Black Sheep Gathering

I spent the weekend at Black Sheep Gathering, and look what I made!

  
Left: front view; Right: back view. Click to see enlargements.

The blue felted scarf is one that I made 18 months ago. I wasn’t too happy with the weight of the scarf. It just didn’t drape. It just hung there. So, when I saw “lace weight felted scarves” in the class list, I jumped right on it. The rainbow colored one is the one I made in the class taught by Loyce Erickson. It is much closer to what I was looking to achieve. I’m not sure that I’m too excited with the look of the white silk hankies that I laid on top. I think it would have been better if it had been dyed previously.

Just what was I looking for? I saw a felted scarf 2 years ago at the Coupeville Spin-In that looked like stained glass. I’ve been wanting to figure out how to make one since then. The first scarf class I took was felted onto silk crepe de chine, so it had a definite front and back. I also didn’t layer enough wool on it so there are bare patches everywhere. (I was warned that I didn’t have enough wool, but I was stubborn. I wanted that drapey felted scarf.) And since the blue scarf didn’t drape worth a darn, even with scant wool, I didn’t try again.

Anyway, this new scarf is much closer…AND…it was a lot less work: not because it was finer weight, but because Loyce found an easier way. No hot water. No 800+ rolls, no washboard, and most importantly, I didn’t end up feeling like I did a full free weight workout at the end of the session. And I now have the techniques to keep trying. See how it flutters in the breeze?

The other class I took was one on color blending by Jill Laski. Another fun and informative class, but no pretty pictures to show.

While taking the scarves down at the end of the picture shoot, look what I found?

I’ve wanted to try to dye with lichen, but have been hesitant to actually collect them in the wild. Now I can collect a batch without worrying about the ecological balance of the forest.