Felting

I recently took a class on wet felting. It's really super simple, and it has a lot of room for creativity. All you need is bubble wrap, soap and water, mosquito net, a rolling pin and wool. The only real problem is that it makes a mess- soap and water and slippery goop everywhere- so it might be a good outdoor picnic table project. I plan on getting one of those table cloths made out of plastic for my dining room table. You do need a pretty big surface area to do this (keep in mind anything you make will lose 30% of its length), and that's the only one I've got big enough.

Here's one of my FOs:



It's about 2 oz of handpainted corriedale roving. I laid it out in a loose, wavy grid on my bubble wrap. After the felting process, it actually becomes fabric, so it's much stronger than it looks.



It's really light and airy though. I did a few other pieces and experimented with density and color, but this is the one I like best.



It's also an excellent way to use up odd bits of roving. You don't need that much to begin with, but I made an interesting piece using bits of neps for texture.

I love the looks of a felted scarf, but if you sew, you can actually make garments out of your wet felt.

I found this basic guide online, but it's pretty dry...I'll plan on doing a photo tutorial soon.

Zombies!

I finished spinning and plying my Zombies while slurping from a bowl of delicious brains. Totally appropriate.



It was a 4oz bump of Falkland from the August Spunky Club that I spun up and then Navajo plied in short chains to preserve the colors.



I ended up with 300 yards of heavy worsted weight. I haven't given it a relaxing bubble bath yet to set the twist, so it looks a bit wonky and uneven. Hopefully it won't bleed har har.

Surprise! More Fiber!

I was on vacation when the postman tried to deliver my August Spunky Club, so I didn't actually get it until this past week.



Falkland in the "Zombies" colorway. Great name, great colors. Falkland wool is a breed of sheep from the remote, cold, windy Falkland Islands. They have a great deal of Merino in their bloodlines, so it's very soft and crimpy, but there is also a lot of silkiness to it and a longer staple length then Merino. It's great for beginners, it's usually not all that expensive, and it's nice and soft. It's bright white in color, so it takes dyes really well.



The colors are great- a sickly blueish-gray, some gory reds, some gray matter. I'll be here, squishing and petting my brain-eating wool all weekend.

September Spunky Club

It was a good week as far as stash enhancement being delivered via USPS. I got my box of fiber from Spunky Eclectic this week.



I apologize for the picture quality. It was raining and I was impatient.



as much as I hate to use a flash, this shows the true colors best:


It's 8 oz of Blue Face Leicester wool in the colorway "Rolling Hills". Earthy colors, my favorite! Straw yellows, a purpley brown and olive green. The colors play really nice off each other- it all looks very natural and the color changes subtle. Of course, the fact that it's BFL doesn't hurt.

Fiber clubs are a great way to try different kinds of wool. Every month, there is a new breed of sheep magically appearing at my door. Well, um, not quite so magic as there is a credit card transaction involved. For the most part, I like the colors that Amy uses to hand-paint roving. If there is a month where the colors or the fiber doesn't speak to me, I can always find someone to trade with. I opted for the "double fiber" club- 4 oz is a good amount, but 8oz is better! I can generally get a pretty good-sized project out of 8oz. If I ply it with something neutral or complimentary, i can usually get a sweater's worth of yarn.

It's also good for matching accessories- 8 oz will be more then enough for a hat and mittens set, or a hat and scarf. 'cause you know, knitters really don't match their accessories very well. I am guilty of this fashion crime. My goal this year is to have more matching winter knitwear sets. I tend to get bored with my yarn after just one FO and ready to move on to a totally new project as soon as I can.

My new mantra: Matching Sets.