Workshop Pictures!!

We had a fabulous day on Saturday, I had 10 wonderful students who made some beautiful pieces of felt. Here are some of the pieces, and you can see more on Flickr. Hope that works, I'm just getting to grips with Flickr.



As well as doing a workshop, I've been a busy bee, working on the website. I haven't done anything with it for ages, and I forgot everything I'd learnt, so my patient husband went through it with me again. I do quite like the logic puzzle element of HTML, but I think I'd go nuts if I had to do it everyday. Any way here's the results, a much fresher looking site, with some new photos!!! As soon as I've finished this blog entry I'm about to start work on the shop (we're setting up a shopping cart so customers can buy direct from the website with out going through ebay). Best go only one and a half hours to go before I pick my little lad up from pre-school.

Felted waistcoat

I finally finished it, well apart from needing to rinse the tailer's chalk off. I will model it soon, I promise. I'm really happy with it. Although next time I'd like to make a much larger piece so it meets in the middle! It's really difficult to felt big!! I didn't felt the collar as much as the waistcoat, so it's lovely and soft with a really nice drape.



This is a little bag I've had in my head for a while (ever since I got my hands on those sweet love heart handles). I finally managed to squeeze it in this week. I felted a circle, then cut a slit along one edge and turned it inside out. I folded the flaps in on themselves, this allowed me to put a magnetic clasp in. I am now on the look out for some love heart fabric to line the bag, and maybe make a little purse.

Here's a few things I've been working on recently

This is a piece of felted alpaca and silk top with hand embroidery, beads and shell buttons.

Here are some felt brooches, I will be teaching these on the workshop I'm doing tomorrow. I'm in the process of making these available as kits on the website.

Better late than never

OK, so I didn't post this the next day, but here are the results of our Christmas knitting challenge. I belong to a very small knitting group, we meet up once a month at each others houses, and knit. At Christmas, inspired by some of the exercises in 'alterknits' I gathered some of my stash and wrapped them up, each member had to choose two parcels, a large and small amount of yarn. The challenge was to knit something without a pattern. Here are the results...

Angela from momo mimi mo so shake had picked some hand dyed linen boucle (I think), and a bit of green rowan big yarn. She made this amazing mermaid, I love the hair!!


My Mum made this beautiful bag from some hand dyed pencil roving. Her small yarn was some undyed pencil roving which she threaded through so it looks like the bag is woven. She even lined the bag and added a zip!!!


I also made a bag from some hand dyed pencil roving, I used a bubble / bobble pattern. I knitted it on big needles and shrunk it in the washing machine. The handles are finger knitted in a continous tube, great for handles (I'll have to share that with you someday). You may be wondering where my accent yarn is? I had a bit of crystal palace fizz yarn, which I plaited with the roving. I then threaded the the braid through the holes in the bag (caused by the pattern).
However, I didn't like it and have removed it, it is now lost, I think my daughtwer may have squirreled it away in her room some where. In true Beth style, mine is not quite finished yet, as my Mum pointed out , it needs lining (because of the holes). I want to make an oversized lining so it billows out through the holes. Some day, I will find a spare moment to whip one up. What I'd give for a sewing room where your sewing machine is permenantly set up!!


There will be another wonderful item to show case soon, Emma has yet to finish hers.

Here is a bit of felt I have done recently, it is one of the samples for the workshop. I also photographed the making of it, as I'm revamping my beginners felt making kits. Hopefully they'll be on the website soon. Our shopping cart is set up, all I need to do now is take the photographs. I stock about 50 colours of merino wool top, which I need to photograph and rename (my supplier just uses numbers which can get a bit confusing).

Sorry for the lack of posts

I just haven't had time to squeeze any in. I have been madly felting samples for a workshop I'm giving at the end of the month, as well as designing kits for the woolfest. I have nearly finished designing a scarf / muffler kit and am also working on a new knit to shrink bag design. I'll share photo's when the kits are complete.

In the meantime, here's a few photographs:


A picture by E, made from bits and pieces off Hornsea beach.



A few pictures from the Japanese craft books, these books are going in the ebay shop soon. Aren't those penguins adorable.

Tomorrow I will post with the results of our knitting group's challenge, I was going to add that tonight, but I forgot to take a photograph of my own piece!