A sheep of one's own

I have a dream of owning a sheep. Yes, a real living sheep, not one that is needle felted. I know that this is a bit of a crazy dream as I live in London and when I mention it to friends, I think they picture a rampaging woolly animal in a small city garden, or on a leash on the train to work (though I’m sure there are other kinds of rampaging woolly animals on the tube be times)

My artist friend Liz has her own flock in Wales, so my new ewe, when I purchase her will hopefully live there, and I can visit, perhaps on the way to Ireland. 

This harebrained idea comes from a desire to know where my materials come from and to start having my own raw material fleece that I can use to felt, spin and eventually turn it into something wearable. Not by killing the sheep though. ☺

The craft taster day

After a nice long summer break, we returned to making last Saturday. There wasn't only one craft to try but three! 


Felt making, cross-stitching and beading with wire were all at our disposal. Once you get in the making zone, time seems to disappear rather quickly. 

That is until you stab yourself with a felting needle. I forgot the plasters, oh dear... 


Busy crafters in this picture are carding and needle - felting. The colourful results of their labour can be seen below. 

Fantastic intricate designs can be needle - felted, a great example below...

And then there was cross-stitch... 

...that I love to do on the train, or any other sort of transport, well maybe not my bicycle... We were putting some of the designs onto cover buttons too. The one in progress above ended up as a butterfly and it was taken home to complete. 

Making something on the commute to work prompted conversation about the kind of things that you can make while watching the telly, or in this case waiting for the plumber. One of the crafters got busy making so many beaded wire flowers... 

From homemade bread to handmade creations

We started our day with yummy homemade bread and delicious soup from our hostess Laine before getting stuck in to some great felt creations. There were some new members to the crafty circle today who hadn't tried needle felting before and it wasn't long before they were getting the knack. Laine started with an abstract piece, regaling the stories of her ten year old beads she was sewing onto it...now they have a new lease of life. 

It wasn't until the end when the needles started breaking! I was impressed that there wasn't much finger stabbing happening, hmmm, I make needle felting sound like an extreme sport... but with lots of cups of tea of course. The felt balls are a necklace work in progress that Alessandra will be finishing the next time round, as she was layering different colours around the balls to wet felt them again.

This picture is before the finished felt brooch is put together. They were completed in time to wear out the door. How good is that? 

Crafty Things Begins!

This is our first official crafty gathering. Hurray! We did start a couple of weeks back with some crochet, but sadly there was no photographic evidence. Today we were needle felting, making some 2-D work. The felt (or fleece) that we were using comes in amazingly vibrant colors...we are all drawn towards different ones. We were needle felting onto pieces of felt that you can pick up in haberdasheries.  

You can also needle felt any kind of wool onto the same piece, it doesn't have to be all fleece. All of our designs turned out very differently.