Soccer Mom

Yes, today I am "Soccer Mom". My oldest has ventured off with Dad for the day and the younger 2 and I will spend the day at the field with a couple hundred kids wearing shiny clothes (see above for reference). running about and hopped up on sport drinks.

Note: when searching images for 'soccer mom', be cautious there are no children near (yikes!). Also, no... I do not have a new edgy haircut, spray tan and recent lipo. While I do have a handsome husband, and occasionally drink bottled water against my better judgement, the similarities to the above pictured Victoria Beckham cease there. Although, thinking I may dig out my flashdance shirt just for the occasion. Would adopting a British accent for the day be over the top?

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What's New

Optim Fiber scarf (see entry below for details!)

mmm, summer corn!!

perfect delicious little pods

After a week of driving kids here and there and a birthday thrown in, it has been difficult to get any studio time. I did, however, make it to a neighbouring little town to meet up with feltmaker and wool supplier, Maureen Harding (dreamspin fibres). Maureen brought me two wonderful Tunis fleece and a big bag of beautiful tomatoes that I have been snacking on with a bit of salt and pepper. Nothing compares to homegrown food. Thanks, Maureen! I am endlessly inspired by food, no secrets here.

I have managed to lay out three "simple" scarves, rather than my usual collage scarves. I thought I would layout in only wool. Fall/Winter is approaching and I wanted to use my machine with more confidence. I did still roll some by hand, but with just wool and not all the silk, I was a little less cautious. One scarf was made with Optim Fiber (scarf pictured) from New England Felting Supply (NEFS). This is a fascinating fibre that is merino wool that has been chemically stretched to reduce the micron count. It lays out like silk (including some annoying static), feel like a soggy tissue when wet out, took a while to full down (50%), but results in a very silky scarf. I would compare it to a silk/merino blend scarf. It is lusterous, light weight, very drapable. I laid out three thin layers all lengthwise to retain the dyed colours as they were in the roving. Really beautiful. The handdyed roving I purchased was $7 an ounce. I do have some white as well that I see some shibori potential, for sure. The other two, just merino. They are ready to roll a bit more and full today and then I can get started on some more bags.

Summer is winding down and I wish we could continue with these lazy days. It has been difficult to see several felting events going on this summer that I have opted out of to stay home, but making the decision to do so this summer is with no regrets whatsoever. I think the kids are more ready to get back to school than I am to see them go...

For now, to the studio...

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Looking Back

Two years blogging.
218 posts.
Lots of art along the way
and much, much more to come.

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Finished- Process

Done...see below for how I got there!

Note the foggy corner...dirty camera lens (oops). I think this one is my favorite. It's really funky.

This one is nice too (they all are, if I may say so!)

A bit 'o gently fulling

...4 scarves ready to full

I did roll by hand with an assitant for an hour before putting in the machine for a while. We actually had fun rolling. I was on one side of the table, my assistant on the other and a crumpled up towel in the middle and we rolled to each other back and forth over the towel, each keeping the roll for 5 rolls. We unrolled and re-rolled at 12 minute intervals (yes, random number, I know!) It went by quickly. The machine made lots of frothy bubbles and I think it was in the machine for 30-45 minutes (I did reroll it a couple of times.)

My pretty floor sweepings before I started felting. I like to keep a neat space!

Yesterday I completed the 4 scarves I had laid out (or "scarfs" as my son teased). I have a new Feltcrafts felting machine that had yet to be fired up, so while I was a bit apprehensive with these as it took a full day of layout and the investment in some wonderful materials, I decided to partially use my machine. I did hand roll for an hour before putting on the machine so things were already starting to felt. There are a lot of things stragically placed on these babies. They are all hand fulled which took a while one at a time. These will be headed to Belleville Gallery (or Bellevue as Chris says) Gallery ArtPlus

A lovely gallery with fine art and craft downstairs and up with more of a boutique upstairs.
Now to lay out more. I think I may try some all wool and play with some prefelt. So excited! How lucky I am that I can "play" and have a home for it :o)))). You know I will keep you posted.

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Next Up...

I have just had a great 2 days with a woman from Toronto, Pam, and her two lovely daughters, Katie and Allison ("Hi"!). It was nice to have some young(er) female energy in the studio. My boys sure made themselves scarce! They (we) worked hard. The first day was spent making prefelt for design elements and laying out the fibre bases for some really nice pillows. The girls made flowers with free-flapping petals and Pam used a resist technique that is one of my favorites. The second day, we rubbed (and rubbed, and rubbed) and fulled (and fulled), and made a few little repairs and we were done! Thanks Pam, Allison and Katie for coming.

It took me most of the day today to lay out some scarves for a new gallery ("new" meaning new to my list of galleries) in Belleville. I will be meeting feltmaker friend Maureen for lunch next week and I will take them enroute. I am being optimisitic that they, and at least 4 others, will be done by Thursday.

I was faced with 2 bins of tangled up silk and also had to do a little reorganization before I could lay these out. It never seems to matter how much silk I have, I always seem to need more. I have promised myself I will be good until after the holiday season and make scarves with what I have. I am now faced with the decision if I will try to put these in the machine. I would, in any case, roll by hand for quite a while before considering putting them in. It's what I bought it for...I'll keep you posted!

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Waiting

I have wool on my studio table waiting ever so patiently for me to come and make it into a bag handle/strap. Every time I bring something down to put away, or walk past the doorway, it looks at me, boring holes in the side of my head. At first it was looking at me with anticipation that, Yes!, I would go to the sink and get it's water ready...be there any second. It now briefly jolts and then shrugs, like, "Oh, Pfftt, it's you again, not coming to felt".

It amazes me that a 24 hour birthday celebration can turn into days and days of getting ready. Cake, snacks, drinks, paintball deposits, gifts, more snacks, more drinks. Once it has passed I will put that poor wool out of it's misery (and me!)

Visit my site www.andrea-graham.com