You know those fiber arts tutorials that show you how to arm-knit a scarf in an hour? This felted scarf is kind of the opposite of that way of working. I crafted some pre-felt yardage, in opalescent tones from all sorts of textured fibers (including silk fiber I had hand-dyed and curly wool locks and firestar) and a second pre-felted yardage in jet black merino; then drum carded a batt from merino, silk, alpaca, cashmere, topaz-toned bamboo, organic Polwarth — and “dizzed” this batt into roving by gently guiding and pulling the batt fiber through the hole in a big old button. I carefully placed a bottom layer of cherry-colored merino; a mid-layer of a white Organic Polwarth/Silk blend; and then used the dizzed roving to lay out the top layer. To fabricate the design, I cut the black merino prefelt into a thin band, and placed pieces of the opalescent pre-felt over this black band.
I really liked working with the dizzed roving, because it allowed me much more control over how much fiber I used in the top, design layer — I wanted a very even, fine quality in the fabrication of the piece to balance the extreme texture and glimmering fiber of the design layer.
Working slowly — using a palm washboard from HeartFelt Silks to do the first felting, and doing lots of rolling, and then doing some throwing of the wet piece — allowed me to stop just at the right time: when the piece had the soft nubby texture of fine felt BUT was still very soft and pliable.
This scarf is on its way to The Gallery Shop in Lemont, PA; and unless it finds a home before July, it will be part of a special exhibit during the month of July, in the atrium area of The Gallery Shop, to coordinate with a photography exhibit in The Art Alliance next door to the shop, to celebrate The Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.
If you would like more info about this scarf, “Sanctuary,” or would like to discuss a similar commissioned scarf, please let me know. (But it won’t be done in an hour…!)
Wooly Bliss 