Thursday, March 23, 2006

Felting, a blood sport

Some things are just meant to be. My 9:30 job interview turned out to be tomorrow. Not my fault, so I don't care. I did however, take the opportunity of dragging K to the Mission Mill in hopes of finding fiber artists who could set me on the right track. No local leads, but had a great time. Then we went to Have You Any Wool, who on the phone had admitted to having needles, but no felting animal kits and sounded totally lost.

Well, oddly enough, the lady I talked to yesterday was the same one as today, she still had the needles out. No, she had never heard of needle felting sculpture, but it turned out they did have kits for design, the same as I'd seen on-line. So, needles, sponge, mohair package in hand I returned home. I could hardly wait to begin.

Then, typically, I chickened out. I have no patterns, no instructions. So I spent the whole day at Teddy Talk. I think I love everyone there! Here it is 2 am, and I am finally ready to begin. I think. I hear I will lose blood to this. OK, no problem. Did I mention I have a 9:30 job interview to go to later today? Oh, just get ON with it!

If I don't write anything after this, some one come check on me. I will be slumped over my keyboard, passed out from blood loss. (OMG, what a DRAMA QUEEN this woman is!)

OK, which is the fattest needle, got it, poky, poky, poky, stabby, stabby, stabby, nothing is happening! How much of this stuff do I use? How long before something happens? Wrap wool around stick, got it, but how much? I want minute directions! Which direction do I wind? Windershins? How many times do I stab? At what angle and speed?

Hubby comes in kisses me goodnight, with that resigned, I know I won't see her until morning look. And yet, he bought this for me, what a sweety! On the good side, if I get good at this, it's something I can do in bed on my bad days. Did I mention we have a waterbed? Poky, poky, sploosh! Hey, if Tarly's Mandarian length razor sharp claws didn't do it, nuthin' will. That cat was all softness except when she didn't want to be picked up. Then those hooks sunk into what ever she was on and never let go. Our poor air mattress became her first victim. Dang I miss her! This mohair is almost the right color, sigh. No patterns out there for mini Birmans.

Cool! It's starting to stick together! Now check size against pattern...PATTERN! WHAT PATTERN! THEY SAID YOU DIDN'T NEED A PATTERN WITH NEEDLE FELTING! I only have instructions, thanks to Carrie Attwood of Little Bloomers, who kindly published instructions for free. OK, look, there's a ruler, body about 2", good. Carrie, you have SO much good karma coming your way from this!

My roving is from New Zealand. My wool is better traveled than I am. A slight crackling, yep, they are right KEEP YOUR EYES ON YOUR WORK! No blood though. Pip is trying to pull the packaging into her cage. No, you silly glider, it's not edible. And yes, NZ is close to Australia where sugargliders come from, but you are a native Oregonian, you silly little marsupial. Have a niblet and settle down, if I get good at this I'll felt you a friend.

After an hour, I now have a wad of wool that looks like a mutant silk worm cocoon. Ah, progress! How firm is firm? No blood yet.

I am now adding bits of wool to "build the body up". Don't know if I'm being successful, but it's less painful than the rare occasion when I've tried to build my own body up. My cocoon, um, body has shrunk so I am adding wool at both ends to make it very solid and back out to two inches.



Well, the mutant silk worm hasn't started talking to me yet. Probably because it doesn't have a head. I've never made the body first, I don't think I will again. It's unerving not knowing who you are making. I don't even know if it's a boy or girl yet Usually by now I'm starting on it's family history going back generations. I thought this was such an organic, hands on thing, I would be naturally carried away. Hmm. It's a mystery guest so far. I don't even know what kind of creature it will be.

Wet down the outside of it slightly, then rubbed it on Moosie for luck. His fur ends up in everything anyway. He liked that a lot, until he sniffed what I was holding. There will be no mistakes in this house, anything that doesn't work will become a cat toy. He REALLY liked the cocoon! Must begin on face, this is bugging me.

It's 4:40 am, I have to get up pretty soon, so I guess I'd better hit the sack. It's a creature, that's all that I've got so far. It may be Siamese.

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