December is here, time to party!

Wow, this fall has just zipped by! I last posted in October, just before I went to SAFF in Asheville for classes with Chad Alice Hagen. The event was great! I bought lotsa goodies and the classes were wonderful. It was great to see another set of tools and techniques for felting, and I learned a few tricks as well. I'll apply a few of these in upcoming classes, so you'll get an idea of how valuable it is to take classes with other artists!

November held family responsibilities, so other than a weekend low-key craft show here in Tampa, I haven't done much since then... til this week. The studio is all set up for my Christmas Open Studio sessions (if you're in Tampa, come by! come by!) and even better, you can just drop in for one or several 4 hour sessions. (Thurs nights, 5-9, Saturdays Noon to 4. see the website for more info.) Music! Munchies! Making things! For me, Christmas has always been about making things, ornaments, decorations, gifts. We made sequin balls for the tree, still have some. Didn't everyone grow up like that?


To continue that tradition, I have some prefelts and patterns that will make 8-10 tree ornaments (also great as pins or strung on ribbon as garland) that are really cute and fast to do, and especially great for complete beginners. I've also developed some "ready to roll" projects, based on Chad's seamless techniques. I've got 4 patterns ( see three of them below) with the fleece already laid out and they are ready to decorate and wet down and roll! All you felters know that laying out the fleece takes most the time, so I am keeping your busy holiday schedules in mind. These are good for experienced felters and beginners who want to try more than small items. And of course, hats, purses, and a variety of other patterns and wools await those who like to start from scratch.





I met several new Tampa folks at the show in November (Made by Hand, put on by the City of Tampa) that didn't give me email addresses but expressed interest in classes next year. I might be able to schedule a weekend workshop for beginners at Taylor Art Studio in Seminole Heights in February, or I might schedule one at my studio in South Tampa. Please get in touch if you are interested, or keep an eye on this blog or my website for class announcements.

Where have all the felters gone?

I have to admit, I'm kinda bummed. None of the next-step classes at Spruill seem to be "making" and the Intro class is also barely filling to minimum -Are there 2 more of you in Atlanta? Come on, please register! Let me come up and share this great craft with you!

I am hoping that this is just due to a busy fall season for all of you, but I am feeling profoundly unloved right now! I had pictured this as being the best of all possible times for a felting class - those chilly days just beg for a felt hat or scarf, and felted items are great for Christmas presents. But, ah well, live and learn. Maybe my spring classes will be overflowing with fiber lovers and I'll just look forward to that.

I am still coming up (in hope that a miracle will happen!) and I'm still going to SAFF to revel in wool-love and take a hat class from Chad Alice Hagen. Get in touch if you are planning to also go to SAFF or thinking about taking a class.

Spruill Center class - great stuff!

The class in Atlanta was great! Again, wonderful hats and purses and decorative pieces. I hope all the participants had as great a time as I did! I have just uploaded the photos to a felting class gallery so please visit the page and enjoy! The piece shown on the left was made by a student in that class.

Also, whether you are a former student in one of my classes, interested in taking a class, or just interested in felting, please visit the Fabulous Felters Google group. The group is there to provide a community of support for the students to continue their felting exploits at home. There should be some new photos and questions and tips coming (Nudge, Nudge) from past students and I will continue to post patterns, tips and class schedules.

A few new pieces

I have a gallery page started to show the pieces I am making this summer. I will be adding more pieces in September as I start to make pieces for fall, so bookmark that page and check it often.


If you visited earlier, and read the entry about my experiments with alpaca, you can see the cocoon I made with a similar design approach to an earlier piece I made. Very different - softer, and lacier, but also a little furry, which was not planned. Not so much a summer fiber then. But still nice. I had been trying to replace the long-staple Icelandic which was my first try at a cocoon, and miraculously turned out well. But Icelandic fleece is a little wiry, which is why I have been trying to find replacement. So, more trials, not that it isn't fun to play with different fibers! I still haven't done anything with the cashmere yet. More fun to come!

Updated Class Info

A new Basic Felting Class is being offered in Tampa at Taylor Art Center and the Felt Projects class is being held there instead of at Hyde Park. Email me (link on the left) if you have any questions, or call Rosie Radkte at 813-274-8364.

Also, I have now moved into a very nice house in Ballast Point with a large studio area for classes. I have offered to teach a short class in Felt Jewelry to members of Las Damas de Artes in September, so if that goes through, it will be the inaugural class for the house. I will be announcing more classes to be held here so keep checking back.

The Intro to Wet Felting workshop at the end of August (25th & 26th) is almost full - only two more spots - so go to the Spruill website to grab one of them soon - it's coming up fast!

I will be back in Atlanta again in October for 3 weeks to teach 3 classes - another Intro class as well as a Hats class and a Laminated Silk and Felt class for experienced felters.

