Nuno Scarves

Felting again!  It has been awhile as I am working on a secret project, but today I have two lovely scarves laid out on my tables.  Soon as I am done I must clean everything up as company is coming!  And then on Sunday I am off on adventures with my younger sister, mom and aunt on Kauai.

When I return ...big surprise!  While I am gone I will be looking to nature for patterns and textures that one day might make it into my felting designs.

Take care...
Janet

New Pillows - But They're Already Spoken For

Done! Done! and Done!

I am so excited to finish these two pillows as they have turned out very nice.  They feel wonderfully soft when you feel them too.  The final touch was adding a small - as in micro - trim to the edge to cover seam stitching and a few tassel like tufts of fiber here and there!  I am sure their new owners will enjoy them for years to come.

They are washable too!  Just open them up and remove the inside and then pop the covers into the sink with some Soak wash...let them soak for 15 minutes.  Pull them out and roll in a dry bath towel to remove excess water.  Lay out flat on a dry towel until dry.  Or you can vacuum them for a quick clean up...very easy care!

http://www.soakwash.com/

Hope everyone enjoyed their Saturday as much as I did mine.  We had near blizzard conditions for awhile here.  Very cozy inside though.  And I have made more progress on my list of things to do before I leave for Hawaii next week.  Gotta keep at it though as there are many more things to do...

Take care,
Janet

Mohair Madness!

Hello,

Okay... I have gone back to the seam side out version of my little jacket and I have selected some divine mohair yarn from Mountain Colors out of Corvallis, Montana...my home state!

http://www.mountaincolors.com/  These two ladies have been doing their own dye work for 19 years.

And if you go to http://www.paradisefibers.net/Mountain-Colors-Yarn-Mohair-p/999014.htm you can browse all the wonderful colors available.  Maybe you have a project that needs a special touch.  The color I have selected is Bitterroot Rainbow.  I think this will work better than the Gold Rush I have on hand...it is going to be awesome...I can hardly wait!

The mohair yarn is all fuzzy...not smooth like the yarn in this sample...but it will be these colors.

Hey Fiber Fans!

Well I have my little jacket put together!  Now I am stuck on how to finish the edges.  My original plan was to put a bead and mohair crochet edge on it like you see on this cuff.

...but now I am thinking I might want to use the nice finished edges from my sheet of felt to make a 'ruffle' edge.  The next question is should I put it seam side out and attach it with the bead and mohair?  Or should I go with the more traditional look and put the seam in?  What do you think?  Let me know.  You don't have to leave your name you can sign on anonymously.

Oh my!

Just a few minutes ago my little dog sat up from his sound sleep and started barking like a crazy dog.  Then he ran to the back door so I let him out.  Mistake!  Skunk!!! I smelled it just as my dog got to the edge of the patio.  I ran out and grabbed him and we ducked back in as fast as we could, but the odor followed us in.  My husband has sprayed air scent now and hopefully it will dissipate before bedtime.  Haven't had a skunk around here before...just makes for a more interesting evening I guess.  I just hope it doesn't stink out there in the morning!  I remember my step-sister getting sprayed by a skunk once.  The solution to ridding her of the odor involved a whole lot of tomato juice...glad we didn't have to go there tonight.

I have made a great deal more progress on my custom order pillows.  I finished laying the silk on the wool I had laid out for both pillows.  Next I added a golden ribbon yarn and some beautiful mohair yarn to the surfaces.  A few sparkles here and there and today I was ready to roll!  The photos will give you an idea of how much shrinkage there is in this process.  In order to achieve that I first use cold soapy water so that the merino wool  and mohair yarn will travel through the silk before felting.  This is critical to the process and takes a while.  After I can feel and see that it has traveled through then I reduce the size of my inside roller and continue.  After a while of that I shed the bubble wrap, add warm soapy water and reduce my roller even further.  This is the stage you see my rolling in the photos.  Finally, I add warmer to hot water and throw my new piece of felt onto my table.  This shock locks the fibers even tighter together.  Was a bit of a workout for the day as I also did some small pieces for another project.

Now I am off to read, relax and knit for a bit before bed.  Hope you all have a wonderful, sunny Sunday!