Soft and Feminine

     Having accepted that alpaca is definitely addictive, and that I am totally hooked, I'm still knitting beautiful things for Rocaro Alpacas for the spring Saltscapes show. The feel of the yarn is so inviting, soothing, and it knits up beautifully. I've now had the chance to try almost all of the yarns Caroline has available right now. There have been trials and tribulations, as I figured out which worked best for what type of patterns, how many strands looked and draped the best, etc. She has such lovely fine lace weight products that I love, but they really need to be knit with two strands for the best result. 


     These cowls have had beads added as well. I use the 'add a bead' as you go method with a piece of monofilament as a threader to place the beads over a loop before I knit it. I have a 1.25mm crochet hook which will go through some of the larger beads, but if they have extra coatings, that won't work so I found the simple piece of monofilament worked best for all the beads. I also had the challenge of fitting the crystals over the double strand as they have smaller holes. The edges of the crystal were beginning to cut the yarn, so it was best to loop the bead over only one strand instead of both. I didn't find the end result took anything away from the look of the crystals so one strand it will continue to be. 

     I now have three of these finished. The latest still needs blocking and it's a dark brown with white luster beads. Very attractive! The next one will be a medium brown with more sparkling crystals. Each cowl has a total of 60 beads in the pattern. I even learned a couple of new stitches for this project. The picot bind off is very lovely and since it's done on both ends, a provisional cast on was necessary so the stitches could easily be picked up again. (Bowing to the Internet Gods in appreciation of YouTube!) The finished result is so professional and pretty. I'm actually rather impressed with my newly learned stitches. 


     Now if this cold weather would ever warm up so a person could get outside! That cold blast last night has erased all thoughts of spring from my mind. I'm still waiting for my plow guy as there's a huge drift at the bottom of my driveway. There is nothing but ice and blowing snow as far as the eye can see and it's too damn cold for the road salt to work so driving is really fun!  Hibernation has been a good rest but I'm anxious to get out and do something different for a change. Seems like it's been a long winter so far. I did manage to get some major housework done recently so wasn't time wasted. Come on Spring .... please! 

Delicate Wool Scarf with Beads

     Here is the finished scarf. The knitting part was pretty easy once I got onto the pattern. I think this was the first triangular scarf I've ever made. 

     Many thanks to the Troll from Norway for modelling for me. The husband flatly refused. Once it was washed and pressed out, it hangs really nicely. 

     The beads stand out and although it's very hard to photograph the effect of the crystals .. they're there and glitter like crazy when the light catches them just the right way. 

       It certainly was a lot of work to spin all those beads into the yarn. I think the end result was worth it. Not sure it would be a practical item to retail though ... as the hours involved are great and it's only a scarf so I can't price them highly enough to make it worthwhile. They will remain on my " special commissioned items " list and will be made only on request. 

Beaded Yarn

A little blurb about the yarn I'm working on. I started with some lovely Corridale roving in a solid medium grey color. I pulled off little whisps and, using a needle threader, I added #8 seed beads and 4mm crystals.

     I added the beading roving wisps to the first single ply, trying to keep it as fine as I could manage. The seeds are placed every meter or so, and there is one crystal for every 10 seeds. It's shown here on the bobbin. 

     I also finished painting my wheel. Cute eh? There are some flatback crystals on it as well ... you can sort of see them here. They glitter like mad! 

     I made another plain single ply from the same roving and plied both singles into a double. Shown  here is approximately 120 yards of fingering yarn on the niddy noddy made by my husband. 

     This is the yarn wound into a ball and all ready to knit. 

     This is the yarn knit into the pattern I selected for a triangular shawl. Now, I just have to do all that two more times and I should have a very nice shawl to add to my inventory. Keep in mind it has to be washed and blocked out to get it to drape and hang properly. 

Spun Out!

     This is the finished product. A nice neck warmer scarf with a matching brooch closure. It's the zig zag scarf pattern from Lion Brand Yarn ... a very fast and easy knit. I used size 8 needles since the wool was still rather bulky. It's very eye catching, to say the least. Microwave dying with food colors produces a very bright color when used full strength. Watering down the coloring will produce more muted tones so perhaps next time. I still have at least seven pounds of this local wool and carding it is a lot of work. Unfortunately, it wasn't washed properly, so it's very hard to card out. Some tiny bits aren't usable for anything other than embellishment on other projects and lumps of texture. However, most is good if somewhat time consuming. I'm going to use it all as free is free and I'm not letting it go to waste. I also whipped up the beaded brooch to match this wool.  Once it's pinned on, you can just slip the scarf on and off over your head if you aren't worried about messing up your hair. 

