I’m experiencing withdrawal…

The past week or so of unseasonably warm weather beckons me outdoors… to a multitude of gardening tasks. Primarily: clean-up, raking, weeding, turning compost, transplanting/pruning, and on and on! I’m exhausted just thinking about it – and the old bones are feeling it!

That leaves little time for creating (and I desperately need to create!). Well, besides creating gardening plans, that is! I try to keep a level head, focused, prioritizing a To-Do list and most importantly, taking little bites! After all, it’s the tortoise that won the race! For me, it’s a matter of perspective… knowing that there will ALWAYS be something to-do on a list somewhere!!

In the meantime, I managed to make a little Frenchy dairy goat – in all fairness – long overdue, considering all the sheepies that are foremost on my mind!

She stands proudly looking about curiously, as most goats do!

You could make your very own dairy goat ‘topiary’ too!

How-To: First, draw a dairy goat (had to be recently freshened, that is, have an udder – heehee) on a piece of muslin – remember, front & back! If you’re not great at ‘drawing’, there’s many goat diagrams available in goat books, etc that you could use for a pattern/trace. Next, I sewed the two pieces together and stuffed it (leave an inch or so opening to ‘stuff’) with fiberfil (and some dried fragrant herbs?). I then painted my goat with acrylic paint – here’s where you can get creative… because there are many colors/patterns of dairy goats… or, paint it to resemble your own goat!

I applied a fine coat of mod podge & tinted wax, and used a wooden dowel for a base (but you could use a natural tree branch too). I wrapped my dowel in a spring green butcher’s twine, but you could paint it, leave it natural, or wrap in ribbon, yarn, etc.

For the base, I recycled a vintage child’s alphabet block by drilling a hole in the top to accept the dowel. Any ‘base’ would do – be creative! I stamped the letter ‘C’ for chevre (goat in French) and a paper image of a goat onto the block. Last, I added a fabric scrap ‘banner’ with ‘chevre’ stamped onto it.

Similarly,

I also made a spring-tyme bunny. I added a wooly tail, seed beads for eyes, embroidery floss nose/mouth and needle-felted the topiary wooly green ball around the dowel. (The dowel is wrapped with ribbon.) I stitched on a few randomly placed vintage mother-of-pearl buttons and glued a pink ribbon rose atop each button.

Well… got to go… daylight’s burning… and the great outdoors is calling!

My Flock

I just finished making this…

…into this.

It’s overcast today, so I had difficulty taking decent photos. The gardens look so gray and dreary!

I made a paper pattern and cut four sheep from each ‘square’ of felt: a total of twelve sheep approx 5-inch X 7-inch.

Each sheep is ewe-nique, depending on how I arranged my wool fleece before wet-felting.

I simply needle felted the details: face, ears, legs. My thanks to contributions from…

… ‘Astin Martin’, my yearling Shetland ram, and

And Athos, Mr. el destructo!

…who just couldn’t be bothered to say ‘hello’.

Oh, and a big ‘thanks’ to my puppies, who directed the entire photo session!

This was a fun, no-sew wet-felting sheepy project!

Mini FAUX Lambskin Rug

Not to worry… no harm was done to any sheep or lambs during the writing of this post!!

Say ‘hello’ to my mini lambskin sheepy ‘rug’.

I’ve wet felted several of these little splayed sheepies over time… and have one in my farm shop (my prototype) that I use to display small hand-made ceramic sheep figures. In fact, I have made them so small that they can easily fit into a Christmas greeting card  ~ world’s smallest sheepskin rug ~ that I’ve gifted to fiber friends.

THIS little sheepy rug measures approx 8 1/2 X 11 – inches.

A few weeks ago, a lady requested if I’d make her one of these little sheepskin ‘rugs’ for her 90-ish year old mother who is suffering from a rare blood cancer. Naturally, I said “yes”!

Well, Carolina dropped by the shop rather unexpectedly just this past Tuesday! YIKES!! I hadn’t even begun to THINK about making the little sheepy rug with all the holiday happenings! Thank God, she didn’t come to tell me that her mom passed-away!!!

How-To:

I used my North Country Cheviot wool batt and began with several alternating layers (north/south)… leaving the edges a bit ‘rough’ and in the shape (legs, front & rear/tail end) as if it were a sheepskin pelt. Sorry folk, that’s farm life!

Once I was satisfied with my ‘layout’,  I began the initial felting process. I used a kitty litter (clean) pan to contain the water, alternating hot & cold water w/a wee squirt of Dawn dish soap added to the hot water. I like to use a bamboo place mat to help with the agitation, remember to alternate directions – shrinkage occurs in the direction you’re working the piece.

Towel blot and allow to air-dry. Then came all the tedious work of needle felting all those little ‘tufts’ of fleece… remember, I LIKE lots of texture! My bumpy sheep is kind-of my trademark. Last, I added a few details to the face!

…and there you have it!

I was told by Carolina, that she actually wants to frame the sheepie and add a Bible Scripture verse around the perimeter of the sheep.

Very nice.

Wet felting – good clean fun.

Finally! Lots of fuzzy soap in sheep’s clothing, built-in wooly wash cloth felted soap! Atten—tion!

Sending a little ‘I ♥ love ♥ ewe’ your way!

…lots more!

…and more.

…sweetness.

An easy wet felting project. You’ll need a fav bar of soap and any natural or dyed/colored wool roving or batt. Bits of wool locks, staples, mohair, novelty yarns add interest and texture! Wrap the wool roving neatly around the soap until adequately covered, adding bits of this ‘n that for interest if desired. Then comes the felting – alternate hot & cold water, working the fiber rigorously until felted. Once you have the hang of it, needle felt an image on your next bar of felted soap, BEFORE you wet felt it!

Lavender is a gardener fav!