Go to my Florida Felt website to check out the Classes page for the complete list of classes. Also see my new Fabulous Felters group for class-related tips and info. Everyone is welcome to visit the page if you are interested in felt classes, and the group has been set up specifically for my students to join and share their ongoing projects, ideas, questions and finished works. There is a link on the right sidebar to request to join the group and it's easy and fast to do.

Signing up for SAFF

If you have been in my class, you've heard me wax blissful about wool festivals, and SAFF - that's Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair - in particular. If you are a fiber person of any stripe, a knitter, spinner, weaver, felter or all the above, you should absolutely go to at least one in your lifetime, and you will get hooked.

It is THE place to buy your yarns and fiber for the year, because you have nearly 100 vendors to choose from under one roof. And the vendors range from big companies to family farms and mom-and-pops. You can handle, try out and buy cashmere, angora, qiviut and other exotic fibers. There are also animal exhibits and competitions, and you can buy a whole award-winning fleece and pet the animal who recently wore it.

Now is a good time to go to the SAFF site and see what cool classes they will be having this year. The class formats vary from all day workshops to two hour demonstrations at a vendor's table, costing from $10-$60 for most classes. All fiber mediums are represented also. There are 19 felting classes alone! Not even knitting has as many! Felters are LOVED at SAFF!I am looking forward to taking a hat class with Chad Alice Hagan, and she's also teaching some simpler and shorter classes as well.

I usually take my camper van up and stay at an RV place about a mile and a half away, but there are several nice hotels within a mile of where it's held. And Asheville has lots of great B&Bs and inns. Now's the time to reserve, though. It's definitely worth the trip.

It's held at the end of October every year in Asheville, and as an added attraction, the Southern Highlands Craft Show is usually held that weekend too. We are talking pilgrimage to the fiber craft mecca here in the Southeast, just 3 hours from Atlanta. And, it's held during prime leaf season as well. I have gone every year but one since 1999, and I wait with anticipation each year. Here's the basic info from their site:

Friday, October 26th, 9am to 6pm; Saturday, October 27th 9am to 6pm; and Sunday, October 28th, 9am to 4pm. The event is located at the WNC Ag. Center, in Fletcher, NC, across Hwy 280 from the Asheville Regional Airport. (Exit 40 off I-26).

Admission is free on Friday. On Saturday & Sunday the fee will be $2/person for 13 yrs. & older (no charge for 12 yrs. and under). Tickets purchased on Saturday may be reused on Sunday.

We offer free Child Care (for toddlers & older) on Saturday & Sunday in Kids' Alley!
More...

No, I'm not on their advertising staff! :) I just love to go. See you there!

Hyde Park Class

We had a great time! What wonderful hats came out of that class - celebrated later as the Mad Hatters by their friends and family. I see great things coming from this group! Some of you left before I could get finished hat photos (and finished purse photo, Rosie), so PLEASE send me your snapshots so I can show them off as well. (Also let me know if I've spelled any names incorrectly.)

Here's the link to the class pictures. Class Participants are welcome to copy any of the shots to your computer for your own use. I will upload somw more photos later, including 2 hats I made during the class (one started life as a bowl). Stay tuned.

Felting alpaca, classes in Tampa and dyeing

This is a sample of the alpaca roving I got from Rowan Tree Woolery, felted to some magenta Cambodian silk organza and photographed to show off the lacy matrix that it forms when it felts. It's a far different surface than merino or finn, both of which form a solid, non-fibrous surface. I have a few samples of corriedale that have a similar matrix - you can see it when held up to the light - but only alpaca so far has this very pronounced pattern that I got - beginner's luck - with the icelandic fleece in my first trials. Icelandic has a very long staple length, so both types of fleece have that in common.




I am using the alpaca to make another cocoon for someone who admired one that had sold, and the original had been made with icelandic fleece. The alpaca will have a similar lacy pattern as the original, but with a much softer feel. I'll post some photos next week of the finished piece.

In other areas, I am doing a class here in Tampa - and the participants are seeming to love it! Yes! Felting in Florida! Well, we'll see how they do with seamless felt on Saturday. I'll be taking photos at class so I can post them to my site. Hyde Park has turned out to be a really good location - it's all about table height and running water - for felting classes. I am hoping that some folks in the class will want to take a weekly felting project class afterwards so I can keep up the excitement. I have to wonder if people really go home and felt or if they wait til they take another class. I am trying to convey the idea that felting is perfect at home, but maybe I should see the obvious point here - people like to take classes to get away from home!

