Purse on hold... waiting for my sock knitter to arrive

Hello Everyone!! I intended on posting yesterday as planned but I have not been feeling well the last couple of day so alas I have not worked on the purse. I wanted to let you know that I have purchased a antique sock knitting machine. I am waiting for it to arrive. It is coming to me from french speaking Canada. It is coming via ground mail so I wont see it for awhile, but when it arrives I will start my sock making frenzy.... Have any color suggestions?? There is also a business in town that is considering showing felt artists work, and I am considering being a part of the little gallery. I will keep you updated on this as I am pretty excited about the possibility.

Day 1 purse making. How a raw wool purse is felted tutorial

Hello Everyone!!! I have started on a large felted purse. For those of you that have been following my blog, this type of felting may be new to you, but this is what I have mostly been doing previous to the hat challenge. The type of purse I am making requires me to make my own hand felted fabric from raw fibers. For this purse I am using sheep's wool which is pictured above and alpaca wool . The sheep's wool is used as a reinforcement. It creates a stronger thicker wool, but the alpaca wool is softer and has a more pleasant texture. You can see above what it looks like in its cleaned raw state.


Pictured here are a set of carders. I take the hairs and "card " them. This is like brushing your hair when it is tangled. I am trying to put all of the strands in the same direction so I can lay them out on my mat for felting.
THE CAT FOUND MY WOOL BOX!!!! This happens to me frequently.....
Here is what the wool and alpaca fibers look like after I have carded them. The wool is on the left and the alpaca is on the right.
This the first layer of wool. The hairs are all layed out in on direction overlaping
This is a picture with three layers felted together, except the back row. I took the picture this way so that you could see the contrast . I have " pre" felted this with a felting needle. You do not have to do this step, but I prefer to have an idea of how the fibers will look before I work on felting, I can also correct my mistakes if any at this point. Once I start felting the process is not reversable. I like to keep myself in check all the time. I am very very careful with detailing.
This is a picture of me with the pre felt fabric. This is to give you an idea of the size of the piece I am working on. It will shrink by about 30 percent. The next post will be on Wednesday and I will show you how it becomes felt and I will put the designs on the front of the fabric. It is going to have black and Red/brown designs on it.

Little Red Riding Scarf...

Hello Everyone...
Today I felted a red scarf to match the hat I posted on here last time. This has been a long process and a good learning experience for me. I used some innovative techniques along with some traditional wet felting techniques to make this scarf. This was so long when I first began that it was my length 5 feet 3 inches, and it was pretty wide also. This is what it felted down to when I was done with it. It is super strong and super warm. I hope it keeps the new owner super warm for the rest of this winter and the winters to come.
I am making a purse next... starting on Friday look for those pictures.

Back to the knitting again!!! The super post.

Hello Everyone!!! I am back to knitting again. I took a little break after the challenge, but I still was knitting hats. I made 2 hats yesterday for a order. The black one that you see above was ordered without trimmings. My husband made me a new hat mold from a wonderful piece of cedar, so everything smells amazing when I am molding the hats.
This is a red hat that I made for the same order. I decided to just pin everything onto it before sewing it down. The button I pinned on is a suggestion I have to the client, because I think it looks the best out of all of my buttons on the hat.

This is different order that I fulfilled. I decided to ribbon on the band of this one for a different style.

BELOW ARE SOME OF THE PEOPLE WEARING THE HATS THAT I MADE FROM THE CHALLENGE
Do you remember this hat from the challenge? Here is its happy owner.
This hat was not part of the challenge but was a gift to our dear friends who have just had a little Baby boy.
Here are two sisters with their hats. Do you recognize these hats from the challenge?

Well I will be working on a scarf and a felted hat next. Be on the lookout for those things this week and next. I will try to at least put something up every week if not more. If you are wearing a hat from the challenge and I don't have a picture of you please email it to me so I can post it on my blog and in my portfolio!!! Thanks for following my blog. I have been getting suggestions from you and I will be working on the things you suggested between my orders!!
ALSO>>>> One of my friends and Blog followers has posted a new website with her vintage inspired clothing on it. It is marvelous and I would encourage you to go on over there and check her blog out, and join in on the fun. Her website address is below.
http://www.vintagebybeatricewinter.blogspot.com/
Thanks!!