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Saturday 30 May 2015

A Good Day

Today has been lovely, one of those warm, still, sunny days that promises the beginning of a warm summer to come but tomorrow, rain is forecast. So I made the most of it and worked outside, this is a little bit limiting because you can't really lay-out wool fibres outside; the first puff of wind and all your hard work gets blown all over the garden. But this was just the push I needed to finish a few pieces in my UFO box....

The first was a cat cave inspired by Galina's many and varied fish, if you haven't seen them, do take a look, they are beautiful and lots of fun. They appeal to my sense of humour and that got me thinking about how funny it would be to have a fish swallowing a cat rather than the other way round... silly I know but it amuses me :)

I started this cat cave several months ago, but it wasn't thick / well fulled enough to support its own weight, so today I fulled it to within an inch of its life, it has shrunk quite noticeably, but now it is holding its shape (even while still damp). The only downside to fulling it so firmly is that the patterned green silk running the length of the fish has all but disappeared into the wool. Here it is drying in the sunshine.




The Oak Tree Hat is nearly finished too, here it is a couple of weeks ago where I was just starting to add the leaves:

Before shaping the leaves and final fulling:

Getting ready to shape and position the leaves ready for drying, I'm waiting to see if it needs starch to hold the leaves in position but I am feeling optimistic that they will hold their positions naturally (ideally I would like the leaves to "rustle" in the breeze as the wearer moves). Sorry, this isn't the best background for photographing this hat, my photo-box isn't big enough to accommodate it...


I've also finished the "brain" hat, it's busy drying on a hat block - I'll post some photos of that next time along with the jacket I made in Tatiana Shervada's class at the end of April.... in case you can't wait there is a little taster on Terriea Kwong's blog along with some amazingly creative garments created by the other students.

12 comments:

  1. What a wonderful cat cave! I'm sure any cat would just love it. And the oak tree hat is amazing! Great job.

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  2. I have to laugh Teri, Galina's fish have been on a lot of people's minds. Cathy and I did fish last week. :-). However, not as big as your cat cave, The hat is awesome, so intricate. I can't wait to see what else you've created!

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    1. Thanks Marilyn, I have been busy making lots of felt, just very naughty about keeping up in blog-land...more felty goodies to come :)

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  3. Very impressive cat cave Teri! I've tried it once on workshop and that was definitely the last one! Too much work for me I'm afraid. Well done you! And the hat is really wonderful!
    And thanks to you all ladies for a nice comment on my fish!

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    1. Thanks Galina, the caves do get VERY heavy when they are wet, I like to think of it as a free gym workout :)

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  4. Your hat is amazing. You'll be getting the birds landing soon!

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    1. Thanks Helen, that is a really good idea... maybe some felted birds and butterflies....

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  5. If you happen to catch the moment, it would be lovely to see a photo of a cat peeking out of the fish.

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    1. I did try, I offered it up to my cat, camera at the ready, he stuck his head in but decided it wasn't big enough (he's a rather large Ragdoll), I think this cave would be perfect for a smaller feline.

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  6. Oh my, that is a fabulous cat cave! Does your cat actually like it? Cat caves on my list to do. Luvswool

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    1. I think I am going to have to make a larger one for my furry monster, with more layers so I don't need to full it quite so hard I think, he said he liked it but wasn't sure all of him would fit through the hole...

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