Needle Felted Wool Celestial Goddess in Purple

Pantheacon 2010 inspired me to make a big purple goddess figure. Here she is.

Her core is needle felted eco wool (wool from sheep which are raised humanely and without the use of chemicals). Her clothes are plant-dyed wool roving. The curling decorations are kettle dyed merino wool yarn.

This is the first sculpture I've done with separately felted pieces which are sewn together. The sun and crescent moons are felted to each other and then sewn to the figure's hands. I sometimes use pipecleaners to brace the arms of figures, but this one is solid wool.

Here's a close-up of her hair.

Here's a close-up of the back of her skirt.

And her rear view.

She'll be available for sale exclusively at Pantheacon 2011. (If I can bear to part with her that is.)

Knitted Octopus for Fergie

Fergie likes yarn. He likes to grab balls of it off the shelf and chew on the wrappers. Good thing he's so cute or we might not be welcome at the local yarn stores. So the other day he grabbed a ball of wool/nylon blend sock yarn off the shelf at Michael's. First surprise... to find yarn with actual wool content at Micheal's, second surprise... only $3.50 a ball. Fergie my lad, it looks like you just purchased your first ball of yarn.

But what to knit with it? Maybe some baby socks? I'd seen some strange needles at the LYS (local yarn store) and been drawn to them. Tiny little circular needles, only nine inches long, with the cutest little points. "What in the world are those for?" I thought. "I must have them!" came into my head, quickly followed by "but why?" After a bit of discussion with the knowledgeable staff of the LYS I found that the cute little needles are for socks. Too big for baby socks though. Hmmm. Maybe I could knit him a stuffed animal. Perhaps a snake?

I bought the little circular needles and started knitting. It was refreshingly fun. My hands strained a bit holding the awkwardly short needles, but it was very easy to pick up and put down without loops slipping off (which is my big problem with double pointed needles). As I knitted through the wait at the restaurant at lunch, in the kids section of Barnes & Noble, and during Wednesday night gaming; I found the going easy and quick. The tube formed. But, as I was told, the needles were sized to make adult socks. The tube is too big for a snake. Unless it's going to be an anaconda. No, I think. I change direction and plan for an octopus instead.

To make the the body round I throw in a few increases, then start evenly decreasing each round until the top opening gets small enough that I have to switch to double pointed needles. Luckily, I have some in the right size from my grandmother's needle stash. (Hmmm, that sounds rather odd out of context...) I take the tube quickly down to three stitches, then sew it closed. Now I have what looks at bit like a deflated wool balloon.

Time for the tentacles. I look up how to do I-Cords. Oh, that's easy! I cast on three stitches onto one of those dpn's and start making an I-Cord. After a few rows I increase, a few more rows then increase again  until the tentacle is 3 stitches wide at the tip, 5 stitches wide at the top and about 3 inches long. Make seven more and then sew them on. Then it looks like a very strange, very small hat. I'm not proficient at knitting in circles, so I get out the crochet hook and close up the bottom/mouth end. Stuff with eco-wool batting and done!

Musings on Waldorf Dollmaking - Good Heads

     I've been trying to "find my voice" as a dollmaker recently. Mainly I've been mulling over my doll heads. The head and face of a Waldorf doll give the doll its soul. A cute doll face draws you in, triggers those mommy hormones to hug and cuddle, and makes you want to be little again so you could make that doll your best friend. A well made head is also the best way to judge the overall quality in the production of a doll. There is something endearing about a lumpy, lopsided and funky first-timer head. My first doll heads were just as bad as anyone else's, and I cherish them for the memory of how far I've come.

The "sausage head" issue was the major problem with my first heads. You know... when the head looks less like a POM juice jar and more like a Tootsie Roll. That cylindrical shape happens when the wool has not been compacted enough in the head ball. My solution, which I haven't seen anyone else do (or at least admit to doing), is to felt the ball inside the head. Not until it's completely hard, just until it's firm with some give. I think not enough firmness in the head stuffing is the culprit with all those mushy looking Waldorf dolls you see on Etsy.

Uniformity of shape and size is another key to good heads. When you make more than one doll at a time, as I do, you run into consistency issues. If an event where I'll be selling my dolls is coming up, I'll sit down and make a bunch of heads. Head making in bulk is a rather meditative experience, a lot like knitting. You can sit and just veg while your hands churn out a bunch of wool balls. My problem is a gradual drift towards larger and larger balls. When the dolls are lined up on a table display, it looks really unprofessional if they all have different size heads. So consistent head size is important to me. I use a copper wire twisted into a hoop to test my ball size as I make them.  I keep checking the ball against the hoop as I add wool, until it just snugs up against it. The hoop also helps with making the balls evenly round.

