Dye Day is never long enough

 Dye day never seems long enough. No matter how much wool I have prepared, I always end up wanting more.
This time I split up a skein of Cascade Eco Wool in natural and tried to make approximately the same amount in each skein. The yarn took the wool beautifully and I was glad to add a chunky yarn to my stash of hand dyes.
Once I get enough colours, it will perfect for a fair isle baby sweater or something. Maybe a log cabin blanket...the possibilities are endless.

What Would it Take

What Would It Take

This work is a collaborative between Judith Mueller and Candace Giesbrecht designed to express the community that supports Mental health here in Kelowna

What Would It Take is comprised of many layers of wool fleece, at least 8 different breeds of sheep, that when intertwined become one piece of art.

Just as there are many different people in the world there are also many varieties of sheep not all of which produce the soft fibers we like to wear against our skin and are thought to be the “best”.  When we combine the differences in each breed we create an integrity and strength that can only be achieved through the
 acceptance of the abilities of each individual quality.

The leaves have been hand stitched on after the felting process and contain the initials of the individuals who have chosen to support mental health here at this event.

A Tree for Mental Health

This is the beginning of my layout for the tree piece I am doing for a fund raiser for Canadian Mental Health at Bottega next week.  At the event, the participants will be able to add leaves to the tree using a variety of materials and they will have the option to write words on their leaves. I am very excited about the project and I look forward to see the tree completely felted and fulled and full of leaves.
At the end of the evening the tree will be auctioned off.
My studio isn't big enough to make a pieces this size. So don't tell my kid, but I used one of his old paintings as a board to create a surface for the lay out. I did cover the painting with plastic so it wouldn't get wet.

Colour makes Felting Fun

Felting has become part of my daily routine...along with my knitting. I spend  at least a few minutes in my studio every day playing with fiber. Sometimes I just make pieces of flat felt...because I can...and don't always know what I'll do with them. Sometimes I make vessels as I love the 3 dimensional aspect of forming the wool into shapes. I approach my felting practice very much like I do my painting practice and I laugh at the results as they are very often similar.                      

I am teaching a felting workshop on June 7 & 8 which is for both the beginner and the advanced felter

Vesseles: A Felting Workshop....see the facebook page for details

Pillows made from my felted work

Prefelts are Fun

 Prefelts are a great addition to my felting supplies. At first I thought I had to make them myself. They were very pretty as I added all of my different fibers and colours and they were very interesting. At some point, I realized that they were the alot of work and I found a source to purchase prefelts. It is so much easier to just cut up the already made prefelts and focus on my design element.

Vessels: having fun making them and adding more

 I am having a great time making vessels...It seems every few days a new one arises. I am experimenting with different elements and colours and seeing what I get...things are getting more predictable.
Wondering what one does with a vessel, I spied my favourtie girl hanging in the corner of my studio.
She seemed to fit in perfectly.

Urban Dude's Infinity Scarf

 I knit this scarf with my boys in mind. The infinity scarves that I knit last year where too feminine for the boys...so I took some yarn, Araucania Panguipulli and picked a colour I thought Son #3 would like....knit the infinity scarf and then asked who wanted it....no takers...oh well, sample for the store.
Now look whose laughing...me, of course, Son #3 is up in northern Alberta...freezing his butt off and no Urban Dude Infinity Scarf to keep him warm.
This pattern is available in my Ravelry store:
 http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/urban-dudes-infinity-scarf