Time For Carin's Felting Retreat

  I know, it's been way too long between posts!  It's been a busy year so far........
I just returned from my good friend Carin Engen's retreat at her workshop and home in Garberville, CA.  Carin is an amazing felter and felt instructor who teaches all over the country as well as has her own line of hand dyed wool for spinning and felting.  For three years now she's had numerous three day retreats in
Garberville where nine felters can go and have the run of her workshop, Carin
is there as a "technical adviser" AND you get three yummy meals a day....yes, it is
a felters nirvana.  It was great to see                                                

friends I made at last years retreat and
make new friends.

  Here are the things I worked on:
The first day was this bag ,the three pictures here on the right and below is a bag I did, I've had this idea in my head for months now... it is fun to see it finally materialize.  I wanted a simple image on both sides of the bag and for
some reason spoons kept popping into my head....and a bowl goes with spoons.
First I made partial felts in the colors I wanted then drew & cut out the images.
After wrapping my bag template with four layers of white merino I added the cut out spoons, bowl & trim.  Next was, yes, much rolling in bubble wrap.  I use the larger, heavier blue bubble wrap when I'm doing something large and rather heavy, it handles the bulk better.  It's actually pool cover insulation, fyi.
Fulling was done by rolling it on itself
while keeping it wet and soapy, working the desired shape all the time.
In the next few days I'll find the right thread and do machine free motion embroidery around the spoons, bowl and maybe the edge. 

I'm especially excited with how the bowl turned out...

I'm very happy with the way it turned out, now I need to decide what I want to do for
straps.....I'm thinking purple leather, but can I find the right shade of purple!  I would
do one thing different though.....instead of four layers of white merino for the base of

 the bag I would do six.  I lay out quite thin and just feel the sides could be denser. 
 Next time.  Always something to learn with this craft.

 This I did on the second day, it's a red triangle scarf.  The three pictures below are it.

This one on the left is the first layer of my lay out.  The variation of the colors was so beautiful I just had to take a photo!  You can barely see the shiny plastic resist running along the edge, this made a type of overlapped edge, the bottom layer is plain burgundy and the top is the multi-colored reds and golds.
What you can't see is a triangle of cotton cheese cloth under the whole thing, it makes a great texture on the fabric, it can be seen on the turned over top edge.
The "design" along the edge and in the middle of the scarf was made with silk hankies that were dyed by Carin, the wool also was dyed by Carin, one of my favorite colorways, Drama.  You can buy her hand dyed wool on Etsy at Carin Engen Fiber Arts.  If she doesn't have it stocked, write/convo her and she'll tell you when it will be available.  

Finished Scarf

And finally day three.....this is a shawl I made from a beautiful light green vintage silk sari.  This shawl actually took me the longest to make, from 9am to 8pm, a real "all dayer".  The photo on the left was taken after the second go around at rolling; usually I do 150 rolls each time, switching ends after 150...I do this four times, usually.  This silk was a bit more stubborn and needed lots of extra rolls, how many?  I lost count.
Anyway, the main body of the shawl has a long piece of silk on either side, wool on the outside edges that was felted to make a slight ruffle and then two layers of silk on the ends.  As much as I dislike having my picture taken I ended up doing so, you can really see the length and, I feel, beauty of the shawl.  I really happy with how this came out.....I can promise you it won't end up on my Etsy site!  This will stay with my stash :)

great crinkle effect!

What a productive three days I had, such a blast.  Thanks again Carin!

A Contradiction to Consider

  Can one be in a contradiction?  Or does one feel contradicted about something?  Either way I think I'm there.  I looked contradiction up and it gave this meaning:
a combination of statements, ideas or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.  Hmmm.  Here is the deal...the holidays are upon us, and I love the holidays.  I put the red stocking I made in the previous posting up for sale on my Etsy shop (ifeltlikeitbyterry) and it got lots of hits and was "favorited" many times.  And, yes, it sold.  One gentleman even asked if I could make four stockings in different colors with that design on them, they're pictured above.  He was very flattering and naturally I said yes!  I could really use the $$ too.  So far I've sold 8 stockings off my site and I'm super happy about that.
  Here is the "contradiction" . I would one day like to feel comfortable calling myself a fiber artist.  That being said, am I getting off on the right foot creating multiples of something-the same thing over and over-like offering the above stockings again?  I ended up re-listing them on my site, and I hate to say it but the main reason was that it was an easy money maker.  OK, I know we're just talking Christmas stockings here, but it's a start.  One reason people buy hand made is because they want to get something original.  I would hate to buy a nuno felted scarf and a few weeks later see that same scarf on someone else, or even for sale again in the shop I bought it from.
A friend of mine said I'm being too hard on myself and that since I did design them I should feel free to make as many of them as I like.  True too.  But does someone who wants to consider herself an artist one day create the same thing over again or does she come up with new and original ideas in order to further her creativity?
  Now I think I may contradict myself...I've started making these simple necklaces pictured below left.  I make a felt cord with these beautiful lampwork beads my cousin makes on them.  They are tricky to make since you have create the cord while the bead is on it.  Anyway, I'm really jazzed at how they turned out, there is a felt loop and hook at the back.  I just got a new batch of beads and plan to make some of the necklaces in different colors to put on my etsy site.  Now here, I don't feel that making multiples of the necklaces is a problem like I did with the stockings.  Hmmm.  Now I could never make a replica of the scarf I just made, pictured below right.  That would just be plain wrong in my book.  Now, in another color with different yarns....maybe.     Contradiction?
  One thing I am sure of though is that I love making felt and feel blessed to be able to have the opportunity to do what I love.  For that I need to thank my husband, Jack.  He makes it possible for me to study the craft of felting and then run with what I've learned.  I am such a lucky gal!  And there is no contradiction there.