Scarf was not selected

My scarf was not selected for the exhibition with the comment

Not well felted - we can see you have enjoyed the technique, but further exploration needs to come to refine that. Think where the bubbles are going to fall in a scarf. Further colour design required.


Well thats life, I am happy to keep it for myself :)

Shibori scarf for Exhibition in Hamilton

At our Creative Fibre meeting last Monday the other ladies convinced me to put something in the National Exhibition in Hamilton 8th-11th of September.
Of course deadline for sending the entry form is already tomorrow 8th of August and the parcels have to arrive between 11th and 16th of August. So I was a bit in a rush what to do and decided for an easy shibory style scarf.
I used white polwarth tops and glass marbles and polystyrone balls.

I made this already on Monday/Tuesday but it still needed dyeing.
Well I was away the rest of the week for 2 days workshop and on Friday my usual day in the shop. Yesterday I had just a lazy day with not much doing, just a bit of spinning. But today I finally got the dyeing done

I used the technique Angela Meecham showed us:
I put warm water in a big container, just big enough to fit in the microwave. I added a hint of turquoise and mixed it and added some vinegar. Then I put the dry scarf in. She said it is better not to presoak the things, then it takes the colour better. When the fibre is already wet, it is already 'occupied' and it is much harder for the dye to bond. Then I added gradually different colours to the water by just making a bit space on the edge by pushing the scarf back and then adding the dye. The bubbles were treated last.
I am quite happy how it looks after the setting in the microwave. Now it needs to be fully dried before I will remove the marbles and the polystyrone balls.
Can't wait to see the result!

Felting Workshop with Angela Meecham

I spent two great days at a Felting Workshop with Angela Meecham in Kamo.
We had to leave Kerikeri very early 7.30am  to be there in time but it was well worth it. We tried out all sorts of fibres and fabrics for surface texture. It is amazing how it behaves some times.  This is a sample I made

I like very much the cotton gauze bottom left, but it was also amazing how the silver fabric in the middle turned out. My favourite is a piece of red organza which crinkled only in one direction, what a surprise! Bottom right is a piece of cheap fabric from the $2 shop, when the sun shines on it, it sparkles wonderful.

And then I tried some of the fabrics again on a white background and that is such a difference

It looses a lot in the white background, which shows, what an advantage black as background gives.

Angela also showed us dyeing in the microwave, especially overdyeing of colours.  I have to use this much more. Sometimes I have a boring coloured yarn or sliver, which I don't like anymore, well overdye it!

On the second day in the afternoon Angela showed us how to make a sculpted hat, that was fun!! Look at Anita, what a stunning hat!

We had two great days, very cold in the morning, but brilliant sunshine so that we could sit outside for lunch in the sun surrounded by the bowling green and flowering trees

The wet samples dried quickly on the concrete in the sun

and in the end of the second afternoon we had such a variety to look at

Thank you Angela for so much inspiration  :)

And here is the link for all the photos  if one of you wants to see more  

https://picasaweb.google.com/ilseseidel/FeltingWorkshopWithAngelaMeecham?authkey=Gv1sRgCKrRwaKOqJiBQQ

finished driftwood experiment

another vessel

I made another vessel this morning. Base was muslin, covered with black merino. For decoration I added some sari recycled threads.

I was not careful enough when wetting the wool around the corners and had in the end to cut open some of the muslin inside to get the shape right. Well another excercise anyway :-)

inspiration

Although the weather is really bad today, we went for our favourite scenic drive around the Matauri Bay coast. That is always good and gives me some peace and inspiration.

big swell at te ngare bay

lots of sea weed

interesting pattern

love the driftwood

that would be a nice garden seat, just to heavy to carry

lots of kingfishers are around

thats too big too

what a structure and pattern

so shiny when its wet

thats definitely something to think about!

driving under the rainbow 

closer

we are just there...

is there the end?

rain has stopped

and the sun makes the sea sparkle

I am very much into experimenting  again at the moment. I am fascinated by the combination of soft fibre and hard material like wood, pebbles, glas...

After felting a bowl in the morning

I experimented with driftwood. I wrapped some black merino around, didn't have anything else in black, folded a plastic shopping bag small to use as resist and the added more black and finally a thick layer of gotland batt. It took quite a while to make it shrink, but finally I've got this result

Now I will either add some felted seaweed of some felted pebbles, haven't decided yet.
But of course there is already more in my head, I am thinking  to felt around another slim driftwood, that it looks like this dead branches which have ear fungi growing on.
During the drive I was looking for our native clematis. It is too early that it flowers, but you never know. Even the wild peach trees have already some flowers on. But of course I couldn't see any. This are photos from some years ago

Well lots of ideas!

more scarves

I did today some more nunoscarves. They are still drying, it takes a bit at the moment.

The grey one is not a nunoscarf, it is made of a merino/possum mix, the same wool I used for the gloves I did some days ago.

And again, the felt didn't shrink as much as it normally does. The possum fur seems to prevent this.