Felting Class

Last Saturday I taught another felted scarves class at the Fine Line Creative Art Center in St. Charles. I still find it hard to believe that I'm considered "faculty"at the center--they are such a talented and experienced group and I feel fortunate that they have asked me to be a part of them.

The group on Saturday was the speediest I've had so far. It's funny--I always try to build in breaks for day-long felting classes, as felting is not a gentle fiber art. But no one ever wants to stop! I'm also always amazed at the different designs and color combinations that participants come up with--I learn something new from them each class. I wish I were a better photographer, but here are the participants and their creations.

If you are around this weekend, I'll be at the Bucktown Bazaar show on Saturday and Sunday at the Holstein Park Fieldhouse in Chicago--lots of fun artists are there and no mall crowds! I'll have a fresh supply of Flamenco felted scarves and scarflettes in fun colors.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends-

Color My World

Here are the results of Day 1 of the dye workshop. Believe it or not, there are 21 colors in this pile. Some of the dye recipes I chose were pretty similar, so they are just a few shades different. I'm pretty happy with the results, even though some of the colors didn't turn out as expected.

Tomorrow I'll learn how to use a drum carder to blend the fleeces and come up with even more colors! I ended up bringing the wrong type of wool to the workshop (I brought merino roving), but a friend gave me some of her Border Leicester fleece that she bought this summer in Wisconsin and washed herself. The sheen of this wool is so pretty, and is it supposed to be a good felting wool. In return, I'm giving her some gorgeous Cheviot wool I bought last year that doesn't felt worth a darn. Im sure it will spin up nicely--friends keep telling me I need to learn to spin, but I'm almost afraid to get started on yet another fiber technique.

Runway Ready

A few more shawls--I'm really having fun with this! I love the idea that all of them are reversible--I'm so not into getting dressed up, so I think that this appeases my inner voice. This one was made right after the taupe/black one in the last post, with a little more shaping and a shirred silk collar. I also added ruffled edges like the flamenco scarves.

I love the feel of this one--the fiber is 80/20 merino silk and so, so soft. It's hard to tell in the photo, but the shawl has a subtle tone-on-tone swirl design.

I dropped off three wraps for the fashion show at the Fine Art of Fiber next month. This weekend is the Uncommon Threads show and I will be in the boutique, but not the runway (maybe next year I'll try!) I'm trying to get a few more wraps done for the boutique, so that I can get an idea of people's reactions to them.

The Good Stuff

Since I've been felting up a storm, it was time to buy a new block of olive oil soap. You can felt with just about any type of soap, but I find that this is really the best: low amount of suds (which can impede felting), supposedly the best ph level for felting and eeeeeasy on my hands. Plus, the organic look to it is kind of cool.

I picked this up in Lincoln Square ( a fun neighborhood in Chicago) at Merz's Apothecary. Very cool place to check out--an old-fashioned pharmacy, featuring homeopathic medicines and all sorts of lovely imported soaps, creams, colognes, etc. A real treat.

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In unrelated news, Joe Lieberman is a weasel...

Before - After

I'm fascinated with this kettle-dyed merino/silk roving that I picked up at the fiber festival a few weeks ago. The color gradations just melt into one another and the fiber has a subtle sheen from the silk content. Makes me want to A: buy some more, or B: get out my dyepot and give it a try. Neither is particularly practical right now since I'm in the process of moving and don't really have the time or money to spare. Definitely something for my to-do list!


Mother Nature was raging last night--it was the first time that I headed to the basement for a Chicago storm. When the radio alert mentions your neighborhood by name, the sirens go off and you live in an attic, it's time to hide!

Making up for lost time

Ok, so it's been a while.... Not sure where to start--how about yesterday? I went to the 2nd annual Midwest Folk and Fiber festival and was just blown away by the selection of fiber and other fun stuff. Silly me, I thought I would be able to whip through there before heading out to my folks for the afternoon. (I really should know better by now). First of all, I couldn't walk 10 steps without seeing friends from all over the midwestern fiber arts scene-lots of fun catching up with people.

And the fiber, oh, the fiber....I've been playing around with merino and silk mixes and love the sheen and drape. So I was thrilled to see so many options of hand-dyed and blended mixes. I also bought some gorgeous merino/tencel mixes, which also look lovely.

Lots of felting planned for this week to try out the new stuff. Perfect timing, because I'm doing the Indie Designer Market show at the Randolph Antiques Market this weekend.

A rose by any other name....

So, I've been playing around with a new scarf design that I really love. It's two-sided with cutout elements that give a peek to the other side's color. This design has been marinating in my mind for a while and I finally got around to making a few. I've only taken photos of this one so far, but I've also made a few other combinations: lime/teal, red/black and lime/black.

When I posted this one on Etsy, I needed to call it something. It's kind of a funky design and it reminds me a bit of Swiss Cheese, hence the Funky Swiss Cheese scarf. I took a look at the posting earlier today and it occurred to me that the combination of "Funky Cheese" may not be a good one for something that goes around your neck. I may need to think of something else.....

Boston Bound...

Well, Cambridge, more accurately. These a just a few of the nuno felt scarves I sent off to the Cambridge Artists' Cooperative. I'm having a lot of fun playing with this new design, that I'm dubbing "Watercolors" for now. I was able to make lemonade out of lemons with two pieces of silk that were not quite the color I expected after I ordered them. While shockingly and scarrilously bright on their own, they became part of a beautiful landscape of color with the blends of merino and tussah fibers.

I really need to make more for Etsy!

Kid in a Candy Store....

…and the candy store is in my house! Lemme explain. One of my favorite felting artists, Nicole Chazaud of Festive Fibers is changing directions in her career. She has been known for her beautifully upholstered furniture in her signature colorful felts—she’s now going to design for the textile industry. The felting world’s loss is also our gain, as she sold off her hand-dyed wool. As soon as I received her email newsletter, I placed an order. Do I really need more fiber right now? “Need” as I’ve learned, is a relative thing. Good, upholstery-grade batting is hard to come by, especially in fun colors. Add to that the fact that this wool was dyed by an artist whose sense of color I really admire, and well, yes, I realized that I “needed” this fiber.

Honestly, I think I squealed in delight when I opened this package. Oh, the fun I’m going to have....as soon as I finish up an order of Nuno scarves for the Cambridge Artists Cooperative. I'm really please with the new designs I've been playing around with. Gotta make sure I take photos before I pack them up!

64 degrees. January. Chicago.

Are ya kidding me?!? But here it is, not one but two days of 60 degree weather in row. Of course, it meant that I had to get the bike out, which was nice, but I'm really ready for some more snow. I feel spoiled that we've had two ski-able snows in December--sooo good to get out on my cross-country skis.

I peeked around the garden hoping that I wouldn't see any bulbs coming up. So far, so good, but a few of my dianthus plants had some very green leaves. If this keeps up, we'll see a few of these outside:

Best of intentions

I was going to post all about the new designs I was making, the holiday craziness and the upcoming shows, complete with sneak previews. Never happened. Oh, sure, I thought about it, composed blog entries in my head, but never got around to actually logging in and doing it. I'm not a complete Luddite, but technology somtimes has a way of mentally bullying me into sticking my head in the sand.

Yesterday, I finally took photos of a few pieces and posted them on Etsy. So, in the spirit of making progress, here are some "postview" photos from a show this past fall. I'm really excited about my new Stained Glass and Trellis scarves.

Maybe I'll tackle the DVD player this afternoon....

Oh, and Happy New Year!