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Please meet THE ARTISAN FELTMAKER !! \u00a0 I have a new title to wear !<\/p>\n
The name came from my milliner daughter, of Lotus Millinery at The Beaumont Studios, in Vancouver, B.C. \u00a0She wanted a supplier of hand-made felt for her hats, and who better to turn to than Mum ? \u00a0It does help that I had some simple felting\/fulling experience several years ago when I was making felted slippers.<\/p>\n
The presence of Custom Woolen Mills less than an hour’s drive from my home is an enormous boost to the ensuing projects. \u00a0So far I have not had the patience to have my order posted to me, but happily take to the roads out onto the Alberta Prairie to stuff the car with bags of wool in fabulous colours (one of my favourites is Genuine Black Sheep) for both felting and knitting. \u00a0Deciding where to begin is the hard part, as each choice seems irresistable.<\/p>\n
Several basic styles have emerged from literally playing with the piles of wool. \u00a0Gumdrops were the first (that humpy shape is so familiar !), followed by slightly calmer Cloches. \u00a0Those morphed into floppy brimmed ones, resulting in the generic name of Floppsies. \u00a0Some are floppier than others, continuing that stubborn insistence on individuality. \u00a0By now I had learned a thing or two about different felting rates, the unexpected outcomes simply from the effects of the different dyes used, and the fun of adding extra bits for texture and contrast. Squishies are the latest style addition–literally being squished and squashed into intriguing shapes, and frequently decorated with a free hand and a sense of humour. \u00a0If I am going to work, it might as well be fun !<\/p>\n
I wonder if I should send her a “blank” or two instead of continuing on and creating the hat, too ? \u00a0Mind you, she is a wizard at seeing possibilities in even a limp and bedraggled treasure, and with her steamer fired up can create miracles.<\/p>\n
Judi \u00a0 aka \u00a0The Artisan Feltmaker<\/p>\n
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Please meet THE ARTISAN FELTMAKER !! \u00a0 I have a new title to wear ! The name came from my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[96,78],"class_list":["post-7392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-members-feed","tag-judi-martinez","tag-painting"],"yoast_head":"\n