NEW CLASSES AT STITCH PRETTY

With spring in the air, knitting classes are slowing down and I am getting ready for some new Nuno felting classes. For those of you who are not familiar with Nuno felting, it is a Japanese fabric felting technique.  It melts loose fibers, usually wool, into a sheer fabric such as silk or other loosely woven fabrics.  This creates a lightweight felt that can totally cover the background fabric or be used as decorative design.  In winter I like to make Nuno felted scarves and use the fibers to cover the whole scarf.  For spring and summer I will only use the wool as a decorative design (as shown on the shawl in this picture). I was very pleased with the way this shawl turned out.  I hand dyed the shawl first and then added flowers on the side and bottom.  Lastly, I added some mohair locks and beads in the center of each flower, and it's done!.  Love it!  

This is an ideal Mothers' Day gift and designs can vary from the traditional flowers to more abstract designs.  I will be sure to carry one with me when going out to restaurants where the air is freezing cold in summer!

Class info:  April 29,  1-4pm

                 May 7,  6-9pm

Please contact me on this blog for weekend or Girls' Night out dates and prices.  

SUMMER CAMPS!

Kids' summer camps are also filling up. Classes include knitting, crochet, and felting.  Please check out the website at www.stitchpretty.com for details about these camps. 

Here are some of the projects in the knitting camp we will do:

This cute kitty!

And this pretty purse!

Be sure to join me this summer for a great adventure in knitting, crochet, and felting!

SPRING BREAK KNITTING CAMP FOR KIDS

It is still winter, but we know Spring is just around the corner and I am already planning for fun projects for a Spring break mini-camp for young knitters.  Camp will be on April 7 and 8 from 9am-12pm and are open to girls and boys ages 8 and up.

Last summer I had a week long camp at Stitch Pretty and had the best time with very enthusiastic knitters.  Elizabeth and Candice are sisters who attended my summer camp and finished a few awesome projects.

Elizabeth with her fingerless mittens and hat.  She also finished a drop stitch scarf and a few smaller projects.

Candice with her hat and toy.  She also finished some other smaller projects.

These two sisters are amazing and very enthusiastic knitters. I am looking forward to see what they will finish this year at camp.

For the Spring break mini-camp some of projects that kids can pick from include a teddy (advanced knitters), owls, etc.  Beginner students will finish an easier project.

You will find details for registration about Spring break mini-camp at www.stitchpretty.com.

CRABAPPLE FEST

Crabapple Fest this Saturday, October 4, 2014

Come visit us at the Crabapple Fest on the corner of Crabapple and Broadwell rd. in historic downtown Crabapple. I will be selling my nuno felted scarves and other felted items that are great for gifts and a friend will also be selling her felted items.

This is a good opportunity to get a head start on Christmas shopping. 

See you there!! 

INFINITY LOOP NUNO FELTED SCARVES

I do not really want to think of fall yet, but I just can't help it because fall decorations are everywhere and the leaves are actually falling already.  I want to shout, "No, not yet!", but I know it is coming.
This time of year should make me very happy because I LOVE making nuno felted scarves and hope to sell some from my Etsy shop this year.
I have been experimenting with different fibers and fabrics as posted in one of my previous blogs and decided to try infinity loop nuno felted scarves.  At first I was not sure how I was going to felt working with a circle, but I finally figured it out.  I am not sure if my way is the best, but it worked!

Here are some pictures of a few of the infinity loop scarves I made. What I love about these scarves is that they are so light and soft, but also really warm for cold winter days.  The roving that I used is hand dyed and the different colors make for such a variety of looks.  You simply turn or move the scarf around to get a different color and look.

Some of these scarves are available in my Etsy shop and will also be for sale at the Crabapple Fall Fest in Georgia on October 4, 2014.

Until next time, happy felting!!

NEW CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS

At Stitch Pretty we have so much fun and I can just spend hours there.  I have added some more classes and workshops to the knitting schedule.  Intro to Knitting consists of four 2-hour classes every month where students learn the basics of knitting and end with a simple knitted cowl on circular needles.  The new workshops are below.  A fun time ahead!!

Sock knitting workshop -  August 12 and 19, 2014 from 6-8pm

Knit and felt a purse -  October 16 and 23, 2014 from 1-3pm (evening times upon request)

Knit-A-Bear workshop for kids who already knit  -  November 4, 10am-1pm. 

MORE NUNO FELTED SCARVES

Summer has been very busy with fiber art camps and I have thoroughly enjoyed my young students and their enthusiasm to learn to knit.  In my next blog I will post some pictures of summer camp at Stitch Pretty and the awesome projects my students finished.  I hope to have my campers back later in the year for a Christmas workshop.

I have not had much time for knitting, but I am still working on some Nuno felted scarves.  I always try to use different silk fabrics and fibers to see what the outcome of this new blend on the scarves will be.  Recently I bought crinkle silk chiffon and I was happy with how quickly the roving felted through the fabric.  I also used a new roving called Malabrigo Nube hand painted roving by Paradise Fibers. The roving has beautiful colors and felted very quickly.  I left a comment on the website about how much I liked the way the Malabrigo Nube felted and would definitely use it again. I received a message back that they have never heard of anybody who felted with the Nube roving and wanted to post my projects on their Ravelry.com project page.  One more thing on my to-do-list of projects.

Some of the scarves and jewelry bags below were done with the Malabrigo Nube handpainted roving.  The two jewelry bags and eyeglass cases were wet felted.

