Basic Black, Whimsy and Enfold Me

All three of these hats were made on my new Needle To Wet Felt Hat Forms. I love these forms . It is great for making a consistently very nice basic hat shape. There is not the versatility that is accomplished with a flat resists, but still, a very nice cloche or bell shaped hat can be acheived rahter quickly.

The black hat has silk fabric felted into it, with random stitching around the silk fabric with copper metallic thread. The combination is quite nice together IMO.

The folded blue hat was made using one of my random acts of carded batts, where nearly anything goes! There is a great deal of tussah silk on the surface of this hat and it blended well with the felt.

The purple over-dyed hat has been great fun to work with. First I made the hat in an off white merino, then dyed and over-dyed and resist dyed it about 4 times, then added the hand-dyed Teeswater locks for further surface design and texture. While the black hat is most elegant and versatile to wear, this one with the locks captures my heart a good bit.

Rhinebeck, NY , Ashville, NC ,Jan, The Village Weaver and The Color of Dreams

I left my beloved husband, daughter, and home on Tuesday morning to heads, first south to Sugar Creek Ohio, to link up with Jan, The Village Weaver and her husband Bob. At about 1:AM, we were up and on the road by 3AM to start our journey to Rhinebeck, NY. We arrived today, Wen. at 3 PM, weary, with numb bottoms from the drive, but we here, and happy to be so. It is 6:30 and Bob and Jan have already gone to bed. I am trying to get a post off before I too drift off into the land of sweet slumber.

I've made a couple of hats this week, did some dyeing of silk hankies, and put flower kits together. I had hoped to get a lot more done, but time and work and hopes did not work well together this week. One of the hats I did get done using the needle to wet technique turned out very well, simple, yet elegant. It was 50/50 merino/corriedale. The effect was both strong and soft with beautiful little ripples throughout the final fabric. It is a deep olive green with felt plumes in burgundy and burnt orange.

I have 1 HUGE angora batt that I am so looking forward to creating with when I get home. It was purchased about two years ago, and has been safely tucked away until inspiration motivated me. I've been dreaming in felts, so i think at breakthrough is just around the corner of my mind. Designs often come to me in my sleep. I am learning to get up and write them down while the idea is are fresh. I am planning on getting some colored pencils to keep with the idea journal so that I can have a cue of the color of dreams. I am fairly certain that I will make felt with the angora batt and the resist dye it afterward. With the delicateness of the fiber, I think it would be better than trying to dye the batt. The decision/choice will be, make a large piece of flt or tear it apart and make many things from it. Tough call.

I am aniticapating seeing both old and new friends this weekend at Rhinebeck for the New York Sheep & wool festival. On Monday next, Jan, Bob and I will head off to Ashville NC for SAFF. We'll be driving though some fab countryside. The visual stimulation...ah, if only the economy could take it's inspiration from such beauty!

If there are blogs that you think that I should add to the growing list I have on my blog, I'd love the heads up on them. It is the goal oft this blog to promote felt makers, of any sort; traditional feltmakes, needle to wet felters, dry felters, machine felters, it matters not. So please feel free to share your favorite blog spots or websites with me. I'll do my best to get them listed.

If you can, come see me in Rhinebeck or Ashville. I'd love to see you!
Shalom,
Suzanne

I've been Tagged by Ilana and Chris!

The Rules:

• Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
• Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random and some weird.
• Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
• Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1) I love my name--Suzanne-- and do not answer to anything but that. My mom ingrained that in me. Even when I try on the name Sue, it just will not work. Sue is also the name of my husbands first wife, so I don't try real hard...though she is a really nice person.

2) I am heavenly blessed...my husband truly loves me and shows it everyday. It is good to be loved!

3) I love buying clothes from Israel...the best!

4) I am a political-news- junkie and love falling asleep to the weather channel or the news.

5) I can drink coffee just before going to bed and it doesn't bother me at all.

6) I love being in my 50's!

7) I love the sound of a shofar!



I'm tagging:
Barb Marr
Elizabeth Armstrong
Iona Loyola
Renee Nation
for now

Goodwill Finds

On a day such as this....at a time such as this...had a whim to go to the Goodwill store in town. I usually go in about once a week, especially in the fall/winter months. Often I'll find some lovely things, like great wool sweaters. Today I found some really lovely, brand new, tags still on, merino sweaters that had just come in the back door. While there, a woman walked in, dropped off this incredibly beautiful Tibetan Lamb Wool Coat. I feel like I stole it. Paid almost $15.00 for it. It appears as thought it has never been worn. I could re-sell it, but it is just too wonderful to even think about doing that. I think it might very well go to Iceland with me. It does have two small tears in the collar area, but those will be fixed in no time.

I know that this entry has nothing to do with felting, but had to share the lovely surprises that do come our way, every now and again.

Happy felting!
Shalom,
Suzanne