The Adventures of Felt Girl

I've been struggling to get any felting done lately. Lots of things going on with the family...2 children had birthday parties, our church choir had an event, school conferences (x5), being a superhero...

What? You didn't know I was a superhero? I got my secret identity just today. I am..."FELT GIRL", and I have a trusty sidekick, Lava Girl (my 4 year-old red-headed daughter). Lava girl "turns into lava with her head on top of it." Felt Girl, "makes felt and ties people up with them." Not a bad super power.

Since we last saw Felt Girl, she managed to finish some felted vessels and even felted a scarf, er, a shawl, or, um, maybe it's a table topper. It turned out kinda big, but it's pretty.

This one will be on display at Crossings during the month of December.

Just a simple one in Purple and Gold. I like how the gold migrates through the purple when it is felted.

This one reminds me of winter.

My attempt at an original motif.

My extra large Christmas scarf. The snowflakes are trapped between two layers of mesh. The mesh is trapped between superfine merino.

Oops, Lava Girl needs my help. Tune in next time for the adventures of ...duhn duhn duhn...Felt Girl and Lava Girl.

Laminated-imbedded-hybrid-nuno felted scarves

There is an interesting discussion on the Feltmakers List about the terminology used to indicate felt made from wool and other cloth. The term nuno is very common here in the United States, but can be confused with the Japanese company Nuno and its products. Laminated is used but doesn't really imply how the wool really intertwines with the cloth instead of just laying on top of it. The word imbedded covers that but, in my opinion, doesn't really give a good visual for the final product. Hybrid is another term used by some.
I think the problem with the terminology is that the words don't sound nearly as beautiful as the real thing. Who wants to wear an "imbedded felt scarf" or a "hybrid felt scarf"? It just doesn't sound beautiful and elegant and soft and colorful. Of the four words, I like nuno the best, because I don't have another competing definition for it.

Well, no one likes blog entries with no pictures, so here are some scarves I felted using wool and silk. Call them what you please.

My favorite. If I could name it, this one would be "A River Runs Through It."

I love the colors of this silk. I used a simple design, similar to the one I did in Kris Post's class at The Fiber Studio.

And this is the one I did in class. You might remember it from a previous post. I did press the scarf since that first picture, so maybe it looks a bit better here.

And finally, this is the first one I did at home after taking the class. I used a purple and orange scarf purchased from a second hand store. Not my favorite, but for someone who likes purple and orange together, it makes quite a statement.

Photographing scarves is quite an undertaking, especially scarves that don't even lay flat, like nuno...er...like these scarves. Someday, I'll get one of those dress form thingys and drape my scarves elegantly around it to take well lighted, thoughtfully composed photographs. Someday....

Scarves and vessels

Just some things I've felted lately.

Mocha scarf. So named because I've already spilled coffee on it. I'll probably keep this one. Machine needle felted.

Nuno scarf on silk, made in class last weekend.

Nuno scarf made with Optim and mesh.

Nuno scarf made with lace.

Seaweed scarf

And some vessels.

This picture was taken on a cloudy day with no flash. The color is really washed out.

Large vessel with silk cap cut into pieces.

Ode to the Red Hat Society.

An example of why you should never give up on a piece. This thing sat on my shelf for months. I was never happy with it and couldn't figure out what to do with it. Finally I needle felted the surface with swirls and reshaped it into a square vessel. I like it much much more.

Something sort of Christmas-y.

That's all. I don't have much to say right now. Just wanted to catch up on pictures.

Have a great weekend.