I am also doing some back-yard dyeing, and as I work on it, I am developing another class in my head - yes, "BackYard Dyeing." Or I could call it, "Beyond Rit - easy professional dyeing at home" Anyway, everything from Kool-aid in baggies to powder sprinkling, quick shibori and stopping just short of chem-lab-gram-scale-boiling-holding-steaming. While I did learn alot about dyeing at Haywood, and I learned from the best, Catherine Ellis, my eyes tended to glaze over when it came to heavy duty immersion dyeing, not to mention natural dyeing and vat dyes. I propose to you that immediate gratification is universal, and that it's only when you HAVE TO dye pounds and pounds of fiber that it's good to be obsessive compulsive about it.

That's all on the home front for now. I'll be posting more photos soon.

Quick news

More photos to come, but the update is, I have just gotten some exotic fibers in for testing, with exciting results! Alpaca felts beautifully, in a lacy matrix that is so so light and soft! And, yes, cashmere! Cashmere doesn't felt well on it's own, but in conjunction with merino or alpaca, it creates a whisper soft surface, that makes everything more luxurious!

The other news is that I will be putting together felting kits this summer, for those who like to work on their own at home. The Introduction kit will have all the basic tools and wool, with a set of cards - one with the basic felting process in a step-by-step format, and then 8 projects that can be made with the wool. Each kit will contain enough wool for one project, and then you will be able to get "refills" with more wool and choices of colorways.

I will try to get the first kits on the website in July, and you'll be able to buy the kits and the refill wool on the site. Between now and then, I have a lot of felting and photographing to do, so I'll sign off for now!

Am I showing off my niece or her blankie?

My sister sent me these pictures of her baby, Margot, with the blanket I made for her this spring. I sent it off in a hurry for her 1st birthday and forgot to do the requisite photo of it. Is she adorable or what!

This was my first baby blanket and I made it from some navy blue merino that I already had space-dyed. I thought that a dark color would be better for a baby blanket, since they get so stained over time. I thought that felt would be a great material for a baby blanket also - she can pee on it, chew on it, knead it and bunch it up and it will just get more dense and felted! And her mom can clean it in the bath with her! Todd also mentioned that babies really respond to contrast, and you can tell that she is focusing on those areas.

The imagery makes me think of New York City (they live there in Battery Park) at night, with the squares being the high-rise windows, interspersed with stars, moons and galaxies, which I made out of pre-felts.

The white squares are actually little woven angora squares that I found in my mom's closet after she died and I was clearing out her house. There was a box of French angora yarn and about 30 of these little squares, made from those little square looms (now called Weavettes) which she was obviously planning to crochet together to make something, but never did - the angora box looks like it was printed in the 60's. I just laid the squares in with the merino and they felted in beautifully.

Since Margot was born well after Mom died, and she'll never get to meet her grandmother, I really liked that I could put something in the piece that Mom made. I can tell that Mom would have been knitting for the baby if she was still around - there were 4 or 5 sweaters that she made for us but needed to be finished (weave in threads, sew up sides, block, etc). I did the finish work and sent them out to my sisters. They don't all fit so great, but they are still treasures to me. I like to think that even if the things we make for our families aren't exactly perfect, the fact that our hands made them will be meaningful sometime later. Like the love that those angora squares have held all these years.

The rest of the summer awaits

I have made it through the spring, with a class in Atlanta ( see photos), an evening show in Tampa, and the last LEAF show that I will be doing for awhile. I made a new collection of pieces for the LEAF show and sold a few, the ones that were mostly silk organza, so the message is, it's too hot for jackets and vests. I've attached a few photos here, of the pieces I am the most excited about. The photos are crappy, taken quickly at the Tampa show, but you get the idea.

These are the core of the Asheville collection pieces, made with wool that I dyed to match with my River Daughters pieces. The whole process of using varigated wool had a learning curve all it's own. I'm not sure that I really liked it, and I'm going to do some tests of blending colors in the process of laying out the fleece, as opposed to using dyed mixed colors. The next few weeks are being allocated to doing dye and blending tests, so I'll know more in June, when I start to make some new pieces.

I'm going to Bonnaroo in mid-June, which gives me a little retro-active immature fun, makes my ex a little nervous and gets me away from the studio and the stress. As usual, the prospect of starting new pieces makes me anxious. Which idea should I follow up on, should I start with that wool or that fabric or should I do something entirely new. Yikes, it's like a blank canvas. So a week off in the presence of thousands of drunk kids should have me straining at the bit to be back and working again.

More later in the week when I start my color tests.

Some pics

This is one of the Intro to felting class projects. A simple hat, a cloche design, which is easy to make for a first project. The wool is brown Finn with merino and gold yarn in swirls on the outside and on the inside (it's also reversible - see the third photo), a more subtle yarn swirl pattern and kid merino curls. (the first cut of baby goat fleece - VERY soft). As a bonus, this hat is packable - it folds up and resumes its shape when unpacked. The only caution would be if it got wet. Not a crisis, but you would need to re-block it to shape over a bowl or similar head shape.

