van crafts

Star for a memorystick

2009-02-01T10:39:00.000-08:00

Felted star I had to make for my memorystick after I had forgotten it in university several times...

Felted decorational stars

2009-02-01T10:24:00.001-08:00

These are felted stars hanging inside a door

Material for the felted pieces I have bought from a felt boot factory in Finland, while the yarn I have spun myself with wool from a friend's sheep in Shetland

Football scarf

2009-02-01T10:21:00.000-08:00

I knitted a scarf for my partner for Christmas - bit more work than I expected, especially V and R caused some gray hairs...

The white yarn I have spun myself from wool from Shetland, the red I had to buy from a craft shop in Manchester - partly wool and partly acrylic. This is what I find weird in England, I'm having trouble finding yarn that is 100% wool, most of them seem to have only a small part of wool and otherwise acrylic or something similar... And with all the sheep there are in this country!

The other side of the scraf is mainly striped white and red, with one end having the acronym LFC, the other end the acronym YNWA (You'll Never Walk Alone)

Woolly socks

2009-02-01T10:11:00.001-08:00

For years I never knitted socks for myself as I have a constant supply from mom (she knits loads and loads of socks every year!), but in 2008 I wanted to makes ones just for myself...

Even though I knitted the socks myself my mom was central in making them by providing the yarns. The yarns come from a closed knitwear factory in rural Finland, their last stock which was donated to a arts & crafts group my mom is a member of.

The socks are knitted with a tree-dimensional pattern (one of the first times I've knitted that!)

Fair Isle 2008 - basket making and felt for a dinner party

2009-02-01T09:54:00.001-08:00

Back in Fair Isle 2008 I was lucky enough to be able to participate to another craft workshop - this one was a basket making workshop at Kathy Coull's organised by an American visitor staying with her.
Katherine had visited Fair Isle several times before and done knitting and spinning there, so this time she wanted to give something back and organised a basket workshop.

I've never made baskets before but it turned out to be very easy and the resulting baskets were lovely, as you can see below

[picture will be added soon... as I forgot these photos are on another computer...]

My partner and I stayed in the 'Puffinn', a hut where the workcampers stay when they are on Fair Isle, and decided to organise a dinner party for couple of the families who have been friendly enough to host us before.

While the Puffinn is well equipped for 20 people to eat there, there was not enough glasses - so we decided to use mugs instead, with a small felted piece in each to help everyone use their own for the whole night (and creating less dishes!). Selections varied from the classical such as stars, moons, flowers, hearts and apples to a bit more exotic ones - pineapple, handbag, teapot and my pride a joy - a Fair Isle sweater! (or close enough to one anyway...)

[here too pictures will be added soon...]

Materials

2009-01-31T07:21:00.000-08:00

The materials I use are from various sources - there are those I have bought over the years (majority from Finland), but there are also other materials, such as

- white & brown wool from my friend's happy hill sheep from Shetland (used for felting as well as spinning yarn)

- found yarns

- yarns from a closed knitwear factory (through an arts association my mom is member of)

- reused canvases (from old clothes, bed covers, curtains etc)

When possible I'll try to write in the material & source of the materials, although with some of the old yarns I haven't kept this information...

band crafts

2009-01-27T12:03:00.000-08:00

Handknitted gloves and a felted pin in the pink and green colours of Rhythms of Resistance

Cushion cover & felted card

2009-01-27T11:59:00.000-08:00

A birthday "card" combining felting and knitting, a present to a family member in 2007

Stiched cushion case of old canvases (pieces from a canvas my sister brought from India in 1980s, an old bag and an old bed cover)

Both done in 2007

Starting at an early age

2009-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

My mom and sisters have been active in teaching me and getting me involved in making crafts since I was young... Here using my sister's nice new sewing machine back in the 1980s

Fair Isle 2005 - spinning and felting

2009-01-27T10:33:00.000-08:00

I stayed on Fair Isle in Shetland during 2005 for couple of months and learned (new) crafts there

An island (crofts and) craftsman thaught me how to spin during my first visit to Fair Isle in 2004 and after that during my visits to Fair Isle I have continued to practice this skill under his gentle guidance.

(I have since then bought a wheel he has made)

Also during my stay in 2005 fibre artist Jeannette Sendled held a felting workshop, teaching us different ways to make wet felt

From a very fine wool we made fine scarfs - on the left my orange and lilac one drying

We also made braclets which were felted by washing them in the washing machine