Pass me a pillow

I've been caught up in lots of different things lately.   No different from usual I guess.  It was my birthday yesterday, not much of a big deal there but I seem a bit tired for some reason, maybe I'm getting old :oP 

Here's what I've been up to...

I have a cape that I'm supposed to be knitting for a friend but haven't stumbled upon the right idea for that yet, but at least I have the yarn.

I have a lovely lace shawl that I'm making for myself that I have been working on sporadically.  

I've been doing a bit of spinning and collecting some purdy fibres.

I made a groovy superhero drawing in illustrator to cheer up my friend Charly who has lost most of her fur-babies recently.  

And in the last few days I've been painting and drawing up a storm.  You can see the results of that here. :oD

Jeez, I've been busy...no wonder I'm so pooped :oP

What's in a name & Bastards Incorporated.

Things have been fairly relaxed here of late which has allowed me lots of crafting time.  I have just finished knitting a pair of incredibly warm gloves for the fast approaching winter.

Pattern: Knotty by Julia Muelle
see more photos here

I've made another felted critter; this time a little purple girl bunny.  She's not quite finished as I want to make some little accessories to go with her but she will be the first felted critter I list for sale.  I'll be developing a new website/blog just for my little felties and as soon as I make a decision about what to call it, I'll put a link up so that readers can take a look.  If you have any suggestions regarding what I should call my new site, please feel free to let me know :oD

I've been spinning a fair bit too and have finished a skein of pure black and a skein of rainbow coloured yarn which I plan to use to make a pair of stranded gloves.  I wont start those for a little while because I have other commitments just now.

Sad news; my favourite bunny lady lost most of her flock on the 31st of May to Calici.  She has lost all but two of her stud-males and at last count; a total of eight of her beloved fur babies have died from a disease that was deliberately introduced by the Australian government (who I like to refer to as Bastards Inc.) to cull wild rabbits.  Seven years of selective breeding gone in one afternoon.  It boggles the mind.  Worse yet; there is minimal vaccination available for pet rabbits in this country, another bright decision made without considering that there are pet owners out there who might suffer from it.  Never mind that for someone like Charly, this will also affect her livelihood in a truly devastating way.   

Its often so hard to find the right words to give comfort at a time like this so I decided to let my actions speak for me.  I have started spinning up a huge chunk of my sadly minimal stash that I've purchased or won from her and I will donate it back to her so she can sell it at the Bendigo Wool Show in order to raise money for the bunny recovery fund. I only hope that my contribution helps Charly to recover from the financial hit in some small way.

More stabby stabby

Trying needle felting has led me to a new obsession.  Miniatures.  I had progress pics of my first attempt at a miniature on my last post but now that my tiny teddy is finished I'm keen to try lots of other types of critters.  He was finished that same day and turned out cute enough that I wanted to start another right away.  Here he is all finished.

Yesterday morning I started a new mini bear.  But as I worked on his head I discovered that this fibre didn't want to be a bear. It wanted to be a bunny.  So Neville the blue bunny was born.  I finished him today just before lunch.

He has glass bead eyes and is thread jointed.  He stands 10cm tall (not including the ears) and is able to stand by himself. I have yet to accessorise him but he wears a cute shocked expression on his sideways glancing face.  I'm really pleased with how he's turned out.  

You can see from the pictures of the mini teddy and Neville that my second attempt is about a gazillion times better than my first. I plan to buy this book at my first opportunity so I can actually find out if I'm doing this right.  Then soon after that (hopefully) I plan to start selling my OOAK miniature felted critters.  I just have to figure out what I'm going to charge for them.

Stabby stabby

Since my return to teddy making I've decided to try my hand at needle felting for the first time.  I ended up needle felting the muzzle, eyelids and paw pads of my teddy.  And funnily enough, it turns out that stabbing a small bear in the face repeatedly is remarkably therapeutic. :oP

I'm fairly happy with how its turned out, especially since its my first ever attempt.  So the teddy is coming along pretty well; I still have to sew her ears in place and work on some minor embellishments, but the actual bear is all but done

I'm currently in the process of making her a crochet lace dress and I've decided she needs a small friend so I'm needle felting her a micro bear to carry with her.  Progress photos...

Its the Loch Ness...
no wait, its just some wool with a needle in it

Micro teddy head

A whole lot to learn

In 2000 I decided I wanted to take up a new hobby. This was way back when I wasn't really into knitting that much and long before I discovered spinning. I knew I didn't have the patience to quilt but I wanted to take up something to do with sewing. So I decided to give teddy bears a try. I bought myself a couple of teddy making books and set out to discover what all the teddy fuss was about. Now, I've never really been into teddies all that much but it didn't take me long to realise where their massive appeal lay. I was soon designing my own bears and I made teddies by hand for dozens of people.  The last bear I designed and made won second place in the synthetic bears division in the Coffs Harbour Doll and Teddy Fair in 2003. That was so long ago and I gifted that bear to Charly from IxCHeL last year.

Recently, I decided to try my hand at Amigurumi and made this doll. She's essentially complete and for my first attempt I think she turned out pretty good.  I do still need to make some clothes for her but I've been distracted by something else.  

Just before I'd finished sewing the hair in place

As many of you know, I lost my beloved Moo and I miss him desperately and I think this has had something to do with my return to soft toy crafting. Once I'd made the doll, I remembered that I'd been thinking about going back to teddy making for quite some time but hadn't really gotten around to it.  So I went out and bought some inexpensive synthetic fur (hey, its been nearly 10years, we don't want to mess up mohair - its too expensive for that - LOL) and sat down to design a new teddy.

Incomplete head

Because I've been away from the craft for so long I decided to take a look around the net and see what's out there. And I have to say; OH. MY. GOD! Teddy making has come a long way since I last had a shot at it.  In fact, it makes me feel that my latest attempt (which I thought was pretty good yesterday) is a bit sad and shoddy by comparison.  Check out Bear Bottom Originals and Beckoning Bears to see what I mean.  Clearly I have some ways to go before I am creating such gorgeous babies.  But I'm keen to learn and willing to take it one step at a time. I think I'll be working in synthetic for a while before I get to the same level as some of these people though.  I'm sure it'll be fun and I fully intend to keep blogging about it :oD