First Milestones - Studio done & Frst class held

I have to admit, it wouldn't have gotten done without a deadline.

My search for studio space turned up just a few places convenient to South Tampa, and they were all too much for too little, and most importantly, none had running hot water, so necessary to felting. I asked myself why, when suitability for studio was my first criteria for a place to live, was I ignoring the apartment? Oh yea, I want to hold classes but the place is too small. Hmmm, maybe not.

So, I went ahead and committed myself to my mother-in-law and a woman I met at Mermaids Slipper in Ybor City. I set a date for a free (I'm practicing on them!) Intro to felt class and then I HAD to be ready both for the class and to finish the studio setup. I just squeezed by, but yes! the class went fine, both of the participants made something nice and the space worked out pretty well. I will post some pictures when I get my camera charged.

I don't think I can possibly have more than 4 people here, and only for classes making small things like hats, purses or jewelry ( a jacket or vest can take a full 4x8 table to make) I had some other feedback as well, all good so that I can be more effective with my first paid course at Spruill, coming up in about 2 1/2 weeks ( March 31 - April 1).

I have also made a great connection with the woman who runs the Hyde Park Art Studio, which is run by the city of Tampa Parks and Recreation Dept. They have a ceramics room, and a smaller classroom in a trailer, not ideal for felting but at least they have running water. We've scheduled a 2 day workshop, April 7 & 14th, and a one day class in mid-May. I also signed up to teach a teen class and a middle school class in the summer, goddess help me! But I think it might be fun - accessories for the teens and funny hats for the middle schoolers. I am thinking of doing a costume class later, but need to do more work on that.

So right now I'm giving myself a break. I'm going over to Dunedin tomorrow, to visit a fiber shop (Uncommon Threads) and to GO TO THE BEACH (ya!)

New town, new year, new blog, new media... it's all good

Greetings!
I am finally re-settled in Tampa. We had a rough patch there, from mid-November through the New Year, but all seems to be well now. Packed into that 2+ month period were such lowlights as finishing renovations on our house in Atlanta, last-minute revelations of shoddy work and repairs made hours before the closing, hurried packing that somehow seemed to take weeks, a teary request for a divorce (turned aside thankfully, for the time being), several long and uncomfortable trips back and forth between Tampa and Atlanta, moving into one apartment, only to move again into a larger apartment next door. Phew!


Yes, I am still somewhat shell-shocked, But it has really helped that Tampa weather is wonderful and I love where I now live, in trendy South Tampa, just blocks from Bayshore Blvd. The apartment is small, but quaint, and I should be able to do most of my fiber work here, though I'll really be missing the (3000 sq. ft) house in Atlanta when I am in the throes of production. I am looking into some local arts centers where I can rent studio time to do dyeing and any big pieces that don't fit well here. I am also hoping to teach some classes locally.

So, I am ahead of myself. I haven't written in my blog since last August, when I was getting ready for LEAF in October. I made several prototypes that turned out wonderfully and had the chance to be in a small show in Atlanta to get some feedback, the Fireball Collective. I didn't sell anything, but I only had a few pieces anyway. I did meet alot of cool people, among them the Education director at Spruill Center for the Arts in Sandy Springs.








The upshot is that I will be teaching an introduction to felting at Spruill March 31-April1; you can see the details on my new Classes page or at the Spruill website. This is really exciting for me because I love teaching and am so buzzed about felting that I can't wait to share! I'll be looking for more opportunities to teach felting, and maybe also dyeing, here in Tampa, Atlanta, and anywhere else in the South this year. It will give me a new link to other fiber people, now that I have moved away from my old circles.

Anyway, back to the story. In October I did the LEAF festival, the first time I had gone as a vendor during the fall. It was beautiful, but cold and rainy and I really pushed myself to the brink, since, again, I went by myself. I am so jealous of those artist couples who do the festivals together. There was one couple who camped right next to me (see my campsite pics below) who are from Michigan, and they had the coziest RV, all warm and inviting and they were great neighbors.






I have extremely mixed feelings about doing more festivals, since the last several have been tough for me physically and not all that profitable. Plus, doing one-of-a-kind felt creations makes it easier to do craft festivals, which can be less stressful, and therefore a new path away from River Daughters. Maybe I'm getting too old for the gypsy life. But, damn. I really do enjoy the goddess garb and the festival fun and the great people. Plus, I'm not sure that I'm THERE yet with my felt clothes. I have alot more work to do on them. So, I'm going to do one more spring with River Daughters. - UPDATE: 3/15 - I've cancelled all other River Daughters shows except for LEAF in May. I'm concentrating on making felt garments for shows in the fall. see more recent posts.