Needle felting, nuno felting, and wet felting my first vessel

 Above and below.....(waiting for my BF to entertain them with some guitar rock solos), are my latest needle felt friends . A mix of merino, mohair and alpaca are fast becoming my favorite ofr making animals . The mohair and alpaca add a nice "hair" look to very tightly felted sculptures . They aren't snuggable and fluffy but they are durable , hold the detailing well and are easy to clean so I guess there is always some trade offs in life .

 Below is another of my "I know it's just yarn but they feel and look so cool to me" jewelry obsession . I used a mix of handspun and "fun fur" novelty yarns . All are super soft blends of merino and silk with a dash of synthetic for sparkle . I make them similar to my braided roving bracelets substituting about 20 strands of the yarn for the roving and braiding and needle felting the same way . They are much softer then the roving bracelets, less structured and with even more stretch, so slip on conveniently . Perhaps no one else will dare the fashionestas and wear yarn instead of precious metals and stones, but I love the way these feel against my wrists .

 Below are two very similar cobweb/nuno felt scarves . They are both a base of orange merino tencel with different blends of turquoise, green and a bit of red silk bells . As most felters know, it's almost impossible to capture the detail of the texture and shine of the fibers ....at least using a cheap camera and poor lighting...but if you click on the pictures it will show a bit more of the detail .

 Below is one of the 2 table toppers I worked on last week . They are both a mix of just about everything . I like the different effects you can get mixing wool. alpaca, mohair and silk .

 This is as large a piece as I can make with the limit of my table space . I added several layers os it's far more durable and thicker then the cobwet scarves and I would feel safe throwing it in a warm water wash and 20 min in dryer then air drying for cleaning . The nice thing about felted wool is the one thing you usually worry about....shrinking and felting....have already happened .

 This shows close up of the silk bells over the wool....I love working with silk .

 Not sure why, but the below table topper reminds me of something from the 50's . I had designed this as the "top" with the bits of different colored mohair on top of the greenish-yellow wool base and brown edging.....sounded kind of springy but I'm not thrilled with the result...not my colors for sure .

 I much prefer the "bottom" of peachy-orange colors .That is one advantage to making two different sides....increases the chance that you will like at least one of them . I made this table topper "peanut shaped " and am considering sewing it into a purse....will see .

 Below is my first attempt at a vessel . It certainly is more "free form" then some professional felted vessels I've seen and though it stands OK, it's not as hard felted as I wanted . On the up-side, the softness did allow me to add a needle felt "pod" and I may add a few more and then rewet felt the whole thing . All in all, a good learning experience and I will try and take pictures of the process if I attempt another .

 ....and that is about it as Max says it's time to pay him a bit more attention and stop this incessant felting .