General news and MOPACA Fiber "U" update

Well, it has been a long, long time since I posted last so I won't delay...on with the news...

I've been so busy with non-fiber related things for the past month.  I built a website for my brother-in-laws company.  And, now I'm working on another website for a fellow artisan.  I am enjoying doing some graphic design work after a little hiatus from that type of professional work when Rowynn was born.  I am thinking of doing for-hire freelance graphic and web design work again on a regular basis.  It might be nice to cater to the artist since I know where they are coming from concerning business and dedication to their craft... just something that I'm still pondering.  I'd love to know your thoughts on it.

I've also been busy doing an array of fun stuff with my baby girl including her first zoo trip this past weekend.  She adored the meerkats as they bobbed their heads around and scurried from hole to hole.  She was also quite smitten with the sheep, and they were with her as well.  You can see Rowynn and her daddy admiring them in the photo below.

 And, I've been planning a birthday party because my baby girl enters the realm of toddler when she turns one year old on Friday.  Yay!  Happy Birthday to my fiber princess!  I can't believe that it has already been a year!

Now for the MOPACA Fiber "U" update...
I attended most of the day on Saturday, July 10th, and took a few classes.  It was well worth the small registration fee.  I learned a great deal, and of course, came home with a big sack full of fiber goodies.  If you live anywhere near Lebanon, Missouri, I absolutely recommend that you jot a note on your calendar for July 9 - 10 next year to attend.   If you are a fiber enthusiast, I feel it is 100% worth your time!  I also got to meet Ron, the maker of my lovely fancy kitty drum carder that you can see in the photo below.  He is super nice in person (as he is online).

Here's some alpaca that I purchased from Whirlwind Ranch.  It took a bit of effort to clean and card, but it super soft!  Also, the natural brown color as seen on the left above is just gorgeous.

Here's some wool that I purchased from the Ozark Carding Mill.  They had a very large selection of different sheep breeds to choose from.  The above fibers are friesian (in green), romney (in purple), and merino/bamboo blend (in turquoise/purple on top).  Below is a corriedale/bamboo blend that I spun a small skein of on my drop spindle.  I think it turned out wonderfully.  I like that the fiber is already pre-drafted for spinning, but the super thin roving is a bit cumbersome for laying out to wet felt.  I still plan to make something felted with it soon though.

It's a hatstravaganza - needle and wet felted hats!

So my latest craze is learning to make felted hats. I'm trying several methods to find out what I like best and what produces the nicest results. This includes needle felting and wet felting techniques. Thus far, I've found that a combination of methods seem to produce the best quality hat while allowing for the most controlled design.

Reversible hats is also another goal of mine. I would like to make hats that can be worn inside-out or outside-in to give the buyer more options for their wardrobe. Of course, this means that not all styles of hats will work well as a reversible hat, but a form of the simplest cloche style hat seems to do quite well and be very versatile. It is also a little easier to make than a brimmed hat which is good since I am still very much learning. I do plan to make non-reversible hats as well. Really, I'll just be making whatever style of hat suits my fancy at the time and that I have the courage to attempt.



I'm posting some photos of two different hats that I've made over the last couple of weeks. You can also see more individual photos on my flickr account. The light blue and white hat is 100% Merino wool and soft as a baby's bootie. I think that it is also quite feminine and stylish - almost reminiscent of the 1920's and 30's cloche style hats. It was created through a combination of needle and wet felting. The decorative trim around its base is actually some yarn that I had spun on my drop spindle.



The yellow and blue-green hat should look somewhat familiar to those of you that have read some previous blog posts. It is made from 100% Romney wool that I hand dyed myself. You can see it here. I've also previously posted photos of it in its needle felted stage, before the finished wet felting stage as seen here. Partially due to the type of wool used, it is a thicker, more rugged hat, but I still think that it has a feminine charm about it. Depending on how the brim is shaped, it can be more casual or stylish. It would be a nice hat to go with a coat and wear all Fall and Winter long.

So there are two of the six hats that I've made in the last two weeks. I would like to try making some men's hats and children's hats as well. I'd love to know your suggestions for hat styles and colors that I could try. Any links or photo examples would be greatly appreciated. Feel free to post them as a comment or email me via my website. I'm also working on other things besides hats so stay tuned. I'll reveal some of that work later on in the summer. Right now, I'm a little hat crazy!