Purple from The Naughty Knitter

This purple BFL and silk is so soft.  Couldn't wait to get it on the bobbin of my Kromski and begin to spin it.  Here it is from fluff to a double ply yarn ready to knit or crochet.

4 ounces of purple BFL and silk

Double Ply on the bobbin

170 yards of purple bliss

 

Prairie Sheep Painting

This little acrylic painting was inspired by actual sheep I saw in a pasture.  I haven't painted for a very long time.  I enjoyed doing this one.  

Waterfall

Another Bernat Mosiac yarn crochet hat.  This yarn is called "Waterfall."  To make this one, I chained 50 stitches and crochet in the round.   I used the front post stitch until I reached the height of the hat and then I gathered at the top with a length of yarn and a big-eyed needle.  Ear flaps were added, something I hadn't done before,and then some braids were added too.  Also, making this yarn awesome is it's machine wash and dry. My son tried on this hat and liked it but didn't agree to model it for a pic.  

Close up of front post stitches and Bernat Mosiac "Waterfall" colorway.

Ambrosia

I'm in love with the Bernat Mosiac yarn!  When you touch it, it feels like merino but it's NOT!  It's acrylic.  Really when you touch it you won't believe it!  For only $5.99 for a 209 yds/100g/3.5 oz it's a deal! Just think about the one skein projects you could make with this yarn.  Oh, yeah!  I made this crochet hat with "Ambrosia" in alternating half-double and front post stitches with a folded up hat brim.  It will be for sale at my next craft show. 

Bernat Mosiac "Ambrosia"

Hat Felting

Oh, brother! I found a new craft while at the fiber festival.  I knew about hat felting in this manner but had not tried it yet.  I purchased the tall hat mold and Needle Felter needle with ten felting needles.  I also purchased brightly colored roving in bright colors to felt a hat.  The process took approximately 8-10 hours before I was happy with the results of the hat.  I added white roving polka dots.  While this was a learning experience for me, I learned that when you add embellishments (polka dots) not to poke so hard.  I took plugs out of my foam form the size of each polka dot so my foam form looks a little like a block of cheese.  I didn't find many You Tube videos on this craft.  The crafter that sold me the tools gave me a very good tutorial and an instruction sheet with my purchase.  His best advise was to hold your hat to the light and find any thin spots in the hat that need to be filled in.  It makes for a more evenly felted hat.  The hat provides warmth and style.  Give it a try.  Etsy has the high density forms available on line.  

Blue high density tall hat form and Needle Felter with ten needles.

Purple and brown needle felted hat with white polka dots.

 

Felted Wool Shoe/Boot Liners

Displayed on one of the tables at the fiber festival I spotted shoe sole liners for sale made from felted wool.  With that in mind, I grabbed a felted purse that the shape didn't turn out as great as I hoped and cut a square of felted material.  I traced one of my shoe liners onto the felted material.  Next I cut out the traced lines.  Ta-dah felted wool shoe/boot liners.  I couldn't wait to place them in my walking shoes.  For just a few minutes of work (and I don't mean the felting process included) I have new comfy shoe liners.  This would be a great gift for those men and women in your lives who work outside in the winter on cold days.  

Trace shoe liner onto felted material.

Shoe liners cut from felted material.

Felted material is 1/2 inch thick.

Fit perfectly in my walking shoes held in place with a length of two-sided tape.

 

SIFA Fiber Festival Road Trip

Saturday morning, October 15th I headed out to the original capital of Indiana, Corydon the location of the Southern Indiana FiberArts Festival a couple hours drive from my house.  With cash in my pocket and a cold water bottle I entered the fiber festival with my eyes wide open seeing huge country fair-size buildings full of fiber artists and every color of finished yarns, fibers to be spun, wool rug yarns on sale at 50% off, hand-crafted weaving looms for a very fair price, fiber animals and tools of the craft.  I could have taken many, many pics but I was enjoying myself so much I pretty much forgot to take them.  The fiber artists welcome questions and I find most are very kind.