Fabric out of Matted Fiber

Or felting.
Erica and I are making a workshop on felting wool and other naturally fibery things. This will be at the Linus Pauling House on Hawthorn on Monday the 31st of March in association with Cascadia Wild. (My last name is uh, actually spelled with an "F" but this is one of the things that makes me love my last name, I know, I'm weird, I think we have already established this though..moving on!)

Erica came over tonight and we had dinner and then played with wool. It was a lot of fun. I made pork ribs, which gave us drippings enough for a nice pork gravy to go with Biscuits Erica whipped up and She also brought a nice mixed wild foods and garden grown salad complete with flowers that was very tasty. It was so pretty I took a picture of it.




Then we got down to business. Wet felting carded and raw wool. This consists of layering the wool so the fibers in each layer lie more or less perpendicular to each other, dousing it with soapy hot water and massaging it with your fingertips for about 10 mins, flipping it..continue this until you have a solid fabric, rinse, dry, throw in dryer if you wish to full (not fuull, long u, but fulll, short u long double el.) Fulling is when you have an existing fabric of wool (be it felted knit, woven whatever) and then you felt it again. A knit sweater, that shrinks when you wash it and then put it in the dryer is fulled not felted, even though it IS a felting process. (which you should never do to wool knits! Unless you WANT them smaller...) Lost yet?
heee.



The raw wool(not pictured) was harder to felt but closer to a true raw technology than when you add the step of carding the wool. Carding we discovered, not only lays all the fibers neatly in line, but also causes a lot of the debris from the raw wool to fall out (plant material and dirt mostly.) And Erica, being the brilliant woman she is said something like, "Well, that makes sense, it's like when we brush our hair." SO obvious it was too obvious, we both laughed we didn't realise that sooner.



I also played with a fulled cashmere sweater of mine and made a hat from one of the sleeves. I like this hat. I like it so much I then NEEDLE felted it. I'm not done but I took a picture anyways.



Needle felting is when you taker a felted item, (felt or fulled or what have you but, general a wool item) and push little bits of wool into desired shapes and patters using small needles with tiny barbs on them that force the fibers into the main fabric and the hooks push the fiber in, but the slide out all smooth leaving the fibers locked in place.
Pretty cunning, don'tcha think?

Spring Cleaning Projects

I have a whole mess of things I want to do this spring to lessen the amount of stuff I own and to organize what I do keep. My goal is to have most of my belongings, that are not kitchen related or a couch, you know, common area or closet things, fit in my room by the end of the year.

I realised that I will most likely be moving again at some point into shared housing with other people. Maybe not this year but at some point. I have a roommate for now and we're great, but you never know when someone's life is going to change and they are going to move. I want to be able to up and move into a room someplace and not need a whole apartment to myself. 1) that's really expensive and 2) I like living with people around. So I would most likely be moving into someone's established household or creating one with friends of my own, if/when I do move again. I want to be as unburdened as possible if that happens. That and if I ever want to take off and do something like work for the forest service or a residential camp and need to store my belongings, it will be much easier to do.

My list for this spring:

clean basement: recycle and redistribute still useful items

take to dump stuff that cannot be reclaimed and is not an environmental hazard. Appropriately dispose of anything that is an environmental hazard ( there are a lot of things like rat poison and fertilizer lying around from previous tenants, and paint that is old and useless.)

get rid of excess things:

chase lounge is going to go,
it has an awkward shape and is useless as a couch as it has a low back. too bad it is otherwise an awesome piece of furniture. But I have decided the love seat with it's washable slipcover is much more practical.
old clothes and things to goodwill.

sell PlayStation that never gets played anymore.

go through books
and actually sell books I haven't touched in over 5 years ( this one might be impossible but it is a goal! I own close to 500 books! )
go thru kitchen stuff and get rid of appliances that never get used, same with dishes and baking stuff


closet:
go thru craft supplies and take a SERIOUS inventory of what I WILL use and what I just think is useful and should keep because it might be useful SOMEDAY.

organize tools

make craft desk fit in bedroom
in place of chase lounge so I can actually use it for crafting! (I'm excited about this one but I have to sell the chase first.)

big dresser in living room:

find new homes for things in it that aren't being evicted from my life and get rid of the beast. I hates it so.

hmmm I think that's most of it.

other spring projects:

time to plan the garden
and time to start cleaning up and dewinterizing the yard. clean porch closet and organize

somehow clean and repaint with BATHROOM AND KITCHEN SURFACE paint
in the bathroom. may just ask landlord to have this done.

have carpets cleaned.

clean windows

clean fridge

That's all I have today. but i think it will keep me busy till at least May!