Needle Felted Sculptures

     I've been down with the flu for over a week. It's nasty and lingering. It makes you wish you were dead. However, I did manage to catch up on some needle felting that had to be done. It's been awhile since I've made anything needle felted and I find my style has changed a bit. I seem to be much more into detail than before. Well that's a good thing. Since I was pretty much confined for several days, I used the time to get started on my list of things to be done by Christmas. I finished the little beaded ring in no time, and then made the sea horse brooch. These are both orders to go to the city. 






     That left a couple of larger sculptures to be done. I tackled the trout commission and it turned out rather well, but took a couple of days. I'm sure it will find a nice home. 

     The next project was a pair of earrings I had started. When I realized the pattern was a bit more time consuming than I had thought when I started them, I had put them aside for an occasion such as being laid up for a few days. 

        That nearly caught me up and I only have one more commission lined up right now, which I will begin working on today. I've taken on the chore of cooking something nice for supper as well, since I'm feeling better now. I have a project ready to start with the wet felting too, but that will have to wait until this awful cough subsides and I have the energy to work the wool. 


     It really feels good to be all caught up this early in the process.  

Beaded Magnetic Bracelet

     This has been a busy week so far. I've been trying to get everything caught up, all the bills paid and the house cleaned up as Don is coming home, finally, on Saturday morning. Only two more sleeps! I haven't been working with wool as it requires more space and I'm trying to tidy up, so I've been filling in a few spare hours with this beaded magnetic bracelet. All the black rounds are magnetic hematite, surrounded by #11 seed beads. As usual it turned into something more elaborate than I'd envisioned at the beginning but it was fun to weave, if a bit time consuming. 


     I took a small break in my routine yesterday, and drove into Dartmouth for a great cocktail party. Nice buffet and sangria punch and so many friends. When I left, I think I counted a total of sixteen .... in a small apartment! It was really nice and even though I left rather early in order to get a couple more hours work in last night, I had a great time and was very glad I went. 

     Oh, and I have a new pen pal! Hi Linda in Ohio! We've been bantering back and forth on Facebook and we seem to have lots in common, so that's going to be fun. 


     Once I have the studio all cleaned up ... sometime today I hope, I have to start taking down some of my displays in order to make room for Don's things. He likes to fill up a couple of shelves with some of his tools, paperwork and art as well. I've been hogging the whole room for the past six months and even though he has the whole basement for his woodworking shop and pool room, he really does need some storage up here for some of his other things. 

     This bracelet has given me an idea for a great necklace and earrings which would go very well with the new African style dress I just purchased. I see shades of green and gold. The rosettes aren't hard to make, just tedious but they're fun to weave together, so that will give me something to pick away at for the rest of this week. I'm also beginning the process of going through my inventory and deciding what will be going into the In Hants Craft Show this fall. It's an important show so I have to make sure everything is properly labelled and priced. I need to work on displays for the jewelry too. I want that stuff at eye level this year and have to make some things to show it off. Well, the laundry is done now so I'm off to do more housework. Can't wait until Don't plane lands. 

Book Jackets

     With the passing of another long, summer weekend, I've suddenly realized I've been getting lazy and just enjoying some good weather. It's dryer now and the nights are cooling down. Sleeping is bliss again and the mornings are perfect for any chores as heat isn't an issue until later in the afternoon. 


     I've been satisfying my artistic needs with a couple of wet felted book jackets for myself. As always they are experiments in technique. In this case, setting the curly locks and blending the colors. I got to play with my beads for awhile too, making embellishments for them. They are covering my two favorite sketch books. I especially love the one shown above, mostly because those colors appeal to my tastes. 

     I think I would love the red tones as well had I used a whiter background. Both of these were done with two resists, for the front and back covers of the book. I did the inside in a thinner felt as I didn't want too much bulk. They have a simple single snap sewn in closure under the flap. 


