Flying through July

New 19 micron Merino and silk fibre scarf.
Resist-dyed after felting.

When I look at the calendar, it's hard to believe that it's the 17th of July already. The Handmade Sessions is taking a good bit of time, but I have succumbed and moved quite a lot of my studio down so I can get some of my own work done and still be opened for office hours and inquiries. I've got quite a few scarves felted and that takes some internal pressure off as I was starting to stress that I wouldn't get any personal work done this summer AT ALL. I felted a handbag on Saturday that I think will turn out well.  I dyed it and left it to dry overnight, so pictures to follow during the week.

We also finished the first week of summer camp and I found it a real pleasure to teach the girls.  Not only were they very enthusiastic, I found it easier to teach them than adults because the minds of children are wide open and creative; they don't second guess themselves or worry about how their designs will appear.  They just get on with it!  And it was lovely to see such confidence.  They produced great work: Felted book covers that they stitched afterwards, dyed cotton fabrics and rovings/yarns, patchwork pillows, and they tried crochet and found it difficult.  I let them off the hook as they did so well in everything else.  They were excited to enter their efforts in the Agricultural Show in Dingle this weekend.  See my Facebook page for the photo album.  Tomorrow starts the next cycle and so we'll have to see if I end up with such a great group again!

It was a busy week last week.  Lots of teaching and administration to cover, not to mention a visit from my boss in Tralee and the new Harry Potter movie finally arriving!  Needless to say, Sunday was spent planted firmly at home coming to grips with the disaster of my home.  With the wind howling and heavy showers, I could hardly wash the windows, but everything else got a good scrubbing!  Dull housework done, I think it's time for a cup of tea!  

I love how the blue and purple came together: cornflower

Hand-dyed yarns & rovings.  Despite the wet week, I
did get quite a bit dyed.

Photos Snapped!

Bright pink hand-dyed lambswool

Well, I finished the photography for ETSY today and I just edited the photos.  We have had glorious Indian Summer weather, so the light was perfect.  This is going to be a mostly photographic post, so here goes:

Fishing net cape with beading around the neck

Merino/Silk/Alpaca hat

Turquoise funky beret

Felted, embroidered, and beaded green wrap

The day was lovely til it wasn't....

I started cleaning with the high hopes that I would have the afternoon for felting and dyeing projects, but as soon as I started the last (dreaded) task of washing windows the wee little droplets started to fall....sigh.  Perhaps tomorrow.  I have a clean house and I made lovely food for us, but this is not going to get my ETSY on the way.  This brings me to the observation that I have had lately that I notice most artists don't have the cleanest house.  It is perhaps due to some common allergy to cleaning, which I fully appreciate, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they just wouldn't have time to have a sparkling house AND make lovely, handmade items.  My white skirting boards are very dirty, fully of dust that ran in the house when the kids left the door open for the 9th time every day, and I have just decided that if I spend five minutes for the next four days, I might be able to get them back in order.  When I am up the walls, I just don't look down for fear of what I might find or what it might do to my blood pressure.  Don't get me wrong: I LOVE a clean house, but I just don't seem to have enough time to devote to it.  Small children are wonderful, but they are built on the foundations of chocolate, germs, dirt, and sticky kisses.

I have been working on another lacy crocheted scarf since the other ones seem to be getting great reviews (and that leads me to believe that they might sell), but I ran out of the recycled sari silk yarn that I was using as the final row to give it a VA-VOOM!  I was rummaging around my silk drawer and found a skein of white silk yarn that I was saving for a wedding/Holy Communion project that I hadn't gotten to yet and decided to chance dyeing it colours to compliment the charcoal and fuchsia wool I had already used.  I used yellow and them a bright fuchsia over it.  The first time it came out a bit orange, so I used MORE yellow and MORE fuchsia and it's a lovely mix of yellow/orange/pink that suits the other colours.  I reminds me of a sherbet.  Now I have to crochet the last row on and felt it in the wash.  All it needs is a label....

Are the Days Still Getting Longer????

 It feels like I am going non-stop these days.  Where are the lazy, hazy days of summer?  In between mist/rain I am dyeing fibres for projects and leaving them out to drip.  I have received my labels and must start sewing them in garments.  I am steadily building up a supply of hand-dyed wool yarns.  I hope Santy is bring the good fibre people plenty of pretty wool in their stocking! 

The chiffon piece on the left is for the bodice of a dress I am making myself for a wedding coming up soon.  I have black wool jersey that I bought in Dublin and I want to nuno felt over the chiffon with some lovely hand-dyed Merino and silk.  I dyed some Wensleydale to add in also.  I think it will be a range of pinks/reds in many shades.  Those tend to suit me and so I must do some lighter colours next time to balance the shades. 

Tomorrow I want to start with some of the cotton gauze that I received and nuno felt a scarf with that to see how I like working with it.  The weave is quite fine so I'd say it will make a lovely scarf if I lay my fibres out well.  And I must start my journal cover challenge!  I joined the Clasheen Crafty Swap again for summer, so I will felt fibres into the prefelt that I bought and then try my hand at resist dyeing.  I am all experimentation these days!  I might use some of the soy fibres I bought when I was in America. 

Meanwhile, I am admiring the lovely fuscia/red/orange colours that I got today.    I want to do some more gold and greens tomorrow, because I ran out of daylight today.  Hopefully a dry day for more fun!