Dagmar Schmidt: Magic Wool: Creative Activities With Natural Sheep's Wool
Rotraud Reinhard: Filzen von Tieren und Figuren. Aufgebaut und modelliert.
Gillian Harris: Complete Feltmaking: Easy Techniques and 25 Great Projects
Carol Huber Cypher: How We Felt: Designs and Techniques from Contemporary Felt Artists
I have had to make some changes (change is still happening) and moving my blog is one those. I hope this doesn't cause any problems to you.
As you have surely noticed I haven't blogged in a while. To find out the reason behind it please stop by at my new blog.
I hope you understand and will follow me there as well. There are beautiful creations still to come, but it may just be a slow process this year.
One of my favorite yarns is Eurobirds by Laines Magnifiques
This morning I went through my scraps and found a little of it. It is left over from this beautiful project and it shows how nice it knits up. You can't help, but fall in love with it, don't you agree?
Now, I have enough left over for a small project and since a dear person asked me to write up my pattern for doll shoes, I decided they will be Eurobirds colorway :)
Cast on 26 stitches
K 1, m 1, pm, k 11, pm, m 1, k 2, m1, pm, k 11, m 1, k1 =30stitches
p 1 row
k to sm, m 1 , slip sm, knit to next sm, slip sm, m 1, k to sm, m 1, slip sm, knit to sm, slip sm, m 1 knit to the end of row = 34 stitches
p 1 row
k to sm, m 1 in back, slip sm, knit to next sm, slip sm, m 1, k to sm, m 1, slip sm, knit to sm, slip sm, m 1 knit to the end of row = 38 stitches
p 1 row
k to sm, m 1 in back, slip sm, knit to next sm, slip sm, m 1, k to sm, m 1, slip sm, knit to sm, slip sm, m 1 knit to the end of row = 42 stitches
k 3 rows (take out first and last sm as you knit),
k to 1 before second sm, k 2together (take out sm)
turn
p to 1 before sm, p 2together, (take out sm)
turn
repeat those 4 rows till you have a total of 32 stitches left
k2, p2 to the end of row
continue cuff pattern to your desired length,
sew shut the back and bottom of the shoe and make a matching shoe.
Your are done!
You can also check out Laines Magnifique on Etsy
Nicole carries beautiful yarn that knits up wonderful. She is also great to work with. Before my 3rd grandchild was born I custom ordered a colorway to knit Avalon's first outfit. You may remember it from a previous post....
As most of you know already, I don't like to work with patterns. Well... unless there are for knitting I guess, then they do come in pretty handy. Often I think patterns are so restrictive and you have to be precise to make everything fit. Pulling something out of your sleeve is more up my alley. The danger with walking those unknown alleys is that it won't work out and that all of the work was for nothing. A risk I am happy to take.
Let me show you what I have done this time. It is not finished yet and I am a little at a loss of how to continue, but may be I'll have an inspiring dream and can continue tomorrow.
A few month back I purchased a tub that is about 2" deep and wider and almost as long as my dining room table (which can seat 8 people). Yes, you guessed it, I am to lazy to get off the chair to actually measure it. Anyways, I got it to have a safe area that I can dye fiber, yarn or fabric in and only once I got it I found it excellent for felting as well. I can easily spread out the fiber and add soapy water and keep it contained. Well worth it if you are doing a lot of felting or dyeing.
I started off with spreading out one thin layer of needle felt. Needle felt is already carded and it can be rolled out. It is very thin, but I like to use it to have a foundation. Then I started in the middle and layed out little wisps of colored roving. Round and round it goes.... where we stop, nobody knows.
I wish I could pick it up and wear it just like that, because I love the way it looks. All the color canges... just beautiful!
Now we add another layer going from the outside in to the middle. You'll notice that going form one layer to the next looks smoother then the other way around. It blends better, but if you like a more aprupt change between the layers try starting on the outside for the first layer and from the inside out for the second layer.
See my handy dandy tub here on the dining room table. My usual workspace doesn't have enough room for it and since it is cold outside (I usually use this tub outside in the summer) the dinign room has to do. Nobody is here to stop me, right? The dog is crashed out on the couch, he won't mind.