     My first attempt at this project was a miserable failure as this wool shrunk 40% during the process and the end result was too small for the book. The insides were a bit bulky as well so I think it's looking for a home as a cover for some sort of storage folder ... perhaps a CD case. Who knows? I will either find a use for it, or it's going into my scraps pile and will be used as prefelt in something else. All the little scraps can be rolled up and used for textural elements on felt. There is virtually no waste. 


    I now must go attend to a few domestic issues, and then I have an idea for playing with some Angelina fiber for a new project. It looks like it's going to be another lovely day, so I must accomplish something. Bye for now. 

"Watching"

     I just completed this piece. It's called "Watching" and it's a statement about our diminishing personal privacy in current society. 


     This picture was taken with a flash in order to make the pupils of the eyes glow. I used Miracle beads which have this property. The second picture was taken without a flash. 


    The art is a birthday gift for an old friend. It is destined to reside on Nova Scota's beautiful south shore at White Point. 

If At First, You Don't Succeed .... Try, Try Again

    Not one to be defeated by my own stupid mistakes, I made three more cellphone cases yesterday. I am pleased with these. The dark brown one I made first. I was quite happy, except I didn't have quite enough white on the outside of the fringe of the flap. That was my error on layout. The grey one came next and even though the grey is a very coarse, long staple wool, it worked better than I expected. I was happier with the fringe. 


     I attempted the red wool again. As soon as I wet it, it tried to get away from me again. I have no idea what this wool is .. the staple is short and it's very fine and soft. I'd guess merino, but not sure. I was able to control the wool but you can see this one is a bit wider than the others. A tiny bit of the red solidified and didn't stick on the front so I snipped it off. Not sure what happened there either, except I think it might have folded off initially on the bottom side where I couldn't see it, during the beginning stages. I also dared to cut some holes in the flap with pleasing results. I found out these holes can get a lot larger in a big hurry where the wool is very thin. More valuable knowledge for the data base in my brain. 

     I was really happy with the flame look of the red flap. I don't know what kind of wool the yellow is either. It's a long staple a slightly coarser than the red. I got both at a fabulous price on EBay in large amounts. I imagine it is left overs from the International Day of Felt project quite some time ago as this was themed in red and yellow colors. In any case, it was inexpensive and I have a lot of it. 

     This is the sketch I have ready for my first handbag. I'm waiting on an order of four colors of dyed Corridale top from Louet in Quebec and a sampler of Angelina fibers from the states. Once those treasures arrive, I think I'm ready to dive into handbag production. The little cases were a great experience, but I just fell in love with the handbag concept and can't wait to try it. 

Wet Felting Process

     Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. I hope you have a wonderful day. That goes to my mom too, who I know will be reading this. Love you Mom. 


    I'm still playing with the wet felting ... holding off on the handbag project because I just am not yet skilled enough and I really want to make it nice. I'm learning quite a bit about the art just from making these bangles. I've already learned that not all wools like each other and have had a couple of disasters. The black and red number shown fell apart on me early in the wetting process, so after fighting with it for a little while, it wouldn't go the way I wanted it to, so I discarded it. 

     I've learned that the hotter the water is, the better this works. I'm starting to develop a feel for  the process, beginning to understand when to add water and when to add soap. I'm completely amazed by the process and how hard and smooth it becomes. I've been flaming the fuzzy hairs off the damp finished bracelets, before beading them because I love the look. The smell of burned wool disappears once they're dry. I can't find any instructions where this step is mentioned .... so it's not likely recommended. Remember, I don't have the luxury of an instructor. I'm trying to learn all this from internet resources. I can't afford to buy the books either. I've also been sharing this with my talented artist cousin, Deb, on the South Shore. She has made some very pretty unbeaded bangles and has also become obsessed with the process. 

     The ones shown in this pic have just been flamed and I took them outside to brush the burned bits off. Notice how smooth they look. The more I make, the more I realize I need to learn. This is especially true when something doesn't work out and I then have a need to find out why. So many questions ... so much to learn .. but it wouldn't interest me if there was no challenge. 
I'm looking for a list or chart or something to tell me which types of wool work best for needle felting vs. wet felting vs. spinning. So far, I have found no such chart, but lots of info. It looks like I will have to make the list myself based on many different resources. Any helpful hints from my readers are gratefully appreciated. 

