Nuno Scarf Class

We had such a great time Saturday in our nuno-felting class! There were 4 very artistic gals who attended and made absolutely glorious scarves, each one unique and different. They started out with a silk chiffon scarf base, either black or hand-dyed in a medley of harmonizing hues. Then they added hand-dyed and solid merino wool fibers in their chosen design: twirling vines, leaves, big robust flowers, swirly circles. Lastly they added the "icing": bamboo, silk fibers, Angelina, wool nepps, all sorts of goodies. Then came the soap, water and agitation, and finally, the shrinking and felting. What beautiful works of art each of them created! And every one so different as they chose their own personal color palette. We really need to get back together and wear our scarves when they're completed and dry, so gorgeous!

Sawtooth Scarf Dyeing

We had a "Taste of Art" silk scarf-dyeing class at Sawtooth a couple of weeks ago, and what a fun and adventurous group of gals we had! These girls were not afraid to try new things and "think outside the box", and you know me, I'm always the first to encourage someone to just try it, why not? Some of them experimented with some different resist techniques using bamboo sticks and string, others really went wild with their colors. It's always a wild ride to see the end results when using vegetable dyes, as some of the more unstable colors (like black) will separate into 2 or more other colors, like indigo blue and green (go figure!) I guess it's the combination of 2 or more colors that make up some of the more complex colors of dyes, and when exposed to the heat, they separate. At any rate, their scarves turned out gorgeous! I know they'll enjoy wearing them to all their autumn festivities.

SECU House Wool Beads

We had such a good time felting wool beads at SECU house last week! I have to admit, I was a little apprehensive about the class this time; normally I look forward to teaching there and sharing my skills with patients and their family and friends. It's really nice to be able to do something I enjoy and help others forget their problems for just a little while, it helps me forget mine too! But this was the first time I had been there since my dad passed away from cancer on August 12, and that was still fresh on my mind. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to minister to other people who were going through the same thing I watched take away my dad.

But all went well, once we got started, I was able to put my life on the back burner for a little while, and everyone made beautiful wool beads! We also had a male grad student who made a wool bead representing "earth", and he was going to turn his into an ornament, while the ladies made necklaces with theirs. All in all, everyone had a good time felting and visiting. It's always a blessing for me to get to help others, and I hope it is for them.