Moss on bark hat

Following on from the bark hat I made in response to Fiona’s challenge last week, I thought I would make another, more literal interpretation of the shapes nature had deeply carved into the oak bark. This was the hat from last week for comparison:

IMG_7221

And today’s hat, with a little tuft of moss growing out of the crown:

IMG_7281

IMG_7288

 

The pinky-brown prefelt that has languished in the bottom of a box for over a year is nearly all gone, just one short strip left…

Tweedy Samples

Over on the Felting and Fiber Forum,  Frances and Galina have been posting about some new “scribbly” scarves  as I like to think of them. They are made from wool yarns, and led to a discussion about using up some of my admittedly excessive (don’t tell my other half I’m admitting to that!) stash of yarns from the days when I used to crochet. Most of my yarns however are either acrylic or polyester based rather than wool, making me doubt that I could get them to felt.

Galina posted this incredible link to Irena Levkovich’s work, creating amazing felt garments that look like they are woollen tweed.

So how could I resist, I still want to have another go at making a bolero jacket that fits me better….

These are my test samples:

IMG_7210

IMG_7212

I included some polyester eyelash yarn on the white and blue sample, just out of curiosity to see how it would behave…

IMG_7209

IMG_7211

It produced an interesting, highly textured effect but it rather detracts from the tweedy quality I was aiming for and I do wonder if the loops it formed would catch and pull if I tried to make a garment with it.

Overall I these samples were a success and I’m itching to work on something bigger! I am attending a workshop with Rutsoku Sakata Monday and Tuesday next week, so I will have to be patient and resign myself to just planning the jacket until Wednesday…