Friday, February 9, 2018

Dyeing sock yarn, making flip-flop socks, eclipse pictures, and needle felting.






So, what have I been up to this past month? Playing in the dye pots! I'm really getting a kick out of creating variegated yarn by dyeing it in my crock pot. I love what is coming out of it so far.

I had a request for flip-flop socks, so I've been teaching myself how to do those on the sock knitting machine. They are a bit fiddly, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm part of a circular sock knitting group on Facebook, and there were instructions for these in the files. So far, so good.


I had a great time getting these shots of the lunar eclipse. My husband Eric got up early, I stayed up late, and we made a drive out to our favorite spot in the White Tank Mountain regional park west of Phoenix to stalk the super blue blood moon. I'm quite pleased with the results.



And speaking of pleased with the results, I tried my hand at two dimensional needle felting, using some 8x10" wool prefelts for a base to work from. The first picture was me just doodling over the course of an evening, trying out layering different colors in an abstract piece to get a feel for the materials. The second was my attempt at fiber figure drawing, using just black and white wool felted over a medium grey piece of wool prefelt. I am loving the results!! I am definitely going to be pursuing this medium for my art. I dyed many of the colors in the top piece, by putting a length of white roving in with my sock yarn when I dye it. So, this combines my dyeing, my felting, my drawing, and hopefully in the future my photography. I'd like to take pictures, and use them as reference photos for my fiber painting.

I am really really excited by the possibilities here!




2 comments:

  1. I had a sock machine once, but even though i got it working, it didn't really appeal to me. Not sure why. Maybe I didn't give it enough time. Anyway, your blood moon photo is amazing.....and that last felting pic.....wow. I kept looking at it, to see how you managed to make that come alive. I really think you are onto something here. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

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  2. One of the tricks I learned in life drawing classes was to use a medium toned paper, and draw in just the lights and shadows. That way the paper is doing a good portion of your work for you, and you don't have to draw *everything*. I used that same idea here, using the grey background. I just had to add in the white and black wool. And if I just put wisps of the wool over the grey, I could get a variety of tones. I am *definitely* going to do more of this!

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