I won a contest!

What fun! Sydnei Moore of Simply Sentimental hosted a contest. The prize was a felted necklace created by Shalana, The Funky Felter. I was the randomly chosen winner. What a nice unexpected surprise.

Just a Little Something

I felted a table runner a while back, using lots of different yarns drizzled all over and a little roving to hold it all together. I had note cards made of this close up picture. Below you can see the whole piece on my table. I'd like to do another one like this.

Company is coming in a few days, and I must get ready. This might be my last posting of the year, but I'll see you in January, and, meanwhile, I'll be reading all your blogs. May God bless all of you in 2009.

A Felter's Goals

I've been in sort of a funk this week. I haven't done any felting at all. For show and tell, I have a vessel I finished a few weeks ago. I don't think I posted it before.

This week I've been thinking about:

• how to better market my work


• how to improve my work


• what do I want to accomplish in the long run

One of my long term goals is to study under as many good felt makers as possible. So toward that goal, I am taking a workshop in March done by Chad Alice Hagen. She will be teaching Handfelted Scarf Bonanza, a workshop sponsored by the Weavers Guild of Minnesota. Here is the description from their website.

Hand Felted Scarf Bonanza with Chad Alice Hagen

It's fun, instructive, enlightening, creative, and useful! Join us for a full three days of making three very different hand felted scarves. You will learn to hand dye merino fleece, layout and hand felt the famous Airy Fairy Scarf. Then experience using very fine Australian needle punch batts to make the ultra fabulous Bubble Boa Scarf, and last but not at all least - dye, stitch and overdye the incredibly artistic Bark Scarf using the Japanese Mokume resist process.

793 Friday, Saturday, & Sunday, March 13, 14, 15: 9:00am-4:00pm Level: MultiTuition: $345/$285 members Materials Fee: $35 Dye Lab Fee: $45

Another opportunity in 2009 is the Midwest Felting Symposium. I am eagerly waiting to see the class and instructor list. Also, Pat Spark will be teaching in Iowa in June at the Midwest Weavers Conference.

Another of my goals has to do with proficiency. I want to be able to make a wider variety of felted items very well, and to become familiar with using different types of wool and other fibers. I am still a "young" felt maker, and I know I can learn a lot from those with experience.

So here is a challenge for you. Name one goal you have and what action you will take to achieve that goal in 2009. Be brave. Send it to the comments section so we can all encourage you.

Now here is a picture of the cutest little Santa ever seen: