Friday, January 16, 2015

A "Woollove" Retrospective- Part 1 of 4

My first felt projects were made at the Campbell Folk School in 2009...

...a needle-felting class(!)...

...where I made landscapes, hot pads, pin cushions...and a bird.


Once home, I needle-felted some fruits and vegetables...


                                             ...and quite puzzlingly to me now...



                      ...first needle-felted...and then wet-felted a number of scarves...



                                      ...including this one with sheer, silk 'windows'. 



                         I didn't yet realize that there was an easier way to make felt...



                                    ...and one more suited to my temperament. :)



                                       After several months of this doubled effort...

                                   ...and the purchase of some basic felting books...


                           
                                     ...I began making simple wet-felted projects...

                                             ...without first needle-felting them!



                                  Occasionally, I would slip back into my old habits...



                        ...especially when I wanted to make something very detailed.


                                
                                        As I experimented and made mistakes...

                                      ...I managed to figure out some things...



                          ...that colored wool 'migrates' through lighter-colored wool...


                                      ...and that pencil roving is really fun to use!



                               I learned how to incorporate silk into a nuno felt project...



                                   ...and how to enhance finished felt with stitching.



                                 Along the way, I made a few seasonal projects, as well...

                                           ...a hanging Christmas card 'pocket'...



                                             ...and a felted Advent Calendar.



                              I also learned what fully felted wool looks and feels like...



                              ...and how to incorporate fun things like spiky 'dreads'...



                                                  ...or Mawata silk hankies.



                                            I learned how to felt around a resist...





                                                  ...'write' with pencil roving...



                                         ...and how to re-purpose failed projects...


                                               ...(like this bowl née tea cozy)!




                                                           I made hats...



                                                           ...and purses...

                           ...(this is the first bag that I ever made using a resist!)...



                                                               ...slippers...



                                                    ...and even lampshades!



                    Along the way, I also learned how to make some my own supplies...

                            ...like hand-carded batts, 'soap glue' and custom pre-felts.



                                          My projects were finally starting to look...

                                ...like the ideas of them that I carried in my head...



                       ...and I even made small forays into the world of synthetic fabrics...



                                                  ...and 'alternative' fibers!



                      Now that I'm counting down to my one-thousandth(!) blog post...

     ...I thought it might be fun to take a little trip back in time with you, dear readers. 

              I'll be sharing a time-line of my project photos (some good...some 'not so much')...

                                          ...that I hope you'll enjoy revisiting!

                                              Next time: I improve a little. 

  

12 comments:

WonderWhyGal said...

Look at all of those projects. I love seeing those and then reading your more recent posts to see how far you have come with techniques. Happy Blog Anniversary!

Kathleen said...

This retrospective is a fabulous idea. I love looking back. Your work gets better, more inventive, and more engaging as time goes by. Keep felting and blogging!!

Rachel said...

Goodness, what a variety! Some of those are ideas I would love to investigate (when I have my studio!) and some I'd never have thought of in a million years. I am really looking forward to the rest of this retrospective!

Heather Woollove said...

Andrea and Kathy--Thanks for being here with me from the beginning!
Rachel--After 1000 posts (and probably 12,000 photos, I managed to whittle it down to four posts' worth...and I'm glad you're looking forward to them! (I thought at first it might be a bit self indulgent?)

Unknown said...

You've come a long way since those first forays into felting. Congratulations!! It's been great fun watching you learn, and sharing it with so many. :)

Here's to your next 1000 posts!

werkstatt augentrost said...

isn´t it only the beginning - each time?! the world of fibers and ideas is neverending - let´s never hopp off!

best regards

delia

Unknown said...

so enjoyable looking back, seeing your beginnings and progress…thanks for sharing! Luvswool

Heather Woollove said...

Sandie- It all started with you!! :)
Delia- What a beautifully poetic thought!! I agree wholeheartedly!!
Kat- Thanks so much!

FeltersJourney said...

Oh Heather, how lovely to look back like this! Really enjoyed this :)
I'm looking forward to the rest of your retrospective xxx

Anonymous said...

That's a lovely retrospective, just today, I took out my very first scarf I felted. I love how we can learn looking back.

Dawn Edwards/Felt So Right said...

Really looking forward to the rest of the retrospective....So much fun to relive these felting moments. I love your blog....always sounds just like you ;-)

Congratulations on your most successful blog.

Big hugs,
Dawn

Heather Woollove said...

Deborah- I think you'll recognize something in today's post! :)
Monika- Thanks so much! You're right...there are things I never would make again in this batch, and things which might be worth revisiting!
Dawn-- Hahaha...my 'voice' is hard to extinguish?!? :)