Floppy head, oh, those darn floppy heads. I struggled with droopy droppy heads for a while. This becomes especially annoying when the doll has luscious, abundant hair. Wool yarn can get heavy! And a doll without a solid neck will flop around disturbingly when carried by a child. Ew. I finally figured out what the problem is, the sleeve of skin fabric that comes down from the neck needs to be sewn closed at the bottom, pulling the fabric taut. That also prevents the whole "ghost neck" thing (wrinkles in the head skin fabric where the head meets the body, like someone wearing a sheet tied at the neck as a ghost costume).

The tying of the head to give it that sculpted shape (I call this the "skull" stage) is very personal. It's funny how almost every set of instructions for doing it you'll see; online, in books, in classes; will be almost exactly the same.... Yet the individual finesse of the dollmaker makes their dolls distinct and unique. It's in the tying of the head where craft becomes art. The proportion, symmetry, and overall "rightness" of the head is decided in this one pivotal step. I started by making heads in the classic Kruse style, with the forehead and cheek bumps about the same size, and an overall shape that was slightly tall and narrow. This was how the instructions I'd read said to do it, but it just didn't look right to me. Maybe German kids look different from Irish kids, but that style just didn't look childlike enough to me. I started making my heads rounder, with the eyeline tied up higher to give them bigger cheeks. Suddenly they started looking cute! I found that a simple, round, big cheeked face works best for the standard small bunting baby dolls.


The nice thing about those small baby dolls is they don't need much work on the face to make them cute.  A little bead under the skin fabric for a nose, two seed stitches for eyes and a loose straight stitch for a mouth and you're done! Just precious.

Full size Waldorf dolls are more challenging. For one thing, they require greater skill at embroidery. Bigger head means bigger eyes, so a single seed or chain stitch won't suffice. You have to be good at embroidery, something I at first was not (!), to make nice doll eyes. And there's the choice of simply embroidering the eyes, like a Kruse doll, or accenting the embroidery with textile paint, as with the Sunnhild dolls. I have a penchant for Japanese Anime, so dolls with BIG EYES always draw me in. But little pea eyes on a simple baby face can be endearing also.


How those little nubby noses were made was a complete mystery to me at first. The whole "round the clock" technique for nose making came as an epiphany! I first saw a version of that technique in a Art Doll making book (cloth dolls made for grown ups), and totally thought it could be adapted for Waldorf dolls. Well, low and behold, once you know WHAT to search for, i.e. "waldorf doll instructions nose", Google provides.  I've started to become enamored of the flat noses some dolls have. My noses are just too round and perky. I've decided that bigger noses are better, they make the doll look more cartoon-like. I like the horizontal ellipse shape, which give them a bit of a puppy dog feel.


Genetics have to be a big factor in what we think is a cute doll face. Some dolls out there I look at and just go yuck. Others, make me want to bow down in reverence to the dollmaker! My baby dolls especially turn out looking like my kids. I don't MEAN to do it, it just happens. Just like the head shape, the facial features are going to be an artistic (and often unconscious) statement by the dollmaker. I've been struggling with what I want my "style" of doll face to be. I know what I like and I know I can do it. But then there is the mysterious journey of the making and all the serendipitous events that occur along the way. I think I just need to sit down and make a bunch more dolls at one time. They'll turn out how THEY want, and that will be my style.

Little Crochet Apple Pattern

Continuing in the theme of learning crochet by winging it....

In the middle of my Floppy Crochet Hat project, my daughter's birthday comes up. In two days I have to provide twenty small "goodie bag" style gifts for her birthday celebration at school. Great. It's a mundane public school in a posh neighborhood. Some of the goodie bags that have come home from other kids bdays have me a bit scared. Scared of the influx of random, soulless toys entering my house unfiltered. Scared of the money I'd have to spend to mimic what the other kids give out. 

Shall I compromise my values just to fit in? Nah. 

Morally firm, but with some trepidation, I embark on making handcrafted toys to give out to her classmates. With us doing (or at least attempting to do) the natural living, Waldorf-inspired, eco-responsible thing... I cringe at what the other kids, accustomed as they are to disposable plastic imports of little value but much cost, will think of our handmade treasures. 

I must have a positive attitude. I will be spending probably 20 hours this weekend making them. I WILL be optimistic about how they will be received. 

Now, what to make? Something I can make fast and with materials I already have on hand. Which Craft to choose?

I'm a wiz with needle felting wool... but even a being good at it, I don't have enough time to make 20 small animals or gnomes or fairies. Not with the baby on one hip, the girls running rampant, the cooking and cleaning I still need to keep on top of, and the other craft work I should be doing. It's especially hard for me to needle felt when the baby is awake and wanting my attention. (Sharp felting needles and babies don't mix!)

