It’s true I’ve been a little enamored of my newfound wet-felting projects.  It’s a surprisingly physical process. It’s a process that I promise to dedicate some time to explaining in brief in the very near future. Presently though, when I need a rest  from laying out, wetting, massaging, kneading, rolling, fulling, shocking, thwacking and blocking,  I sit and pick up my needles.

chickadee coasters

 Felting, wet or dry has really captivated me. I have worked in so many materials and methods over the decades, phases of one media or another, so  I can’t believe how obsessively this one has taken hold. I wish there were ten of me just to do more, more, MORE! ( My most repeated rant/peeve is how I could go postal on anyone who whines about boredom…I can’t even begin to count how many of “me” I could occupy happily with the thousands of things I could do with more hands and uninterrupted time. but that rant for another time.

Recently I posted my excitement about being courted my a new retail possibility.  My first priority was to honor the kindness and loyalty of my first “big city” retailer.  When I visited my friend at P’lovers  to drop off on order we discussed these new possibilities.  We agreed on separate product lines for each store as they are in pretty close proximity.  She knows the other retailer well and what sort of items will work in each place.  With the variety afforded by the wool medium and my wacky imagination it won’t be difficult.

I also agreed that she would always see new projects first.  In fact I had samples with me,  the shell coasters from a previous post and the first of the chickadee coasters above and two seamless wet-felted tea cozies. The coasters  were adopted on sight and she placed an order for more.  She wants me to alter the tea cozy template because she thought they’d make great after-surf hats.  Looks like I have my hands full!

There are still a few needled pieces to show off.  Early in February, when I was in heaven and spending time with my Sadie in Toronto,  I met up with a few penguins, a favorite video and several of her bedtime friends  were the inspiration behind these two.

Penguin friends

Recycling things into art,  swords into ploughshares as it were,  has always been a practice of mine. A  few small portions of a blanket, from my sweetest friend Elaine Hebert Baptiste via Amherst’s  thrift store,  have been blanket stitched together and needle-felted with pussy willows makes a pretty spectacular tea cozy.

Awesome tea cozy,..repurposed thrift store wool blanket gets new life with a needle felted embellishment of spring pussy willows

I’m on fire at the moment…more ideas than hours to execute them and a few weeks to make more awesome things to charm some new retail opportunities.   A new venue contacted me this morning and I’m beyond excited. I’ll keep posting pictures as these treasures materialize.  So for now its wild and “woolie”  til the work gets done! Onward and upward.