Felting, skirting

While I'm thinking about the current figure, I'm realizing that the woven and knitted skirt I plan can just as well be felted and knitted. Or possibly woven and felted and knitted. I can decide as I go.

This is how, borrowing massively from Sarah Swett and her Sarah dippity skirt, shown here in progress.

Straight panels, she wove these, with knitted alternating wedges for shaping and drape. This is where I'm thinking about brioche stitch, a nice rib. Possibly.

So I'm looking at this roving for felting a test panel

Various ideas there on paper. At first I was thinking two main panels, two sides knitted wedges. But when I took a look at Sarah's idea, I liked four panels better. 

So here's the panel template, 9×21.5", need to felt four of these. Or weave a couple. The knitted sections I'll attend to later. I plan on making a paper template for them, too, to knit to shape.

It will be a button closing, so I think Dorset buttons might be good, and it's a while since I made any.

Here's my highly technical felting gear

largely from my recycling, with the endlessly handy dowel which rolls out items to crush them, unjams the disposall, and now will be handy to roll roving into felt.

I've seen some very posh setups on YouTube, studios, special tools, specially invented technical terms. But it's really a pretty simple procedure, mainly needing endless rolling to get the fibers working together.

Tomorrow is my Covid booster, after which I might possibly not be up to rolling for a couple of days, we'll see. Despite the recent biopsy, I think I'll go ahead with it, since if I need work done, better have the complete set of vaxxes ahead of maybe being in a same day surgery place.

The return of the lovely Sarah Swett

 She's back, as of this morning. Painter, tapestry maker and teacher, loom builder, writer, knitter, comic artist, spinner -- remember my spinning the paper and making miniature book covers with the results? All due to Sarah. Her talents are endless as is her grit and cheerful handling of a lot of adversity in the last couple of years, over and above the pandemic.

On top of all that, she developed some serious hand related stress injuries and was forced to stop just about everything a few months ago. 

She's finally,  after a lot of work and rehab, able to do some drawing, yay.  Google on her, follow her, don't miss this national treasure, currently to be found in Idaho.   And online.

This is Sarah in comic mode, on her blog, A Field Guide to Needlework. And there's much more.

Nearer home I was straining today's sun tea when my neighbor, just leaving his house, stopped his car and came over to ask what I was doing.

I explained, showed him. He's amazed. He's going to do it! Asked if teabags would work. I assured him yes. I could tell he was thinking you never know what you'll see around Liz's house.

Meanwhile I had taken a run to the library, this morning before it's too hot,  to get Sonya's sewing book and Lily Tomlin, and was amazed to see dry streets. The pondside walking path is still submerged, but all is normal again in traffic. The mosquito population is thrilled with the weather. 

Too hungry to cook lunch,  I assembled it.

Pasta from yesterday, canned diced tomatoes, parmesan from the freezer, frozen solid, so I microplaned it over the doings. Spritz of olive oil. Couple of minutes in the microwave. 

Lunch. 

Later this afternoon Textiles and Tea, which I'll blog later.

Meanwhile, reading Sonya, another talented and cheerful woman in the textile world. 

All's well.