My other "go to" gift idea is my Waldorf dolls, but even the little pocket bunting babies would take too long and cost too much.

My daughter vetoes the idea of giving out camellia blossoms like we did at her Waldorf kindergarten last year. Been there, done that. (No matter that these are completely different kids! Sigh.)

How about crochet? I just made my first successful crochet flower in my Crochet Wrist Cuff / Hand Flower project. The flower only took twenty minutes or so to crochet. I could whip out a bunch of those in two days. 

Tragedy averted! Or almost. 

I am informed by my daughter that the boys will "freak out" if they get flowers as their gifts. Okaaaaay. Flowers are just flowers, they don't have gender connotations in my book. Whatever. Moving on. 

"Okay dear, then what kind of thing do the boys at school like?"

"Guns," she says.

Oh my Lord and Lady. I just can't wait for another few years when she'll be dating these boys. Not. 

"Well dear, I'm not going to be able to crochet a gun, it would turn out all floppy." She nods sagely and considers the problem. "What else do they like? Besides guns." I ask. 

"Balls," she says. 

THAT, I can do. 

I think.

I assume you can crochet a ball. If you can do hats, which are just half a ball, after all, why not a full ball? I'm game to try it. 

Now for the pattern. I use a worsted weight wool yarn in red. You'll be working "in the round."

Foundation - Row 1

Make a magic ring. Work 11 single crochets onto the magic ring. Work the last one into the V of the first stitch. You now have a circle of stitches with loops covering the magic ring. Pull the magic ring tight, leaving a small hole. 

Build the Ball - Rows 2, 3 & 4

To start the second row, make three slip stitches. You will now be making a row of double crochets. Increase every other stitch. (That is, make one double crochet onto one stitch, then make two double crochets onto the next stitch, then one, then two, and so on.) When you've finished the row, connect your last stitch to the top of the first stitch of the row with a slip stitch. It should now look like a cup or very small beanie. 

Third row, make three slip stitches, then work in double crochets, one stitch into each V, no increasing. Again, join the last stitch to the first stitch with a slip stitch. 

Fourth row. This gets a bit tricky if you've never done decreases before (as I hadn't at the time). Make three slip stitches, then work a row of double crochet stitches, alternating between normal and decrease stitches. Adjust how many normal double crochet stitches you do, to form the ball shape, leaving some out along the way in favor of more double crochet decrease stitches. Remember... wing it! Just do what looks right. When that row is complete, join it with a slip stitch as with the others. 

Close the Ball - Row 5

For the fifth and last row, make single crochet decrease stitches, as many as will fit. Then pause and dig some wool batting or roving out of your supply closet. Natural colored is fine. Pull the beginning tail to the inside of the ball and tie it off. Stuff the ball, not too full, just enough to give it form. Cut the ending yarn, leaving a six inch tail. Work a few slip stitches to draw the hole together. Set aside your hook and thread the tail onto a yarn needle. Thread the needle through the tops of the last row of crochets and pull the ball all the way closed. Finish off. 

Done.... Or So I Thought

A ball! It worked! It's great! It's done! It's..... just a ball. Hmmm. You know what? It looks like a tomato. If I add a few leaves and stem in green, it will look like a piece of fruit, not just a random ball. Less like a baby toy, more like a big kid toy. Yes, better. 

I use a light green organic cotton yarn because that's what I have on hand.

First Leaf

Leaves can't be any harder than flower petals, right? Let's use the same technique. Cast a slip knot onto your hook. Make six slip stitches. Work a single crochet stitch into the back loop of the 4th stitch on the chain. Work a double crochet stitch into the back loop of the 3rd stitch of the chain. Make another single crochet stitch into the back loop of the 2nd stitch of the chain. Work a slip stitch into the back loop of the 1st stitch of the chain.

Second Leaf

Make three slip stitches. Repeat the procedure as for the first leaf. 

Stem

Work a slip stitch into any of the loops at the center top of where the two leaves meet. Now make three slip stitches. Turn and make slip stitches into the back of the chain. Work one more slip stitch onto any loop at the base of the leaves. 

Finishing

Set aside your hook. Cut the green yarn leaving a 6 inch tail. Thread the tail onto a yarn needle. Thread the needle through the last loop, then sew the leaves and stem onto the "top" (end point) of the ball. Finish off.

"bottom""top"

Well, not a tomato. It looks just like an apple! Even better. All kids like apples, right?

That whole procedure took me an hour and a half. Although that does include the looking up in my crochet book how to do decreases, fetching wool and yarn from the craft room, nursing the baby and making a snack (and stopping to watch the climax scene of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix). 

