april bookstand

Four this month... the vast majority done before I started all this crafting business. And still not done with the book on the British monarchy.

Boomerang, by Michael Lewis
Highly recommend. The author tours four of the countries affected by the recent economic crisis: Iceland, Ireland, Greece and Germany. Apparently these articles were originally published in Vanity Fair; having never read the originals, I enjoyed the insight into the situation in these countries. The chapter on the United States was somewhat weaker.

The Gilly Salt Sisters, by Tiffany Baker
Recommend. It took me a bit of time to get into this book about sisters who live on a New England salt farm. Though I found the writing so wordy at times that it interrupted the flow of the story, at other times I found myself admiring the author's ability to write a beautiful descriptive phrase. The end had me gnashing my teeth, however.

Making Piece: A Memoir of Love, Loss and Pie, by Beth Howard
Recommend. A bit too self-indulgent—at several points in the book I wanted to slap the author and say "grow up already!"—but a relatively short read about, well, love, loss and the author's strategy of making pies to deal with both. If that doesn't make too much practical sense to you, then you have a good idea of the author's mindset.

Brooklyn, by Colm Toibin
Somewhat meh. I did read the whole book—though it was relatively short—but I kept wondering when the lead character would wake up and start to do something, or at least have a little insight into her own actions. It read more like a catalog of events (first this happens, then this happens) than a story.

sheep production line

Not as you might think... actually, yet another project for Maryland. Little needle felted sheep pins. They sell very well, and every year I swear that I am going to start earlier and make more.

Yeah, right.

This is one workstation on the dining room table—blank bodies to the left, and sheepies to the right, and needle felting foam stuck in the middle with me (and also stuck with felting needles, repeatedly). Sorry, but I can't seem to get that song out of my head today.

crafting frenzy

This fact says it all: I have not knit a stitch in over two weeks.

My sister-in-law gasped in shock when I told her this today.

It seems that my knitting obsession is just a crafting obsession, and as long as I am getting it scratched somehow, it's all good. Our dining room table looks like this, and my LSH is doing a masterful job of not complaining about it:

Wool, wool, everywhere, though it is such pleasure to work with wool produced by our sheep!

I have a long list of goals for items to vend at Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival next weekend. So far, the only project that is completely ready for sale are the felted soaps.

Many other projects are in the pipeline though. If I can just finish up one project per day between now and next Friday, I will be in good shape, if only other ideas didn't keep popping into my brain. That's how it seems to work in times of constant creating.

needle felted soaps

I couldn't resist sharing those photos of the lambs at play on Friday, instead of my farm on Friday work. But the reason I had a camera in my hand at just the right moment was that I was intending to take pictures of my latest creations!

Soap, of course...

I started combining needle felting with the felted wool casings around the soaps, and the results were addictive. These soaps are for the booth at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, so I needed quite a few, but I had to make myself stop making them once I got to forty soaps. I don't think any two are alike, either!

The festival is less than two weeks away, so I have shifted from "farm on Friday" work to "farm work around the clock, trying desperately to get ready." No time for knitting, even.

lambs at play

The youngest lambs joined the bigger flock today. It was a chore getting their mother Holly to rejoin everyone, as she was quite content to stay apart with her lambs. Once there, though, she accepted her lot.

The two little ones made the most of their newly-expanded horizons. Though there was a fair amount of visiting momma for a snack,

there was also much dashing about...

and gamboling...

and frolicking...

and just general high jinks. (That's the ewe lamb, showing off for her brother.)

The boys call such maneuvers "mexican jumping beans," because the lambs often pop up from a dead standstill. 

little felt bowl, take two

My experiments with using knitted roving to make a little felted bowl continue... My third attempt (could be my fourth, I've lost count) was a different from my little pink bowl in that it used smaller needles with thinner drafts of the roving.

The finished object doesn't come out with as smooth a finish as one made from yarn, but I love how the purl side resembles the texture of a woven basket.

I really pulled and manipulated the wet fiber on this one to square off the transition from the sides to the bottom. It made me think of how potters work with the clay to get it into the shape they want, though the process is obviously a bit different!

My favorite part is the bottom of this particular bowl. The way the color switch worked out reminds me of an Impressionist paintings of the sun. Too bad that's the part you don't see, though I could always turn the bowl inside out.

The next step is to come up with a final set of directions (how to choose?) and make up a few kits to sell at Maryland Sheep & Wool. I have heard many great suggestions for uses: girls hairclips and barrettes, office supplies, etc. My LSH thought it would make a great wine cozy—it is the perfect shape and size! My mom wins for most creative: it weighs so little that she thought it would be perfect for travel (because it folds flat) to use as a catch-all for your watch and jewelry, so they don't get misplaced them in a hotel room.

plenty of soap

Anyone's life truly lived consists of work, sunshine, exercise, soap, 
plenty of fresh air, and a happy contented spirit.—Lillie Langtry

Seems all we do around here these days has to do with soap. I started experimenting with making felted soaps last week—something I have wanted to do for ages, but never got around to. 

It is pretty basic, and applies the same felting principles as the bowl I made a week ago: hot water, soap, agitation, and voila! The wool roving makes a little casing around the soap. And yes, all this wool is from our sheep.

These were my second attempt. I experimented with a variety of felting surfaces, and found that using a laundry lingerie bag to help with the felting process really sped things along. (Not actually washing it in the bag, but using the surface of the bag to rub the wool and persuade it to felt.)

The beauty of the finished product, apart from the visual appeal, is that the washcloth is built right in. As you wash with it, the wool shrinks around the soap bar. Pretty neat, right?