A Felted Hat!

Well, the weather has warmed up considerably and the boys are getting along. They only spent about 9 hours locked up in the catch pen. And then three days locked inside the 8 x 16' lean-to with actual temps outside falling to -35F. But now all is back to normal, even better than normal with only TWO pens to feed and water and only 20 sheep. BTW, if anyone is need of a cute little Shetland ram, Bo is for sale. And so is Granite, check our website for more details, www.riveroakssheep.com

I have signed up to participate in a new shop called "Made of Mora", which will be opening Feb. 1st here in Mora. That and I am hoping to teach some spinning and felting classes up in Isle, MN at my friend's booth in "Someday Isle". Oh and we can't forget the Vasaloppet Art Show that will be taking place Feb. 6 to 8 -- I'll need four pieces for that too. So I am under the gun to produce more work.

Yesterday I dug out all my felting stuff, the pool cover pieces, the fibers, the plastic, the silk -- every surface in my kitchen is covered with fiber-related items.

The first thing I wanted to make was a hat for myself. I have to wear a hat at my deli job and when I take it off, my hair is all smashed down. And then if I have business to do in town, I look just awful. So I wanted something cute to put on when I leave work.I was planning on making a cute little derby hat, but instead I wound up with this Indiana Jones hat. The wet felt is like clay, you can really mold and shape it once it starts shrinking down, but the crown was too high for a derby and I had to crimp it in. I still need to figure out a band treatment that will make it look more feminine. It's kind of Annie Hall style right now. And it could be a little heavier, it weighs less than three ounces. I did five layers of fiber, but I must have gone too thin in each layer, because it's still very lightweight.

The natural colored Bluefaced Leicester fiber was a dream to felt and full. I really love it. I'm so glad to have my own source of BFL fiber right here. I may try making a seamless vest for my husband out of it too. He always wears a vest at work to keep warm, but I haven't gotten around to knitting him one -- and to tell you the truth, the thought doesn't excite me nearly as much as felting him one. :-)