many are without family. It breaks my heart.

Just a Little Thing

Taught another class yesterday and had so much fun. Seriously, God sends wonderful students my way. The class ended a bit late so I don't have photos to share with you, but one would be of a really great hat with tons of texture and color and the other would be of a wonderful pair of boots. The gals worked really hard, and at the end of the session, I think they were happy with their results. I was really proud of them.

(PS: Allison just sent me a photo of her needle to wet felted boots. They are made with lincoln-teeswater cross that was hand-dyed. I think they are wonderful. She did 6 layers in the layout. This is her second felting project. I'm so impressed!)

After things settled down, after the work area got cleaned up, after dinner, just before jumping into PJ's, I decided I wanted to try this little thing, this little piece of beaded felt, this little necklace thing. I knew I wanted it simple. While I do not wear jewelry, not even my wedding ring, I thought I might be comfortable wearing something like this. You never know, it just might give me the chance to talk about one of my favorite subjects, simple, complex wool felt....it's just a little thing, but like a key, a simple, little thing can open doors.

It's In The Bag

In between life, I've been trying to make this bag. I started it last night, worked on it until 1 AM this morning. Started on it again this morning. It has three large pockets, two on the inside, and one on the outside, where the silk fabric is. It is nearly dry, and as it has dried, I'm thinking it needs to be felted further. I want a very thoroughly fulled bag. There is still a bit of give to the fabric, so it can be felted or fulled further. I'm too tired to do more tonight.

I wish the bag had shrunk further in length, and that is what I'll focus on when I work on it again. The pockets turned out great and I am especially pleased with the bark effect on the outside pocket. Silk is magical, isn't it?

I've been shoveling snow off and on today, trying to keep up with it. I just know the snow plow is going to go through and block off the driveway again. Shoveling that snowplow snow is really hard work!
****
1/8/10:
Did full the bag further. It started out as 14x21, ended up at 9x13. The felt is strong and study. I am much happier with the final fulling. Perhaps the wool and I both needed a rest so we could work better together.
Shalom and happy felting!
Suzanne

Before and After, Then and Now + Workshop Details

At Martha's suggestion, I am showing the silk scarf prior to applying the wool and afterward. I used one layer of super fine merino wool, deep violet purple on the back of the scarf. There was about 40% shrinkage on the piece. Love the silk scarf either way, the wool just adds a lovely texture to the item.

Also want to announce a workshop this Friday, Jan. 8th, 2010 at my home, from 10 am til 5 pm. Class size is limited to 5 people. Will cover basic felt making, then hat making with either foam or flat resist method, student choice. If you are interested, please contact me: info@hookedonfelt.com

I hope that this is all I do today. I am not able to focus, so it is best just to stop doing much at all. Might pick up the crochet hook and see what happens. Am making some hats for the homeless in our area. Sadly, that number keeps growing. Reminds me to be ever more thankful for the blessings of this very old, drafty home. It is here and so am I. I cannot imagine being homeless, especially in the winter. I cannot imagine what I would do with my mind to keep the utter despair away.

So much to be thankful for!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Know Your Body Shape!

Somewhere between "I'm so tired I can't sleep" and "My gallbladder is killing me" I decided to work on a pair of fingerless arm sheaths. I couldn't find my old resist, so I made a new one...only I forgot to make it right! I used a resist that did not account for the fact that arms get wider as they approach the elbow. (Really, should have just gone to bed anyway) and so I have a lovely pair of fingerless arm sheaths that will fit no one but me and my granddaughter. The resist needs to be larger as well in the width. I am a tiny person, and when I am working in size non- specific, I tend to go toward my size. Got to stop doing that! Anyway, Sweet Granddaughter will get these. They are snug even on me. So next resist will be two inches larger in width, with a gradual increase in width toward elbow. I made this pair out of a blue-faced Leicester and silk, with hand dyed silk fabric on the top. I used 4 very thin layers of wool. They are subtle, soft and very warm. I think Elizabeth will like them, and I have had to re-learn remembering the shapes of arms.
Off to make felt...maybe in a more normal size this time!
Shalom,
Suzanne

Package from Martha

I had the good sense to get all of my chores done around the house early today, including laundry and got to spend some long overdue time with my good friends Terri and Irene. It is rare that we get to see each other anymore, but it is so wonderful when we do. We always laugh so much, and that is just the best! As usual, we always promise that we are going to get together more often, and as usual, it just doesn't happen. Still, there is nothing like being with dear friends.

When I got home, there was a package from Martha! Oh, what a wonderful package it was! Filled with shawls, silk scarves, love. The scarf that is up on the blog is one that I just had to nuno/laminate felt right away. Ok, so it took a good many hours, but I just couldn't wait a moment to do it. I used a navy blue merino silk blend on the reverse side. It turned out lovely, I think.

Dear husband is quite sick with a bad cold. I think I'm buying dinner this evening.
Oh, I forgot. I wanted to tell you all that on Christmas Eve, I had to make a quick run to the store. While on the drive, there was something in the middle of the road, kind of fluttering around. I stopped the van, go out and walked up to a Screech Owl, who had a mouse in its claws. We just looked at each other. I could have reached out and touch it. I was with it for about 3-4 minutes, and when I turned to go back to my van, off she flew. What a great memory to have. I've always loved owls, and to be that close to one in the wild was just really special.


Shalom,
Suzanne

PS: Did the green one on Sunday, just had to do one more!