     There are volumes of things I want to know. Like all about wet felting with resists, and how to stick on pieces of prefelt and how to attach ropes for bag handles and the like. I now realize a beret with a resist was a silly thing to do for a beginner project and the fact I was able to save it with so little experience was a pure miracle. This is so much fun and at the same time so difficult. The learning curve will surely take years to master. I now understand so much more about the accomplished artists in this field, and have so much more respect for the time they invested to get to where they are. 

Some New Creations

     I thought I'd have another try at the beret as I was so disappointed in my first attempt. I cut another resist, 3/4 " smaller, reversed the hat and applied more wool to the inside of the top, then proceeded to wet felt as before. Before long, I had a skin strong enough to start rubbing and rolling for real. Taking it to the sink, I realized I'l skipped a step previously as well. I'd barely worked the felt against itself with the really hot water. Hmmm ... I was diligent with this step and success was achieved. This is the finished product. I will likely sew in a nice binding around the head hole, and it needs a good steaming and a bit of a tug here and there, but I'm rather pleased. If you hold it up to the light, you can still see a few thin areas, so it's far from overworked. I think even a bit more material next time. Not bad for a beginner tho. 

    Now I'm addicted to wet felting and although it can be a great upper body workout, I've never had cleaner hands. I actually burned my hand last night with water that was a shade too hot. It's wasn't a serious burn and is fine today. I'm very pleased with this attempt at making a simple bangle. I now have an idea of just how much wool to use, and sizing them is fool proof with the thin piece of hemp in the center. You tie the hemp to the size you need and roll the wool around it. Finishing touches were added with seed beads from www.thebeadingroom.com and I really think the finished product is quite elegant. I'll take a bow for that photo as well. It's one of my better shots. 

                                                                            
     Getting back to the very first bangle I wet felted; the blue one that all caved in because I used way too much wool in the first place, and rushed the process of course. A bit of creative beading and Presto! A very cool if somewhat abstract, chunky bangle. I actually love it now. So the whole experience of wet felting over the last few days has actually been rewarding. It will try my patience, which I have very little of most of the time anyway, but I think I'm going to enjoy the results. A nuno scarf and a handbag are on my list of projects to try. I will be trying to dream up a handbag design very soon  ... the sketchbook is on standby in case of a brainstorm. 


     I'm also planning a small gathering of ladies next Wednesday for supper. It's going to be hot and cold buffet style finger food, so I need to decide on a couple of things for that, and make a grocery list.  A couple of the guests will bring along something to add to the choices, but we have to collaborate so we don't all make the same thing ... don't laugh ... it's happened before. Well, that's all I have for today. I'll try to keep you updated on my wool adventures. 

Beaded Cocktail Ring Giveaway

I thought it might be fun to feature a giveaway on my blog, to help promote my work. This contest is open to all my blog followers as well as my Facebook community. Every person who leaves a comment to this post will go into a hat for a draw this weekend (April 17th). You must leave your email address so I can contact the winner, then I will send you this adorable cocktail ring in the mail, free of charge, just for participating and being the drawn name. I will contact the winner for your mailing address and get this off to you at the beginning of next week. This ring is size 5 and the picture does it no justice at all. It's so much prettier up close. Good luck to all. 

Zharyha and Easter Sunday

     A couple more small details have been given to the Spirit Mask. She has tails on either side of her head now, with some crystal and small glass beads added, the idea being that the wall where it will eventually live is lit in the evenings often only by the warm glow of the fireplace. I was hoping to catch some of that light in the crystals and have it reflect and glitter occasionally. I've been making more sketches, so she will have family. I've started working on a second one already. She now has a name and a story to go along with her. 

     Zharyha       She and her sisters are spirits who live and play in that mystical place where surf and sand or rock collide. They dance in the sea foam, playing on the crests of the crashing waves. They watch over this home of theirs and make sure the ocean and shoreline are always in harmony when they meet, as the friction erodes the rock away to form substrate for the beginnings of new life. These spirits are more visible now, in our lifetime. This is due to the increased density of the sea foam, from pollutants and chemical changes in the water. This makes the spirits' job much more difficult, and they often weep with the howling gales over the slow, but inevitable loss of their environment. Please help them survive and respect the symbiotic relationships of nature. 

