I’ve been working on some small pieces lately. First up are some felt flowers for Lori’s Yarn Store (FB link).
They are partially felted and need another round or two.
There’s new yarn on my wheel. I’m teaching myself how to spin cocoons. They’re a little tricky but I think I’m getting the hang of it.
It’s probably overtwisted but I’m hoping I can correct that some during plying.
El Carnero De Colores (ie Colorful Ram) is a collaborative piece by artists Floyd Archuleta, Twilight Kallisti and Abigail Z.
Floyd built the lifesize sculpture out of recycled wire, rebar, fence posts and a real ram skull. Abbey knit and crocheted most of the squares. I made additional squares, the face, hooves, tail and assembled the fiber pieces over the wire base.
Abbey said she wanted the ram to look like a cross between Day of the Dead decorations and a New Mexican cemetery. I think we captured the look.
Pictures of the wire sculpture can be seen here. Progress pics can be seen here and here.
The face, tail and hooves are a “normal” ram color. The normal colors turn brighter up the legs and then bursts into the technicolor fleece.
Abbey said we should get some sort of ribbon for our efforts so she knit the ram a bouquet of roses as a prize.
The ram’s colorful fleece is blooming with bright flowers.
El Carnero De Colores is currently on display at Village Wools.
Here’s a picture of him in transit. It was a little tricky but we managed to fit him into the car.
The dimensions are 41 1/2″ H x 23″ W x 56″ L
When I brought in my Poppy Purse to Weaving Southwest they commented that people kept trying to wear my them. Could I make a hat? I said yes and went home to figure it out.
I made the petals small to lighten the weight of the hat. The smaller the petals the more the hat could hold. I used I-cord for ties. The I-cord trim made the hat a bit snug on my head. I’m sizing it as an adult small/children’s large.
Lion’s Brand felts so lovely.
I have a flower on my head!
I’m thrilled with how this turned out and plan to make more. I combined several patterns into a new pattern to make this hat. A bit more tweaking and I think I’ll have an easy pattern to work with.
The majority of this hat was knit during our Durango trip. Car knitting feels so productive:
Here’s Granola helping me put up laundry.
This hat is currently for sale at Weaving Southwest. Want a felt flower hat? Email me at twilly23 @gmail .com
Pattern: mash up of several patterns
Source: N/A
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted Wool, 4 skeins, some partial
Needles: 6.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: N/A
Started: July 2011
Finished: August 2011
I’m ready for a happy post so will go for a knitting one tonight. I finished my brown shrimp socks in July and am very happy with them.
I love Tofutsies sock yarn. It’s a blend of wool, soy, cotton and shrimp tails which I think is cool.
The pattern is Diagonal Lace Socks from the book Socks from the Toe Up.
Since I wasn’t making gauge I altered the lace pattern by just taking out the last yarnover, stitch decrease.
I finished these socks on our Durango trip. Here’s Sieben on a walk during that trip:
He had such a great time traveling with us. I’ll blog about the Durango trip soon.
Pattern: Diagonal Lace Socks
Source: Socks from the Toe Up
Yarn: Tofutsies yarn, 1 skein, some leftover
Needles: 2.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: altered lace pattern slightly because I didn’t make gauge
Started: May 2011
Finished: June 2011
Abbey has been cranking out squares and I’ve been assembling them. We knew this would be a big project and it is. Still though progress is being made.
We decided on a solid gray for the head and plan to put on needlefelted eyes.
I love how colorful it is. Acrylic yarn is great for bright colors and outside endurance.
Sewing the squares on the underside of the ram is tricky. I have to bend in all sorts of ways to attached them. I’ve been sewing several squares and rectangles together before attaching them to the body and that helps.
I think it’s going to be a hit at this year’s Wool Fest.
I’m making some new socks with some Tofutsies sock yarn which is partly made with shrimp tails. The pattern is the Diagonal Lace Socks from Socks from the Toe Up: Essential Techniques and Patterns by Wendy Johnson. Wendy Knits has great patterns. This is my second pattern from this book. The first was my Samhain socks which were also made with Tofutsies yarn.
This pattern is pretty easy. I had to alter it somewhat because I wasn’t making gauge.
The kittens have two cat beds, a cat shelf and a cat cubby. But where is their favorite place to sleep?
Yup, Sieben’s dog bed. If he’s outside we’ll let them sleep on it.
When I brought my Sunflower Purse into Weaving Southwest to sell they requested a poppy one. Here’s my first poppy purse:
I left the leaves the same but the petals are different. I think it turned out well.
The colorway for the green is Grassy Knoll. I love how it felts up.
A peek at the pockets:
And a pre-felting shot:
I’m really happy with how much it looks like a flower. Will there be more of these purses in my future? Oh definitely. For now this purse is for sale at Weaving Southwest.
Want a felt flower purse? Email me at twilly23 @gmail .com
Pattern: Tentacle Purse
Source: Abbey
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted Wool, 5 skeins, some partial
Needles: 6.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: altered to look like a flower instead of tentacles
Started: May 2011
Finished: June 2011
Last month Abbey and I went to a yarn bombing in Albuquerque. The event was sponsored by the Yarn Shop at Nob Hill. Crafters gathered at the store to prep the bombs.
Flowers were placed on all the pieces as our signature. One woman crocheted a huge flower that I thought made a great hat.
Abbey having a fun time:
Me practicing a Jane Fonda mug shot:
We weren’t the only crafters getting wild that night.
After the prep work we went out to tag Nob Hill. The event happened on a Friday night and the street was buzzing with activity. There were musicians playing some groovy tunes.
We covered light poles, bike poles, bus station handles, trees and more.
A yarn bomb on a bike rack:
This tag was one of Abbey’s favorites:
We got rave reviews. People stopped to look at our work.
Some wanted to take our picture!
The one was one of my faves-
so simple and darling!
We had a great time doing this. The next day all the tags were still there! Yarn bombing rocks! It spreads such joy and makes a normal street pretty. Street art is so inspiring and I’m so happy to be a part of this movement.
I made another tentacle purse. This time around I altered Abbey’s pattern and made a sunflower.
I love how it turned out! It’s super cute and looks like a sunflower to me.
The purse is made with Lamb’s Pride worsted wool. This yarn felts beautifully.
Another shot of the top. I’m using snaps for the closure.
The petals and leaves are all pockets.
A picture of the purse before felting:
Weaving Southwest invited me to sell my flower purses at their store. I was delighted at the offer! This purse is for sale there now.
Pattern: Tentacle Purse
Source: Abbey
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Worsted Wool, 5 skeins, some partial
Needles: 6.0 mm
Size: custom
Modifications: altered to look like a flower instead of tentacles
Started: March 2011
Finished: April 2011
Remember my hat project? I’ve been wearing it for months and finally got around to taking pictures.
This was a wonderful and relaxing project. I knit I-cord for the vines and hand felted them in a Ziplock bag in the sink. Then I crocheted little circles and needle felted them.
After sewing the flowers onto the vine I sewed the vine onto the hat.
Both vine and flower yarns came from my stash. I love how it turned out!
Pattern: Felt Flowers and Branch
Source: Me
Yarn: stash yarn
Needles: small sock needles and small crochet hook, can’t remember details
Size: NA
Modifications: NA
Started: October 2010
Finished: February 2011