A Hat fit for a cold winters day

It feels good to be working on projects again!!!
This last week I made a Turquoise and Grey hat for a customer. It is made from very soft wool of the Andes that comes imported from Peru.
Let the project season begin!

Baby Hat

Hello, it has come to my attention that this picture did not upload on my last post, here is the felted Baby hat. -Cherie

Let the felting begin!!!!

Hello Everyone,
I have not been working on projects for the last 6 months because I have been ill. I have been on many medications that make me sick to my stomach etc..... I am feeling better now and I am back to work on projects. These are two projects that I was comissioned to do. A very soft and warm baby hat and some potholders. I will be doing the 20 hats in 20 days project again this year, only this time in November. I will post information about this next week on my blog. This year I will have a etsy store and a website. These two things will be up and running by November when I start my hat project. The purse I was making in the demonstration will be continued shortly. I will post pictures so you can see the rest of the process and how I make a purse from raw wool. Glad to be back again. I am sorry it took me so long to get back to the blog. I hope you will all continue to follow my projects in the months to come. Thanks -Cherie

Purse project to start in May or June, more info to follow

Hello Everyone!!
I am still working on the purse from the last post... I hurt a muscle in my back while I was in Maine and it is healing so I will be able to finish the purse soon. I will let you know when the project is back in progress so you can follow the rest of the tutorial. When I am making my own piece of fabric for a purse such as this one I have to do a lot of rolling of the fabric by hand, which is going to hurt my back if I do it right now. I saw my DR a few days ago, I should be feeling better soon. I am knitting right now until I can go back to my raw wool felting. I am looking at starting a new project in May or June. 20 purses in 20 days!!!! I should be feeling better by then and should have no limitations. Right now I am working on some prototype purses, so you will see those posted on here as I get them done, as well as the hand felted purse I will resume working on. By the time the new project starts I will have a etsy store set up to attach to my blog so that if you want to purchase one of the purses and you are not local you can do this from my etsy store. If you would like to sign up to have a purse made especially for you in the project contact me. Leave a comment on my blog with your information or leave a note on my personal msgs on facebook.
I am attaching some of my most recent projects to this post.

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.