A bit more felted goodness…and a great stash buster for all those odds ‘n ends! This project was knitted first, and then ‘felted’ in the washing machine.

Little catch-all bowls.

I’ll probably add a needle felted sheep or two…

Happy fiber’n!

Doodling with Wool!

Yesterday, my mom had an appointment for a ’routine’ stress test. I was the designated driver (since my mom, 86, doesn’t drive). While she had the test, and I sat in the waiting room… I doodled!

doodle (v.) – to draw, scribble, sketch

Not with paper and pen, but with WOOL. YES, W.O.O.L., really!

Besides my more traditional, well-loved sheepy felted soap, I also ‘felt’ other images, including free-spirited  or free-styled ‘doodles‘.  I had pre-wrapped my soap in wool roving beforehand. As I headed out the door, I grabbed my bag of colored roving and my felting needle.

 With felting needle in hand, I doodled away…with no particular road map.

Some with a hidden message…

Doodling with wool is a good thing!

 

Fiber Project for the Day

Today I finished up several HAND-felted sheepy pillows ~ or ~ sachets? Are they sachets when you fill them full of sweet herbal goodness from the garden…regardless of their size??

I’ve been wet felting since I have owned my sheep. I never get tired ~ or bored ~ making sweet sheep!

Love those sheep!

I haven’t ‘embellished’ them much…but, you could add buttons, tassels, flowers, bobble & what-nots. I did add a rusty bell & heart…

The fabric was made by wet felting my wool roving. Think of it as my canvas…which I then needle felted my sheep…again using my wool roving as my media or ‘paint’. I love texture; I also used mohair yarn.

 

I used recycled wool fabric for the back of the pillows.

I describe the wet felting process in other posts, but I also put together a little ‘how-to’ booklet on the subject.

 

I hope my sheepies find their way to new homes… and they smell good!

 

Odds + Ends

We’ve been working like maniacs on ‘The Back-Porch’. We’re painting and staining all over the place, between raindrops, 96-degree heat and humidity. We were hoping for completion by the Labor Day holiday – (NOT) - so we could actually use/enjoy ‘the back porch’? Ya know, for the last family barbecue? No way! The kids are silently protesting, complaining that we’ve ruined their last week of Summer vacation. I wonder if there’s any child labor laws involved? I simply reply…’family bonding time.’ Or, how about: ‘You’ll soon be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor.’  lol 

Hubby is working on making all the screen panels. The last two panels for the door were 4-inches too big! GAK! Had to re-fabricate more panels to replace the slightly too-big over-sized door panels!!

Round two. GAK! Another half-inch off! I think I would have had a major melt-down by now, but hubby persevered!!? What happened to… ‘measure twice and cut once?’ Don’t do anything when you’re in a hurry! Murphy’s Law: If it can go wrong – it will go wrong?? Our projects always seem to take longer than initially planned – does that ONLY happen to us?

In the meantime, I’m able to squeak in a few fiber & extra projects, to calm my nerves, before I drop from exhaustion…and IF my fingers still work.

I found this heavy-duty/industrial ‘lab’ stool at the flea market for $5. The label reads property of U of M.

A little paint and stain…

Not sure where or how I’ll use this stool…yet.

A Sheepy Hollow customer mentioned they wanted a ‘cornflower‘ blue felted sheepy bowl.  I checked my fiber stash and came up with three different ‘blues’. I haven’t had a chance to needle felt a sheep on it yet.

 Hmmm….which one comes closest to cornflower blue?

…and, I’ve been felting more ‘sheepy’ soap (soap wrapped in wool with a sheepy motif) for the fiber fest I’m vending at Mt. Bruce Sheep Station at the end of the month.

In the kitchen, I’ve also been making cheese for my chickens! Yup, for my chickens! I have a surplus of goat milk right now that I haven’t had much opportunity to do anything with…and I can’t bear to DUMP. So, I add a little A.C. vinegar to separate the curds from whey and viola ~ cheese! I guess the chicks can use a little extra calcium, yes?! They’ve grown quite fond of my cheese treat and usually accompany me during my milking routine!

Take care! I hope you’re enjoying good, clean family fun this holiday weekend!

Knitwit

I’ve had yarn on the brain for much of the past week. Maybe because it’s been soooo dog gone cold here in Michigan!!#@@ Grrrrr…I’m so ready for Spring! The ONLY good thing about the weather is that it’s so nice to wrap yourself in something wOOly ~ oh so comforting!

Hence, I’ve been playing with lots of fibery ODDS + ENDS. BTW, have I mentioned that I received my new large whorl for my spinning wheel ~~~ to spin bulky art yarn (at least at a slower speed). A while back I splurged and purchased some yummy batts from hands+notions. I haven’t spun it yet…been playing/experimenting/practicing with other stuff. Here’s some of what I’ve been up to…

I made this little felted bag with hand dyed, hand spun, odds + ends, a few beads, etc for me…a little catch-all to hang on my spinning wheel.

…get a load of that funky vintage button!

And…this is an earlier version of my spinning wheel ‘bag’, but a bit too large, so I adjusted my pattern, added a strap for a little over-the-shoulder bag.

And another…

Here’s a close-up.

Here’s a cutie! I like the flower-y button.

And another…

This one is made with my hand-spun Shetland…and I’m going to needle felt a sheep on it!!! I just haven’t got around to it yet.

There’s two more little ditty bags awaiting ‘finishing’. That will happen as soon as I’m done felting my soap…yet tonight!

Better scoot!

Too many SHEEP tree?

Too many sheep ~OR~ never enough sheep? The sheep ornies are made with wool roving and about 1-inch ‘small’.  A quick needle felting project indeed…and very cute for sheep-minded folk!

Merry Sheep

A wanna be Santa’s helper?