and yet .... another one

Oooo ... I know

I was going to stop

with my felted circles

but

they're kind of addictive

as are the tiny crochet flowers :

trying another colour combination ...

or another yarn ...

So I did yet another circle

( bad coloured photos by lamp light ... )

this time the right colour, by daylight lamp !

The last few days were gloomy and it rained off and on :

good days for stitching,

but : spring was in the room already ! 

a bit of spring by nature

a bit of spring by me

variation

It isn't easy to do the "same" thing

over and over again

that's why I try out variations

( ... very sweet ... )

...........

or

I just start something else.

I might abandon my felt circles a bit

and go back to my bigger felt / fabric and

Jude's CWB class

another colour

Here are some more of my felt circles,

it's so nice to pick a colour

and decide what to embroider on it !

Right now I'm making backings

for which I choose a fabric that fits in

with the colour of the felt

This one is the smallest

and definately a brooch

( I attached a safety pin )

 I'm thinking of Cherry Blossom

Spring !

Blue Lagoon

blue night

The dark blue felt circle 

had to become

night

First I added one of my little silk moons

The silk, spotted (sugar sirup) in blues and purple,

was dyed years ago but always kept apart

for something special

......

now I've used it several times already

Because the silk is very thin and was stitched 

about 1 mm from the edge,

I thought it would be best to "cover" it

with some branches

(some left over of the socks)

... and there was some space left for my

"night beast"

the owl

Stuffed

(with a bit of lavender and batting)

a fabric backing

and beads

ready to wear as a necklace

or

hang on the wall

seahorses

Because it was Stitch'n Bitch day we went

to Rotterdam yesterday.

I didn't do much knitting though

but mainly stuck to embroidery :

 I had my little felted circles with me

and added some stitches.

We had a joyful morning together

and my friend showed her finished felted bag

which looked really wonderful !

The colour of the circle

determines what I will embroider upon it.

The two turquoise ones reminded me of the sea

and because I liked the seahorses

I did in "Octopus's Garden"

I made some more

close up

Today I started on the dark blue circle :

NIGHT



something else

I've slowed down a bit for Jude's class :

it's such a frenzy with so many people posting

about the wonderful stuff they're making ...

I needed some time-out :

that's what the felting is for

I made several little circles,

playing with colours was lovely

and some Wensleydale curls and some silk ...

making "perfect" circles isn't that easy

I want to embellish them

with embroidery, beads, sequins, fabric and crochet

 one !

......

looks like it's finished,

don't know yet

And of course there is still my February felt / fabric

... some magic thread ...

and :

a full moon tonight

                  

no end

... a circle has no beginning

and no end ...

 and there's no end to the all the different ways

to fill a circle when you're drawing ..

Man has been very busy again !

a bit from someone else and a bit from him ...

trying out different colours ...

pens or pencils ...

or just inspired by some beautiful strange photo !

Playing with forms and colours

intriged by the boundaries

of a circle

felting day

Yesterday we had a lovely felting day with friends.

They did some felting here before

and one of them is surely bitten by the felting bug !

Felting a bag is a lot of work

so we started early

after coffee and applepie of course.

( Man had a bit of a flu so he retired upstairs,

free from chattering ladies )

The friend brought wonderful Sandra Meech-like

photos for inspiration taken by her husband.

then she picked the colours

and we used a template I made for a bag some time ago

that way she could see how big it would end up.

the a-symmetric flap fitted the design of the photo perfectly

.... with a little help from my friends ....

At four two very satisfied friends went home again

 At home : some rinsing

and then drying, stuffed with towels

And I ?

today I felted a bag too

( and went on with my February felt-stitching )

Octopus's Garden

Time to show my finished felt/fabric piece

Octopus's Garden

(of course after the Beatles song !)

It took ages to do the tiniest backstitches along the edge of the wave

Then I cut ( top, batting and backing ) just 2mm

next to the stitching

and left it raw edge which works quite well !

Sequins gave the mermaid a shiny appearance,

the embroidery was fun to do

and everything came perfectly together,

from the seahorses ....

.... to the school of tiny fisch

I started on the new felt/fabric piece :

for that I chose the dark blue felt

I will try to make such a piece for every month of this year

and because it's 2011 

they will all tell "fairy tale" stories !

( 11 = elf = fairy )

blue ... and a bit of yellow

Finally I started on the weaving under tension

which Jude explained to the class.

First I didn't know what to weave on but then I found

an old IKEA photo frame that once fell on the floor

( glas broken and all askew )

I did a bit of repair with some cardboard

glued on all four corners :

perfect!

After ripping many, many strips I could start binding the warp around the frame

On the strips that were not long enough to bind a bow

I sewed on a piece or used a pin

then the weaving could begin

It was really great fun, basting down every strip that was woven.

After one side on the frame was done

I had to untie the bows and rearrange the weaving to the other side,

that was a bit fiddly

but when the warp was tied under tension again

I could continue on the second half

I even found some lace to weave in

Sooner than I thought both sides were filled

!

... and although the day was gray and windy

there was already a little bit of yellow sunshine

in the garden

Winter aconites

( Eranthus heymalis )

... I'd like to be ... under the sea ...

This morning when I was working on my "sea- felt"

I suddenly had the right name for it :

Octopus's Garden

When I thought about all the animals I wanted to add

an octopus was definitely one of them.

In the left hand corner wasn't enough space actually

... anywhere else .....?

Then suddenly I knew :

the photo above shows you where I put it

( uuum ....him .... or her )

That left me some space for a little oyster

with a pearl of course

The rest of the day I kept humming the song

I couldn't get it out of my head