This n' That

I've been so caught up in life lately, I haven't really worked on much in the crafty department. I forgot, even, to take pictures of all the knitting I did for xmas. Foo. I did get pics of the fingerless gloves I made for my mom. They were so much fun I made some for my brother too. And I am working on a pair for myself (slowly..I keep getting distracted.)



I keep meaning to go out and take some pictures of the birch trees right out side the kitchen, the rain collects on the branches just so, in little droplets and it's so pretty. All strung along in a row.


It's been a good year so far, I feel this is auspicious, I've been going out a lot, doing stuff, seeing friends, dancing with coworkers, seeing (and listening with ear plugs) experimental music, watchin' movies, looking at art, working on projects, walking around, shopping at goodwill... (I got a sweet vintage dress...!) I've somehow lost a good chunk of weight. I need new pants, they are all falling off my ass and it's driving me nuts. I need to learn how to alter clothes one of these days. Add it to the list. And I have mostly figured out the driving, even hills! And now that I am more comfortable with the stick, damn, is it fun to drive the darned thing. Vroom. I need a road trip! Life is good. As they say.


It's really something then people you know and see often, and people you haven't seen in awhile notice something about you is different, you look great, happy, etc. And it's not that you have changed you appearance, it's that somthing IN you has changed. I've been getting this a whole lot lately and it's really uplifting. I don't think that people every really notice me much, I don't think I stand out or anything, I don't generally like to be noticed... I doubt myself so much...So it feels good to have that sort of validation from people. Comforting.


I'm starting up a knit night with one of my co-workers for work, our first meeting is Sunday. I'm a bit nervous because a lot of the folks interested don't knit, they want to learn. I know teaching is what I DO, but still nervous. I'm not an expert knitter, but I think I can show people how. I hope it goes well, it should be a really fun thing to do regularly.


I feel like entertaining. I love cooking and having people over for dinner parties and games and conversation, so do my close friends. We are long over due for a dinner thing (Right miss J9?? this comment is directed at you..Dawn doesn't read this, I don't think...) And there has never been a proper housewarming for my roommate. I think sometime in the next month, this should happen. Potluck. This house needs some warming. Hmm...

Archive part deux

Hmm, gonna make this private soon. For one, there are only a few things in there at the moment I would share with someone in person like "Hey read this thing I wrote", most of it is stuff that has meaning beyond how well (or not well) the work is written. The older posts, are newer material BTW, and somewhat more interesting if any of it is...Its mostly only interesting to me. =)
But the stuff I am getting into now is stuff that is pretty private, so, another day or two, and the archive will be gone from public view. If you want to say anyhing or read anything, now;'s the time! It's been a real head trip to read all this stuff though...crazy!

On a life, while living

As 2007 winds it's weary way into the pages of history, I have started to think on things I have experienced, learned, or realized this year.

This blog reflects little of my life. It's merely a window into things I want to share. Mostly the little crafty things I do, or interesting things I have gone and done, seen, taken pictures of. Soliloquies on things I am passionate about, like living green or whatnot. This is here to share a bit of me with you. You being mostly family and friends, and I am sure the occasional wanderer in from the Internet since it IS public. (Hello random public)

This last year has been a long and arduous one. No one ever said turning 30 was easy, but that was one of the highlights of my year, my birthday. It was other things that proved a trial by fire. And to usher in a new, shiny year, a fresh piece of paper to mark up and doodle on and make history, I want to leave this one on a positive note.

I am doing something for me, and sharing it with you, that I don't think I have ever done. I am making a list. A list of things I am grateful for or that I have learned or realized. And sharing it it me being open in a way to make me accountable to what I say for myself. To remind myself I said that. I know this to be true. Because in my heart of hearts I know I will doubt, second guess and forget many of these things, even deny them. So let the record stand.

I have learned that cliches are so for a reason and some of these things will sound cliche. But they are new truths to me.

~I cannot change anyone. I cannot fix anyone.

~I am grateful for the people in my life that have taught me this.

~If I want something, I have to take a chance at not getting it to get it, even if it means getting hurt in the process.

~I can have long lasting meaningful relationships with people who care about me. I am grateful for my friends whom I have known now for over 8 years, for the most part. I didn't think I could. I'm so solitary.

~ And I am grateful for those friends and their sharing of their marvelous lives with me, it's a privilege.

~I crave community after a youth of individuality.

~Compassion is the way to love.

~I need to trust my instincts, they are always right.

~I might regret some things I have done, but I am grateful for everything I have done in my life. It makes me who I am now.

~And I love who I am.

~I have realised that this body, my body is the only vessel I will ever have and it is amazing. It may never look the way I think it should look, but it's never let me down.

~ I am grateful I am whole and hale.