Time to mix some olive soap or Ivory dish soap with water and spray it onto the fiber with a spray bottle. Once I have done that I also pour some soapy water over the whole are. Cover up with a plastic sheet and use your rolling pin to carefully spread the water around. The fiber should now be wet, no more air bubbles and flat. Use bubble wrap to cover and get to work. Yes it is a lot of work. Rub in circles gently at first and stronger after the top layer is felted well. Pinch the top to see if the fiber still comes off easy to be sure. Once the fibers really stick together through all layers I rinced the now felt in the bathtub with a bit of vinegar. Get as much soap out as you can. After that I tossed it into the washer for a rinse and spin cycle. Keep an eye on it, because it will still felt and you don't want it to be stiff like a board coming out of the washer.
Now comes the difficult part. Your fabric will come out not evenly, the edges will be frayed in some areas and not in others. I love that about handmade felt. It also won't be square. One corner may be longer and the other shorter. I like the challenge of incorparating this into the item I create. The nice thing about wet felt is that you can still stretch it the way you would like. Pull the edges as you may need and you will see the fabric will comply.
I have a dress form that allows me to drape the felt over and pin it. The dress form is not my size though and I have to keep that in mind and adjust if I am making something for myself.
Once I figured where I wanted the arm holes to go I cut them and put the now vest on me. Pinning in shut in the front the way I liked it I saw the the color area on the back was just sticking out. Not how I wanted it. I decided to pin that area and cut out a triangular piece out of that area which made the color fit more snug.
I don't have any pictures of that process, sorry, but wearing, pulling, pinning and cutting was enough for me.
Here are the pictures of the not yet finished jacket. I hope to still add sleeves somehow, but I have to sleep on the how :)
I also had this beautiful felted flower, which is just perfect to pin on the color. I hope to update you soon on whether to sleeve or not to sleeve!
and fall of the tree I always remember this fun little craft we did in Germany when the kids were small. We would go out into the woods and collect the most colorful leaves, branches, moss, feathers, bark and pinecones and we would dry them.
When the children were asleep I would create a magical box for them, using everything (or almost everything) they had collected.
I already went out with my daughter and granddaughter to bring back some wonderful treasures. I have put them in the oven for a few hours, on very low temperature and now I am ready to create the magic ;) You can also press the leaves to make it easier for glueing.
You will need an empty shoe box (any box that size will do), a hot glue gun and yellow kite or tissue paper. The hot glue gun will definitely be my challange. I am not very good with glue. It sticks everywhere, but where I want it, but.... I am always up for a challange.
Cut a shape of a star into the lid of the shoebox. You should put it in the upper third of the lid. I actually cut another star to bring more light into the box later, but you may just need one.
Poke a hole into the narrow front middle. The next picture shoes the relation of the star and the hole.
The hole will be the only place the child can look in and the light from above will illuminate some areas on the inside.
Around the walls of the box you glue the leaves and branches. Be sure to not block the hole.
I like to use just dried leaves not pressed, because of the texture and depth it creates.
Add some moss to the bottom, dried flowers or pinecones. Use the treasures you found!
Once in a while you want to put the lid on and see if you are putting the things into the right area. You will see where the star lets in the most amount of light, that is where you want to put something special. I felted a little gnome that sits leaning against the pinecones. Make sure to glue everything down once you double checked the location.
Wrap the lid in yellow kite or tissue paper. It looks best if both sides are covered. Last check!!! before you glue the lid onto the box. Yes you want to glue the lid down to not spoil the magic for the child. The child will be tempted to open the box, but it is so magical to stand under a lamp and move the box and try to peak into every corner and enjoy the magic.
This last picture I tried to take a picture through the hole and you can tell a little of what one can see. The gnome is definitely lit by the stars above.
well, I know.... it is still Summer here and there is no thought of wearing wool slippers any time soon. It is already August though and Autumn will be here before you know it. So yes it is time to give cold feet a thought. Here are 2 of the 3 pair of custom ordered slippers. It was the first time for me to needle felt a tiger and I have to say it wasn't easy, but it worked out after all.
