Happy Birthday Wool from Detta's Spindle

I just turned 48 a few days ago and with generous birthday money gifts from my parents and my Mother in Law I got to stock up on more felting supplies . Above and below are some of the wools I bought from Detta's Spindle . After a year of buying form her on-line, I actually got the privilege of meeting her and her beautiful Standard Poodles and handpicking some of the "animal fur colored" wools . If you click on the pictures, you might be able to read what kind of wool is which but it is mostly colonial and merino with a bit of coopworth and a lovely alpaca/silk blend

I highly recommend her Mill Ends and other fibers as I have always found them a great quality for the price . Thanks again , Detta for sharing you dogs, wool and hospitality .

Standing and sitting Yeti and a couple more do-over felts

 Here's my latest large Yeti with corn fiber felted in as fur . I still need to do a few small touch ups that I didn't notice until I took the picture....one nice thing about checking results with photos is that I seem to find the flaws easier then looking at the 3D in front of me .....weird but true .

 Below looks like a Yeti had a baby with a hamster ?

 The last three are felties from my first year of felting that I needed to "do-over" . I think it takes almost as long to try and repair an animal as it does to just start from scratch but I really hate to just throw away something with out at least trying to fix it . None of this critters would be on my personal favorite list but perhaps they can be sold at discount and still find homes .

Happy felting .

Are We There Yet (i) Needle sculpted Yeti

As a fan of all things fuzzy, Yeti have always had a place in my heart . These are two Yeti babies I worked on this weekend . I tried a bit different style with each but they are each made with a base of merino covered in Ingeo(corn fiber) . I think this stuff is the best for creating a nonclumping rooted in hair .

My attempt at a Bigfoot...Northern hemisphere style Yeti.... was less successful . He just looks like a monkey . (A base of merino with alpaca locks .)

Happy felting !

Needle sculpted sounds better then needle felted...more critters

 I know my health issues have limited my blogging but it hasn't discouraged me from felting animals . Since last I blogged, I have created 4 more large critters and three small ones . I also worked on several old sculptures and made minor improvements though I doubt the changes would be noticeable to the casual observer .  The above critter is mostly merino blends with some corn fiber fluff on the tail, chest and ears .

 As usual, my cat Balhoo decided to get in on the photo shoot . He really is an attention hog .

 I also finally bought a white back ground  for taking pictures....to block out the distracting clutter of my apartment and hopefully make more professional pictures for listing on Etsy . It turned out to be to big for the table I used today but hopefully I can get a bigger table cleared off soon .

 Most of my animals this past month have had similar wool and coloring but each is a bit different in shape and have unique personalities and expressions . Unfortunately, my "facial expression vocabulary" is still a bit on the dark side . Some where between "homocidal lunatic" to "snarky know it all" and "oops, missed my Prozac" .  I have an uncomfortable theory that these may actually be the same expressions that people see on my own face...and probably why I repel people .

 Instead of using a chicken egg for size reference, I am using one of my own felted eggs .

 Although this guy is the "snarky" one, he is also my favorite .

 The last three are many little critters....about 3-4" .

 The new cat arm chair is still very popular . When they aren't fighting over who gets to use it. they occasionally manage to share . While having a black cat and a white cat may make picking a  clothing color that hides cat hair impossible, it does add a nice "yin and yang" balance to the decor .

I'm going for a sleep apnea test next week, to rule out (or in), one possible cause of my current narcoleptic existence . In the mean time....

Happy felting to all .

Zombie miraculously recovers from stupor and makes more needle felt and art scarves !

Above are my two latest felties posing in front of my first "winged beastie ". Because I was so tired this past week...I decided to work smaller then my usual 12-18 inch felties and these guys are only about 6 inches .

I also finished up several wet felt scarves and have been really trying hard to create more thin, drapey fabric with only two thin layers of merino with silk bells on either one side or both . I like to make each side of the scarf different so that it you can have two scarves for the price of one . Although I designed them originally with the idea that they would be a wrap around the neck winter type scarf......I think they actually look cooler just worn draped around the neck and hanging down . Like hanging an abstract painting on your boobs . Now when guys eyes end up on that area you can just assume it is in appreciation of your art scarf .

Sorry about some of the blurry pictures but I lost my light about half way through....

The above are only 4 scarves but with the different front and back it does look like more .  Now the real challenge for me will be seeing if I can get these listed on Etsy before spring .

I'm so tired I want to cry............

I have felt like I was swimming underwater for the past few months...under water with concrete weights on my arms and legs and a bag over my head . I have considered going to the DR but even if I could afford it....they seem to be trained to respond to all female complaints ..."it's probably depression or maybe stress" . If I smoked or was "over weight" they would probably say that was the cause . What happened to Dr actually running tests ?  So....I keep felting when I am actually able to stay awake and hope that what ever this is clears up or kills me because I am soooo tired of being tired .

I'm not sure why, but my animals have been showing a bit of teeth lately.  I think it is my attempt to get them to smile, and like me, forced smiles do tend to look like your ready to bite someone rather then an actual smile .

 Other news.....I made an attempt to sew up some bags with the wet felt fabric I made last year . The design couldn't be any simpler but is still a challenge for my limited sewing skill, especially adding a lining .

 I found this tiny arm chair on the curb with a "free" sign and decided to chance any possible infestations.....seems OK so far and the cats love it .