Purple Nuno Felted Scarf

Grey Nuno Felted Scarf

Jewelry bags

Eyeglass cases

I do want to spend so much more time on felting, but my knitting projects await!!
Till next time  ......

NEW FELTING PROJECTS AND ETSY SHOP

My Etsy shop, TouchBlue, is now open.  I have only a few items listed at the moment, but I will add some today and more as I work up my stock.  Check it out!!

This summer is going to be very busy as I am getting ready for two craft shows in October/November 2014.  I will be making Nuno felted scarves, wet felted purses, felted soap, eye glass holders, and flowers to pin on any accessory for a touch of color. Instead of buying ready dyed scarves for my Nuno felting, I bought silk chiffon fabric and cut and dyed it myself.  There are a few different dyeing methods, but I must say I enjoyed dyeing with Kool-Aid the best.  It is fast and easy and can be done in the microwave in just a few minutes. The only negative thing with Kool-Aid dyeing is that it is a bit limiting with colors, but for that I used Tulip fabric dye. Tulip fabric dye works fine, but the dyeing process takes about an hour.  The results as follow:

The felted soap (exfoliating soap) is very popular as gifts.  The wool shrinks with the soap with continued use.  The flowers turned out pretty cute too. 

A picture of what my booth will look like is necessary for my entry in the arts and craft shows.  I started putting a few of my items together and took this picture.  It is not nearly enough stock for the show, but I think the picture will do.  

Some close-ups of my work 

Eyeglass cases

Until next time, happy felting!!

The New Name

In the last post I talked about the new name for my business.  "A Touch of Blue" was launched last week and I am so excited about the new logo.  The graphic designer did an awesome job and she captured the essence of what I wanted for my new business.  Lionel is currently working on getting a website up and running and I will make some of my scarves, purses, and eyeglass holders available for sale on the website.  I am also working on selling my scarves to a few select stores.

The past Saturday I had a nuno felting workshop and all the scarves turned out beautiful. Samantha was my youngest student and she did a great job on her scarf with bright colors.  I will post pictures of the other scarves soon.

Every week I make more nuno felted scarves and eye glass holders, and I hope to make some more purses soon.  Here are a few more pictures of recent scarves.

I added a lot of different fibers to this scarf                      

A few silver pieces makes it shine!

The flower design makes this scarf come alive

Pretty purple!

Eye glass holders

Most scarves that I am making now are lighter and more suitable for spring.  I just love all the beautiful colors I get to play with! 

More posts soon, ..... maybe from the new website.

A NEW NAME

 

Since I started my first blog about knitting and felting I had no idea that I would get involved with nuno felting and other wet felting techniques.  I am enjoying myself thoroughly and I have learned so much along the way.  Felting is still one of my favorite activities and I am learning more and more about it everyday.  I enjoy teaching others what I know and help them explore their creativity. I have seen the wonder on faces of women who thought they could never finish something.  It is priceless.  I have added some knitting and felting classes for kids to my schedule and I am also teaching a Nuno felt class on March 1st at Stitch Pretty. So exciting!!  We also have several summer camps on the calendar and you can go to www.stitchpretty.com to see what we offer. 

With all this expansion into different adventures, I decided it is time to change the name of my blog since I am not just involved with knitting anymore. The new name will go on my scarves and purses that I am selling and on my business cards.  I am not going to reveal the new name until I am ready to launch.  I ran into a friend one day who referred me to a graphic designer who is designing my new logo.  Thank you for the referral, Robin!  I can't wait to see how it will turn out.  

I have been very busy with all sorts of interesting activities all involving fabrics and fiber.  I recovered and old ottoman for our coffee area, I made darling little kitchen towel aprons for a bridal shower (super easy), made a Clint Eastwood look-alike poncho (hand painted the design on this one), knitted, felted, and more.  I will include some pictures here.

Nuno felted scarves in Stitch Pretty

New recovered ottoman

 This little ottoman looked such a sorry sight. I pulled off all the old fabric and recovered it with the green to match the chairs.  What a fun project it was and so quick too!

Zenia's blanket in basketweave

Clint Eastwood look-alike poncho for Jason

 

Kitchen towel apron

I am currently busy with more Nuno felted scarves and I love the way they are turning out. I will post pictures shortly and hope my new logo will be ready by then. 

Enjoy a lovely week!
 

NUNO FELTING CONTINUE

Using different felting techniques is like opening a box of Russell Stover chocolates and not knowing what you are going to get when you bite into that soft center. Nuno felting and wet felting gives you that same kind of feeling.  You lay out your fibers on beautiful silk fabric and after you add your soap and water and start felting you don't know what you are going to get.  But that is the best of the whole process - waiting to see how it is going to turn out. Talking about chocolate .....mmm.....


It is so much fun to work with such luxurious fibers and fabric.  With these two scarves I use silk chiffon fabric and merino roving.

I had a lot of fun with this scarf.  I used some merino roving, silk fiber (the shiny off white bits that you see in the picture below), alpaca roving, and some fancy yarn for accent.

With the wet felting technique I just used merino roving.  It was fun making this little purse with the wet felted 3-D flower.

A fun sunglasses/reading glasses case using merino and some fancy yarn to give it some pop!

I am currently offering nuno felting and wet felting classes at Stitch Pretty in Roswell.  Check out the website, www.stitchpretty.com for October dates and more dates on the Knitting calendar.  You can also request a different date.   Special pricing for groups of 4 or more!!

Come and join the fun!!