     So, besides that, yesterday was a fun day. Being Easter Sunday, most folks have family commitments, but there's still a bunch of us old single birds out there, so we got together at the home of a couple of old friends and had a big feed. We started with appetizers of crackers with black pepper goat cheese, burn yer lips off guacamole, and smoked Genoa sausage. Then we moved on to the main meal which was a big ham dinner with several choices of vegetables, hot cross buns, home made pickles and beets, three kinds of mustard, oh my! Everything was so good and it looked like everyone had a pretty good appetite. Dessert was fresh made lemon cake and pumpkin pie. This is where I gave up ... I had no room left for dessert. None ... nada ... not the barest crack or crevice.

      I had brought Daisy along with me to play with their husky. Both the dogs were tied outside all afternoon and played each other out. They both enjoyed a portion of leftovers from our dinner. I took her home in early evening. She was played out and getting cranky and I had overeaten so just wanted to have a nap. That is exactly what we did as soon as I got home. I had lots of sleep and felt rather chipper today. Managed to get several hours worth of mundane chores accomplished and actually enjoyed doing it. I'm going to cook a nice pork tenderloin supper with fresh broccoli ... healthy and lean, watch a little tv, do a little felting and go to bed early in hopes I feel this good again tomorrow. 

Rings and Things

I'm running around here today trying to get a few things organized. A friend sent me the pattern for this pretty cocktail ring so I played with it last night for awhile. I came up with a couple of different looks for it. You'll have to excuse the old, dry wrinkled hand in this picture. It's the ring you're supposed to be looking at. The bands on these are beaded with 11/0 seed beads so they feel very nice on the finger. 

I just finished bathing the dog. She'll be going into the city with me this afternoon for a nice visit with my friend, Lu. I wanted to make sure she smelled pretty for the visit. She was due for a bath anyway. My next move is to have a shower myself and try to do something with my hair.  Then I'm off to the big city to spend the rest of the day. 

Wooly Brooch

This brooch was snapped up yesterday on Facebook buy a return customer. He loves my wool creations and this is the second piece he's purchased. I managed to get the rest of the completed ones uploaded to Etsy so they're waiting for new homes.  www.SponalgeKarney.etsy.com


While doing some blog browsing, I came across a nice recipe for Scottish oatcakes. There was a lovely photo of the ingredients, so it was easy to figure out the consistency of the oatmeal required, as I wasn't familiar with the local names. They turned out great and they're party worthy, easy and delicious, so will likely be sharing these with my friends at our next gathering. 

I haven't heard any more from Don. We agreed on  one phone call a week and decided Friday would be good. It's still only Tuesday. Being garbage day, I spent some time in the garage yesterday, sorting and bagging various trash. I managed to get up early this morning and have everything to the edge of the road before the truck arrived for pickup. I over slept last week and missed it. There is nothing else on the slate for today, so I can enjoy finishing up the pins,  begin either a pair of earrings or a ring ...  the new ring pattern I received is very enticing, and do a bit of cleaning up. Tomorrow I have to make a trip into Dartmouth to drop off a couple of pieces and meet up with some friends for coffee. I don't plan on being in there more than a few hours so Daisy will be fine here by herself for the afternoon.  Well, that's all for today folks, and now I'm off to begin working. Wishing all a fabulous day. 

Shawl Pins of Every Color

It's a dreary day and we're expecting a substantial rain storm. Just what we need. The last one took care of all the snow and caused some flooding .. this one will cause more washouts and flooding ... and such is life in Eastern Canada. I've been working on these shawl pins. I have three more in the early stages of felting and one on the bead board. They're fun but rather labor intensive. I've had rave reviews from anyone who's seen them but no sales as yet. However, there's only a couple on Etsy so far, and they've only been there a day. They have been getting a lot of views.


What I was going for here was abstract, which I think I nailed, organic in the fluid shapes as well as the sand dollar, again, if I haven't nailed it, I'm close. The beaded embellishments are for bling. To catch the eye, to balance the piece and because beads and wool complement each other. Each piece was a journey and so relaxing and inspiring. The colors are vivid, intentionally, as scarves or shawls tend toward natural, earthy tones. They have a large metal bar pin on the back which I have orientated to my vision of the pins, but which is purely subjective and can be worn any way you find it pleasing to your own eye. They are for sale now in my Etsy shop for $25 each. All proceeds toward a starving artist ... me. 
They would not likely be suitable for purse adornments, as the sand dollars are fragile and may break if accidentally bumped against a hard surface.


lynndon@eastlink.ca
www.SponagleKarney.etsy.com