Hungarian Rhapsody- Part 1

Smoked parenyica cheese that you 'unwind' to eat.

                                 Intensely flavorful aubergine and paprika 'creams'.

                  The beautiful feltmaking genius Judit Pócs with her delightful family.

                                                              Kecskemét.

                                           Roasted sweet dough Kürtöskalács...

                                      ...with ground walnuts, cinnamon and sugar.

                                                     Bins of colorful candies...

                                               ...at a local Labour Day festival.

                                           A tour of the Kecskemétfilm company.

                         Learning about the three 'key poses' needed for animation...

                         ...and the hand-painted art that graces their current work.

                                          A classical zoetrope (with horse race)...

                                     ...and artifacts from their 'pre-computer' days.

                                       The way film animation is done there today.

                                            Next time: a swoon-inducing library!

"Two-Faced" Cracked Earth Tote- Part 8

The finished tote...

         

                                                      ...with leather straps.

                                                            The bag interior.

                                               During the 'freeing' of the resist...

                      ...the felt could have been trimmed to make smaller 'scales'...

                                    ...revealing more of the dark, background wool.

                                                                           
                                                           On the grid side...

                    ...the yarn inclusions could have been made more visible...

                                 ...if the scales had been trimmed a bit smaller, too.

                                                                For my part...

                          ...I prefer having only a wee glimpse into the darkness. ;)
                                                  

I'll be away again for a few weeks.

Look for new posts from me in mid-May.

"Two-Faced" Cracked Earth Tote- Part 7

The interior of the bag...

                                             ...and the exterior during fulling.

                                            The grid side of the fully felted bag...

                                                       ...and the 'lacy' side.

                                       The project is stuffed with cloth placemats...

                                                             ...for blocking.

                                       A strip of leather is cut from a large sheet...

                                                     ...fashioned into handles...

                                          ...and stitched to the mouth of the bag.

                                 The finished surface texture on one side of the bag...

                                                         ...and on the other.

                                          Next time: (finally) the finished tote. ;)

"Two-Faced" Cracked Earth Tote- Part 6

Small, sharp scissors and a chopstick...

                                                 ...are carefully employed...

                                       ...to gain access to the painters' tape resist.

                                                        As the tape grid...

                                                           ...is displaced...

                                      ...the textured surface of the felt is revealed.

                                         When the tote is turned to the 'lacy' side...

                                                      ...special care is taken...

                                        ...to follow each and every turn and twist...

                                                    ...of the detailed resist...

                                                          ...during removal.

                                                  The 'resist-less' tote, resting...

                                                ...in preparation for final felting.

                                                   Next time: the bag is fulled...

                                               ...and a leather strap is attached.