Working from a now established pattern and without interruption, it would take maybe 30 minutes. Twenty of these little apples in two days? That, I think, is doable. 

(Oh, and I did actually get tired of making apples. So I made some flowers, butterflies, acorns, snakes and other fruit also.)

Strawberry Fields Are Not Forever - Straw Bail Solution

After four years in the same spot, the strawberry patch in my back yard has become a popular hot spot in the slug and snail community. There are around 100 plants in the patch and I think we got maybe one or two berries for human consumption last year. Earwigs and ants also find this a great place to hang out. What used to be a delight to the girls, is now a disappointing yuck-fest as they search fruitlessly for a red berry that does not have a chew hole in it. Winter debris abounds, spreading tuffs of bermuda grass from the neighboring lawn crowd the strawberry plants, and the mounds they were originally planted in have sunk to uselessness. I have read that strawberries are such heavy feeders, taking a big toll on soil fertility, that they can only be successfully harvested in the same spot for 3-5 years in a row. I found that harvests drop off after two years, but also, I am a lackluster fertilizer, so I may have had better results if I'd kept adding food to the soil. By now the spot is probably in desperate need of rotation.

Time to move the strawberry plants!

With shovel in hand we embark on our quest to find a more protected, and therefore fruitful location for these strawberries. Choices, options, decisions.

In a previous house I grew strawberries in a raised bed. For several years that bed was productive and fairly pest free. Which can probably be attributed to the tall redwood plank walls of the bed, the surrounding moat of deep gravel, the copper strips nailed around the perimeter... oh, and the bird netting (which really worked well to foil the snails btw). The strawberry patch at this house is not nearly so grand. At the time I put it in I was feeling "thrifty", i.e. cheap, and just wanted to get the plants in before the rains ended. So I dug up the sod, mixed in some compost, built up some mounds, planted and threw a wire edging around the whole thing. Strangely, although the little mini fence did keep my kids from stomping over the new plants, it did absolutely nothing to deter the slugs and snails once they finally found the patch. 

I am still feeling rather thrifty, so a new raised bed is not going to happen. How about using some of these containers laying about? Good plan, oh lord!  There's a half barrel with a meadow sage in the center which last year was surrounded by calendula. This year, strawberries! (And if some of the seed from the old calendulas sprout, well those should make a fine companion to the berries.) There's also a large tin wash basin which in previous years has housed potatoes, beans and basil. Pulled over to a sunny spot and a fresh bag of potting soil will make that a fine home for more of the strawberries. 

Okay, that's only a third of the strawberry plants relocated. Hmmm. There's some fallow space in the butterfly garden where the perennials I planted didn't really take off. Hopefully butterflies like strawberries, because they have some now! Mara, 3 years old, planted these ones. The girls really groove on the idea of the butterfly garden and I can almost always convince them to help plant or weed if it's "for the butterflies." 

That's half of the plants taken care of. Where else? The herb garden in the front is already too crowded. The rest of the front yard is reserved for native plants. I don't tend or water in the back over by the redwoods and I'd really rather see that area go native also. The rest of the vegetable beds are spoken for.

Wait! There is that half a straw bail left over from last year's vegetable garden mulching. They are called straw-berries after all.

The idea with using straw bails as a planting medium is to hollow out a section of the top of the bail, fill it with soil (a mix of garden dirt and compost should do), then plant in the soil. Let's try it!

I dig out the middle of the bail, about six inches deep, leaving a several inch rim of undisturbed straw around the edge. Wow, this is not hard at all. The straw bail is soft and squishy, and chunks can be dug out very easily. I guess this is why you're supposed to soak new bails for several days before planting. I would definitely recommend the leaving the bail out in the rain over the winter method before using it as a planter. I bet this wouldn't work nearly as well with fresh, undecomposed bails.

Fill with soil, add some kelp meal, then plant the strawberries. The question of how close to plant them comes up. I've heard of the mat method and the mound method. There's not room here to do rows of mounds, and the bail itself is a mound after all. I'll plant them in mat formation, in staggered rows, about  six inches between plants.

Tuck a bit of fresh hay around the plants as mulch.... Tah dah! A delightful new straw bail home for the strawberries.

But there are still some strawberry plants left over! I could go buy a few more straw bails... Nah, my vacuum has some mysterious problem that the repair guy hasn't figured out yet and I don't want my SUV to smell like hay indefinitely. Looks like my gardener friends will be getting strawberry plants in little pots for Ostara presents.

By next year this straw bail will probably be too soggy and decomposed to use, but will make lovely compost fodder. And I bet the strawberry plants will pull right out no trouble, and no bending and digging. I'm liking this method! I'll have to plan for four straw bails just for strawberries next year, bought and sighted in the fall. Here's hoping for a luscious harvest!