~I am beautiful and complicated and quirky and strange. I am unique and special and I know it, even when I don't believe it. I need to believe in myself more.

~ I can be both strong and feminine. And I am feminine and that's ok.

~I love my family more than anything on this earth. There is no one I would rather spend time with.

~I am grateful hat I have the family I do, I am so, so lucky.

~I know what I want from my life. I know where I want it to go. I may never reach my goals, but at least I will try to obtain them.

~No one can take away my power, my self, my energy, my passion, my qi, without my having allowed them to take it, ever again.

~I should never have to apologize for being myself. So I need to stop saying sorry.

Know when to stop.
Know when to start.
Know when to let go.
Know when to say yes.
Know when to say NO.

~Take more risks, my greatest adventures have been the scariest things I have ever done.

~let others in. I am not alone in this.

love more, freely.
Trust.
dream.

and know when to shut up. I don't, but I need to learn. and listen more.

None of this makes me wise or makes me have everything figured out, by any means. I am still, for a surety, unsure of myself, my actions...I am still worried about what others think of me, whether or not people like me, whether or not that matters, should it matter? Shouldn't it? Things to work on for next year, insecurity, doubt, fear...remembering I thought these things at all at this time. the gristle of being human. We are all blind in the dark you know? What do I know.




2008 is going to be a golden year, I can feel it. Blessings and salutations. I hope yours will be too.

Love and peace,

~Kristi

Kitty

I posted about Kitty awhile ago here. My roommate and I have affectionately turned her name into Porch Kitty, because she would sleep in the cabinet in the little closet off our front porch.

Kitty was finally accepted and taken to the Humane Society today by Dawn, while I was at work. They said she was old, and that she was probably sick.

Dawn told me yesterday that the Humane Society had called to let us know they had room for her and asked if I wanted to say goodbye or if I wanted her to let me know when she was taking her in and I said no.

When I left for work today she was meowing, and I fed her the last little bit of food in the bin and thought about petting her but I didn't.

It was the last time I saw her.

I came home and there was a little box by the closet and I knew Dawn had taken her in. The porch was silent. Her cubby empty. Her incessant mewling gone and she was no where under my feet preventing me from opening the door.

I tried so, so hard to not get attached to her. I avoided contact when I could.
But I am so sad, as I type this I'm starting to cry.

She was so small and silly, and clumsy and so, so, sweet. Always so sweet. She wanted nothing but love and warmth and affection and I couldn't give her those things. I couldn't let her inside, since I have two cats already, and that's really one cat too many when you rent. I wanted to.

I know that this was right, that even if she isn't adopted that she will have a warm, dry place to live out her life, that she will always have food and water. And that there will be many people around to love her and give her attention.

And I hope that someone sees her poor little frame and her crooked little tale and falls in love, that she will have a forever home I couldn't give her.
But it is going to take awhile for me to get used to her absence.

I didn't expect to feel this way, I tried so hard to guard against it, but so it is.I wish I had pet her one last time.
Good bye Porch Kitty.

Objects of (in)Signifigance

I was walking through the park blocks recently and thinking about something or other, and my train of thought led me to thinking about stuff. The stuff that accumulates in our lives, over time, seems inevitable, like wrinkles or grey hairs or regrets.

It's something i have been pondering for some time in my efforts to become less, to own less, buy less, simplify. I have given away car loads of time to Goodwill the last several years, stratigraphic layers of my life I have been able to excavate and discard.

But it's still there, in the basement, in the closet, on the shelf... things of no significance in of themselves. Alone, they have no value.
The basement, the basement is filled with the remnants of a shared life, the broken pieces that cracked off and were left behind to be swept up and forgotten, for me to deal with, dispose of, despise.

It's also home to the shed moltings of my life that have no place anywhere else, but that I can't let GO. Obligations, memories, detritus..fingernail clippings and fallen hairs...

I thought about how, there is a mantle of things in my room that represent me. totems, physical manifestations of a place, time and situation. It's like I need these things to remember, lest my memory lets them slip away unbeknowst to me and I realise I've lost something, but I'm not sure what.
Would it be better to let these little objects d' vinget go and let my mind become uncluttered?

It's my house full of things I can't let go of because my mind is cluttered up with things I should let go?

I know that this mausoleum of things keeps me a bit immobile,I have moved with a lot of it before, but the longer you stay in a places, the more this stuff grows, home as a petri dish. It's the lint of living, you keep collecting it under the couch, on your coat, and you try to get rid of it, but it just sticks.

I've seen the garages of families, packed with this sort of lint, piles so high and wide, there is no room to live in it, no room to park a car, make a cabinet, play instruments...and I wonder if it's entropy, inertia...are we doomed to collect stuff?

I don't want it.