Latest felt

This is the final piece for my colleague at work, with the navy blue silk threads running vertically (sort of) through the white layers. It is the natural colour of the Black Welsh cross Texel and took most of the morning to complete, although I put rather too many layers into it and consequently it is a very thick piece. It took about an hour to felt as well, but the end result has a lovely texture. Now it will be interesting to see whether my colleague likes any of these pieces. If not, I shall add them to my stock and I am sure someone will like them. As I am felting as a hobby, rather than a business, I don't have the pressure of having to sell to make money, but it is always exciting if someone does buy the work.

Second new piece

This is the second new piece I have been working on. Again, it is bigger than I usually make and I used Merino wool and hand blended all the colours to match (well, nearly) the natural colours of the Texel cross Black Welsh wool. It took me two hours to make, but felted well and has a smooth texture, which contrasts well with the slightly more coarse Texel cross Black Welsh. I am going to make another one, probably using the natural wool with the blue silk threads running vertically through the cream strips. Should be interesting...

New felt piece

Here is my latest felt piece, using the natural coloured wool from my sister's sheep and a little navy blue silk thread. It is slightly bigger than I usually make, about A4 size. I am going to make a similar piece in merino wool to compare the results.
I spent Saturday afternoon making this piece. I had the TV on for company, and it took the whole of the film 'Death on the Nile' to complete! The Texel cross Black Welsh wool requires a lot of carding as all the pieces of twigs, grasses and other oddments have to be removed as you go along and the actual felting takes about 45 minutes too. The wool does make a really solid, tactile felt though, so all the hard work is worth it.

A new departure...

The above piece is an experiment using circles of already felted wool applied to the top surface of a separate piece then the whole thing is felted together. The natural colours come from the wool from my sister's sheep - (Texel cross Black Welsh) - and they do give some lovely shades. The wool takes a lot longer to card as I have to remove any bits of grasses and twigs as I go along. It also takes about 45 mins to felt, whereas Merino only takes 20 mins or so. It does feels wonderful when it is felted. I like the way that the felt decides how it will look in the end; the circles have moved slightly during the felting process, but this just proves it is hand crafted. I am very pleased with the end result and I think I shall make lots more of these - they would also work well using the Merino too.
The inspiration for this piece came from large circular straw and hay bales I saw last summer, but, of course, circles are everywhere.