'Shroom and a Hat

'Shroom 1 (2005)
5", Wool, glass bead, copper wire, knitted, wet-felted


Near the end of September, I will be doing a booth at a new fall festival here in Terre Haute. Well, it's not exactly new - it's three festivals that have been going on for years, combined into one weekend extravaganza. The part that I will participate in used to be the spring Crossroads Arts Fest, a wonderful event that has been plagued by terrible, unpredictable spring weather in all the years of its existence (6 or 7, I think.) It has been renamed Street Fair (the name of a really old festival from the early 1900s!) and joined to the library's Family Learning Day and the E. Bleemel Days event, which takes place in the historic brewery district. All in a semi-circle in the blocks around the downtown area.

The 'Shroom above is something I created for the fair booth. It's meant to be an ornament, though I don't know if anyone wants to decorate their holiday trees with shrooms. I would, of course. Seems to me that I should make things to sell with the same philosophy that I generally try to apply to buying books I hope to sell: make (buy) what I like, so if it doesn't sell, I don't mind having it around.

Lately, I have a goal of finishing one thing every day. It doesn't have to be a big thing, just one thing. Yesterday I finished a Starbrim Hat, an original pattern (whoopee!) which I am still working out for different yarns. I took pictures of it during its making because I love to see the transformation of felted knits. That is another reason I prefer to felt by hand at the kitchen sink, I just love to feel that transformation, when the whole texture changes in my hands. It's magical to me.

This is made with Twilleys Freedom yarn - a bulky, very lightly spun single that felts FAST- very nice when you are doing it by hand!



Just Off the Needles -------------Just After Felting ----------Just After Shaping



Drying

Those leaves and flowers are for another project. I'm making a removable band for the hat and will post the finished hat in my next entry.

It's 6 a.m. and time for me to get on with the day - much to do and a dentist's appointment, too.