Fiber Art Finds From Germany ~ Part III

These fabulous felted wrist warmers were created by Berta Knab of the EigenArt collective in Uberlingen, Germany. I have seen a lot of nuno felt and I think that these are particularly well made. I love the crackling effect she's achieved with the colors. Also, I haven't seen this sort of "wrinkled look" for lack of better words. It takes the texture to another level and looks really cute the way it gathers around your wrist.

They're soft and very lightweight, just as you would expect nuno felt to be. They are also completely seamless which shows a real attention to detail. As a matter of fact, they are even reversible. The inside is a nice smooth slate grey.

I'm not the best hand model and it's challenging to take a pic of your own arm, but I wanted you to see how cute they look on.

You could also turn them around and have the cuff on the other end or no cuff at all. I love it when handmade items are versatile!

She had another pair where she had felted wild, curly locks on one end. I was so tempted, but in the end, these seemed a little more practical. Maybe next time I'm in Uberlingen I'll go wild!

Berta Knab's Website

Fiber Art Finds From Germany ~ Part II

A very special part of my family's time in Germany was a visit to Uberlingen. Uberlingen is in the south and actually just a three hour boat ride from Switzerland. It's a popular vacation and retirement spot because of it's warmer climate and location on Bodensee (Lake Constance). For my husband and I, it's where a friend from high school settled down, married and started a family.

Having my friend in Uberlingen meant I didn't have to wander the streets aimlessly and hope to stumble upon fiber art. She took me straight to the local yarn shop and then to a shop featuring the work of local artists. Oddly enough, this cute little flower girl is something I just happened to encounter along the way. She was sitting in the window of Odilia, a bookstore where some local crafts were featured. I thought she was sweet looking balancing that big red rose on her head.


So what kind of yarn did I find in Uberlingen? A lot of Lana Grossa which is Italian, but I did find one yarn that I believe is made in Germany. The brand is Skacel which is distributed here in the United States. The yarn I'm referring to the the sunset colored one on the right. It's called Zauberball or "Magic Ball" and it's a sock yarn.

I wish there was some way to show a lapse in time with words or symbols, because then you would know just how long I've been sidetracked while writing this post. First I was trying to find the name of the yarn shop in Uberlingen because I lost their business card. Then I started hunting down the company that makes the Zauberball yarn. The only reason I mention this is because I found a couple of interesting things along the way. My first discovery is another sock yarn also made by Skacel called Flying Saucer. It has to be some of the coolest sock yarn I've ever seen. If you like to knit or crochet socks, or if you just like to work with lighter weight yarn, Flying Saucer looks like loads of fun to make up. The link I've provided takes you to the Flying Saucer page where they also have a video.

Then one link led to another and I found myself watching this video on ArtFelting by Knitting Daily which features Karin Skacel the president of the Skacel company:



I thought the felters out there might find that interesting.

Okay, let me turn my focus back to my original post. The other yarn in the picture above, the soft purple one, has become one of my new favorite yarns to work with. It is made by Lana Grossa and it's part of the Linea Pura Verde line. The reason I have so little of this yarn left, is because I actually made it all up into a new design that I'll be sharing soon. All I'll say for now is that it's a scarf inspired by my time in Europe and I'll be writing up a crochet pattern to sell at Wind Rose.

The Linea Pura Verde is 75% Organic Virgin Wool (Merino extrafine) and 25% Alpaca. I love the quality that the Alpaca lends to this yarn and the little nubs give it such a great texture. One of the first things I did when I got back to the states, was to look to see where I could buy more. It's not the easiest yarn to find, but I ended up placing an order at Hot Yarns and the service was great. In just a couple days I received my supply of Linea Pura Verde in a selection of colors.

Well I have one more item to share from Uberlingen, but I'm worn out from writing this post. Let me take a little break and I'll be back tomorrow to show you an awesome pair of felted wrist warmers from the local art shop I mentioned earlier. See you tomorrow.

Fiber Art Finds From Germany ~ Part I

When I travel, I'm always on the lookout for fiber art. Not just fiber art to tell the truth, any art. More specifically, I'm always hoping to find evidence of local artisans. It's like locating the heartbeat of a place and it makes me feel at home.

On this particular holiday, I was coming up dry until a day trip to Regensburg, Germany. Regensburg is a beautiful little town on the Danube River. It's first settlements date back to the Stone Age. Today it's a thriving city and home to the University of Regensburg.

As I and my family wandered up and down the streets, I came across a cute little shop with hand crafted items in the window. *Happy Dance* I turned to my husband and informed him that I would need a few minutes. He gave me a knowing look and headed off with the boys. What a good husband!

I headed into the shop named Kuss which a visit to Google Translate tells me means "Kiss". Cute! The full name is Kuss- Künstlerhaus or Kiss-House Artists, a collective of local artisans. I found myself surrounded by beautiful nuno felt, paper art, knit and crochet, glass and wire. It was awesome! It was like an energy boost to be around so much creativity and it's so what I needed halfway through my long European journey.

I was fully prepared to treat myself to a few pieces, but it was hard to choose. There were these really cool felted wrist warmers and handbags and jewelry. I couldn't pick. "I'll take one of everything!" I shouted. No, just kidding, but their stuff was really that wonderful. Instead, I selected this nuno felted scarf. Nuno felt is lightweight enough for me to wear even in the desert where I live. Plus, we were having some nippy days in Germany and I was envying the other women and their cozy scarves. I love the bold poppies against the black. I wear a lot of white and black and a splash of red is always a good thing.



Next, in keeping with my poppy theme, I chose this felted necklace. The artist behind these works in felt is Anita Auer. She happened to be working in the shop that day and we exchanged cards. You can see more of her creations on the store's website.


The other art that kept grabbing my attention was the paper work of Ina Zeller-Bleil. Here's a link to a gallery of her art. She makes jewelry and sculputres and they are just so striking. I picked out this bracelet as a keepsake. The bells are sculpted paper attached to a crocheted wire base. I love her style which seems to range from whimsical to truly captivating.

I was so thrilled to discover the Kiss-House Artisans. What a wonderful collective and collection of extraordinary crafts!

A Felted Photograph

Prepare to be inspired! Here's the Christmas present one of my customers created for her parents this year. She put her felting talents to work and made two incredible felted photographs. The one I have pictured here is her mom. I think she did an amazing job capturing her likeness.

It started a few weeks before Christmas when Angela contacted me in search of natural, black and gray roving. I was delighted when she came back to share her finished art. If you're wondering how she was able to reproduce the pictures in such detail, I'll let Angela explain:

"...I altered photos of my parents using a graphics program to give them a "mosaic look" (3 colors only). I then drew a grid on the printed pictures and copied that grid (with the mosaic shapes) onto a piece of flat felt. I then needle felted using the 3 colors you sent me. As a final step, I added tiny details (like the white around Mom's eyes) and those details are what really brought out the likeness. I then cut the image away from the felt (but, of course, left the felt on the back of the fiber) because there were still pen marks on the felt from my grid pattern. I then felted the mosaics onto a clean felt background, cut around the edges, and framed in shadow boxes."

I think framing the finished felted photos in shadow boxes was a nice touch. What an amazing gift and what a sensational idea! A big thanks to Angela for generously detailing her project and allowing me to share it with you!

Love Felt? I've got a blog for you!

This little fiber star is from one of my own nuno felting projects, but I'm actually writing today with a blog recommendation. If you love felt, there is a blog that I think you'll enjoy. It's name is Wool love-functional fiber art.

I've been following this blog for a little while now, and I always enjoy seeing what this fiber artist will post next. She is nothing short of prolific in her devotion to felt.

In her latest post, she's creating a Christmas stocking, but don't stop there. Take a minute and scroll through some of her work. She makes gorgeous pillows and purses. She is simply always up to something!

For a long time now I've been thinking that I should share this blog with others. I have so many people come to my blog to see some of the nuno felt artists I have featured, so now I'm promoting a whole blog full of fabulous felt. Enjoy!

Two New Corriedale Wool Samplers

Last week I added two new wool samplers to my inventory at Wind Rose. Corriedale has a nice (approx 4") staple length and its a great choice for both wet felting and needle felting. It's also a good choice for beginning spinners. The length and crimp of this fiber make it a little easier to handle than some. I've been assembling these 2oz samplers in convenient color groupings to make it easy to collect all of your favorite shades.

On the left is Maple Tree. It's .5oz each of brown, orange, hunter green and yellow. This if perfect for your fall felting projects. I can see the pumpkins now! On the right is a mix I gave a long name too. It's a little ridiculous, but I named this one Cool Blush Warm Glow. This is less of a theme than Maple Tree, but it includes four very useful colors. There's dark charcoal and pink as well as a cool beige and a warm wine. These are the kind of colors that you find yourself in need of when felting things like animals and nature.

My Wool Samplers section is getting pretty full. There just seems to be a need for small quantities in a wide variety of colors. It's a nice and inexpensive way to build your wool inventory. If you'd like to see the rest, I have a Contemporary Wool Sampler, my Skin Tones Sampler, Back to Basics (a fave) and even a Classic Christmas collection.

Handmade Dolls from Kyrgyzstan ~ Felt and Embroidery

Can you believe that I still have more folk art to share from the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market? You're probably wondering if there is anything I didn't come home with. The truth is, there were so many amazing artists, that it was painful to pick and choose. There are booths that I still think about and wish I had gone back to!

The felted and embroidered dolls that I'm sharing today were part of an extraordinary display from Kyrgyzstan. All of the designs were so dear, but I loved these two ladies that had a more traditional style to them. They seemed to be a true reflection of the artist, Erkebu who was also there in traditional dress.

"Erkebu Djumagulova is a textile artist from the capital city of Bishtek, Kyrgyzstan, who is a master at capturing the expressions and customs of the villagers of her native Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia through the intricately dressed dolls she makes from embroidered felt wool, silk and yarn. Drawn to the traditional Kyrgyz felt arts since childhood, Erkebu followed her dreams all the way to professional art college where she carefully researched and learned the intricate arts of felt making from local folk artists around the country. Today, her repertoire includes traditional clothes and decorated household items in addition to the felt dolls for which she is most well known."

Information about Erkebu Djumagulova provided by the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market website.

Crocheted Copper and Fiber Bracelet

Can you believe it's June already? One more school day and my kids will officially be on summer break. I can never tell whether I get more or less accomplished at Wind Rose during the summer. I feel like I'm goofing off, but in the end, I always manage to work in some creative time.

Yesterday morning, this idea came to me as I was getting ready for the day. It's a crocheted copper chain bracelet with felted fiber embellishments. I've been playing around with different kinds of felted beads lately, and this is the latest incarnation.

The clasp I'm using is a 3 strand slide lock. Starting at one end and working my way back and forth, I've created five chains which produce a bangle effect. I weave the fiber into and felt it right on the chain. In this one I have used copper wire and multicolored fiber. Here are a few more pictures:



I wish I had a hand model so I could show you how it looks on an actual person. So what do you think? Cute? Weird? Would you wear it?

I wore one out yesterday while I was doing a little shopping. It was very comfortable on and it made me happy whenever I looked down and saw it on my wrist. It's a little different and has kind of a funky edge. Well anyway, that's what I'm playing around with today.

Merino Wool Skin Tone Samplers ~ They're Back!

For the past two days I've been dyeing away and the results are in. Back in stock at Wind Rose Fiber Studio are the ever popular Merino Wool Skin Tone Samplers.

There are two to choose from:
.25oz each of 10 Great Colors or
.5oz each of the same 10 Shades

Whether you select the smaller or larger sampler, these are the colors included:

In the middle: Porcelain Fair and Sun Touched
Starting from the top middle and working clockwise: South Pacific, Golden Brown, *Precious Peach, Mediterranean, Peach Glow, *Crimson Pink, Deeper Brown and Chestnut Brown

That's the 8 skin tones that have become so well loved at Wind Rose, plus two *bonus colors. I thought it would be nice to include pink and peach as well. There are a limited quantity, so I like to let my blog readers know right away when I have them in stock. They tend to move pretty fast.

Time To Fly

I just had to conduct a search of my own blog to find a post I wrote on Feb. 16. The post was called Loving The Craft Supplies From Dreamweavers (I really need to learn to give my blog posts shorter names) and in that post I had pictures of a hair clip base and back along with a rough idea of what I wanted to make.

Just in case you were starting to lose confidence in my ability to complete a project, look here! Yesterday I sat down with my components from Dreamweavers and some of my homemade felt. I knew I wanted to do some beadwork and I had also just recently ripped apart an old watch. I thought maybe I'd try a little steampunk.

As it turns out, my style is now what I'm calling "Wonderland". I seem to lean towards fantasy and it didn't hurt that my son was watching Disney's Alice in Wonderland while I worked on my clip. I have always enjoyed playing around with findings and using them in different ways. For example, the antennae on my butterfly are the loop ends of two earwires used for making earrings.

I also like to think in terms of layers; metal base, felt, beads, beads on top of beads and so forth. I don't like things to look flat. The two colors of blue in the felt help to begin to add depth. The clock butterfly is a five layer piece making it the focal point. Then I gave him a little butterfly friend which I attached to a coil. I wanted this little guy to look like he was in flight. Then I needed leaves and flowers because butterflies like that sort of thing.

I also like to keep my creations fun and lighthearted. Time to Fly, my name for this hair clip, has three moving parts. The small butterfly wiggles, the leaf moves from side to side and the clock face can turn all the way around. It could even be upside down if you were feeling a bit comical.

So I had a great time with my craft products from Dreamweavers. I have a few more items from them with which to experiment. What will I make next?

Little Felted Kitty

I love it when people send me pictures! It always feels like a special gift when my customers come back to share what they have made with their roving.

This sweet, little, needle felted kitty is one of LIL KEEPER'S TINY TREASURE'S. She was made from Merino wool roving. Merino is very soft and a nice choice when you're making a little animal. After all, kittens are super soft and when your work is this cute, people are going to want to pet it!

Merino Wool Skin Tone Samplers!

I can't even tell you how many times I've had customers at Wind Rose ask me if I plan to make my skin tone line into samplers. Well I finally did it!

I'm holding my breath as I post this, because making samplers is a lot of work and I have a feeling they are going to fly out of the shop. I'm bracing myself for the WOOSH as out they zoom! Samplers are quite a commitment, because when they're out of stock, people actually expect you to restock them! LOL!

I've decided to devote myself to doing just that. So let me show you the samplers. First up and in the top, right picture, Merino Wool Skin Tone Sampler (.25 oz Each of 10 Great Colors). This sampler includes two *bonus colors, but let me tell you all 10, The colors are ~ In the middle: *Pink and Porcelain Fair. Starting from the top middle and working clockwise: South Pacific, Sun Touched, Peach Glow, *Raisin Bark, Deep Brown, Golden Brown, Chestnut Brown and Mediterranean.




The second sampler, Merino Wool Skin Tone Sampler (.5oz Each of 8 Great Colors), has all eight of the skin tones from my original line. The colors are ~ In the middle: Porcelain Fair. From the top middle and working clockwise: South Pacific, Sun Touched, Peach Glow, Deep Brown, Golden Brown, Chestnut Brown and Mediterranean.

I have just a few of each, and restocking can take some time, so come and get 'em!

The Skin Tones Are Coming!

This is a picture of what the floor of my studio looks like tonight. That's 3 pounds and 2 ounces of wool laying out to dry. We are having our third rainy weekend in a row which is very unusual for AZ this time of year. This has forced me to use my studio as a drying room.

Except for the pink in the foreground, it's wall to wall skin tones. A customer made a request for one of each color which was the motivation I needed to not only dye my out of stock colors, but the complete set of eight.

It's pretty much impossible to dye every skin tone, but I have designed a line to represent different ethnicities from all over the world. The colors include: Porcelain Fair, Peach Glow, Sun Touched, South Pacific, Mediterranean, Golden Brown, Chestnut Brown, and Deeper Brown.

So I'm not just here to report that I'm about to have all of my skin tones back in stock. I have even better news. I've had so many people ask and now, for the first time, I'm going to make samplers out of the collection. The samplers will include all eight colors. I actually plan to make two. One sampler will be .5oz of each color and then I'm going to make another with .25 of each color plus two bonus colors.

Felting friends have expressed an interest in smaller sizes even smaller than the 1oz size I now offer. I am pleased to be able to finally offer my skin tone line in a sampler. Putting these sets together is a lot of work and very time consuming. That's part of the reason it has taken me so long to make them. I have a feeling that once they are in the store, they won't last very long. As soon as I get them listed, I'll be back to post links for you. I want my interested blog readers to get first dibs!

Needle Felters, I Need Feedback Please

Every year I look to expand my inventory and offer my customers even more of what they are looking for. As a fiber shop that sells fiber by the ounce, I have always had the felting community in mind. For quite some time I have been thinking about selling felting needles, but I only want to sell them if I can offer a good price. That's leads me to my questions:

Is $12.oo too much to pay for 10 medium felting needles?
Do you buy your needles individually or in bulk?
Is 10 a nice amount to buy at a time?
Do you use a felting tool?

Thank you for your help!

I Love Felt!

I really do! I think what draws me to the felting community is that they seem to be having so much fun. It's the joy of fiber arts literally coming to life in figures of all shapes and sizes, overflowing with personality.

A few months ago I started to get orders from a new customer. Since then, she has shared some pictures with me so I can see my roving in action. Writersweekly (her Etsy username) made this fantastic fellow just a couple days ago. She started out making a doll for her nephew, but in her own words, it "morphed into a beach bum hippie".

Don't you just love it when a project takes on a life of its own? Somehow there was a crazy hippie in that roving just wanting to come out.




This bull is another piece of her work. How can a bull look so sweet? I'm attracted to the lines created by the light roving on the bulls head. They add a softness and movement that liven up the face. So often it's the little touches that make these felted wonders stand out.

I want to thank writersweekly for sharing her work with me and allowing me to share it with you. It's always such a pleasure to see what people are making with their needles and wool!

Hand Painted Falkland Top

I'm bummed about my pictures today! It's cloudy here in Phoenix and I couldn't get my camera to take a good photo to save my life. I must have taken 100 pictures trying, but they all came out either too dark or with too much reflection. So sad!

I have posted these, my new colorways at Wind Rose. However, I hope to improve upon the pics the first chance I get. Let me introduce you, from left to right:

Alien Nightfall ~ This roving is painted a beautiful night blue with shocks of chartreuse popping out.

Cherry Tree ~ This one is a vibrant blend of cherry with olive and brown tones.

My Fair Lady ~ Finally, this roving was created with fair skin tones in mind. For anyone who felts dolls or animals, they'll find peach, porcelain as well as pink and very light brown. This came out a little heavier on the pink than I planned, so in the future, it will have more light brown and a pink that is even more fair. If you spin, my first thought when I saw how this roving turned out was "baby girl". This colorway would make beautiful baby clothes and accessories.

Good Earth ~ Hand Painted Merino

Good Earth is the result of my latest efforts. I couldn't resist painting a roving using every one of the most popular earth and skin tone colors that I have developed for my shop. There are 8 shades in all. In one four ounce piece of roving, you'll find ecru, yellow and red based browns and olive tones.

I think it's really interesting how it all turned out and I would love to see how it looks spun up. It may be the felting community who really likes this one though. Anyone who felts nature items, animals or even dolls should be able to find colors that will work for them.

If this colorway finds fans, I'll keep it in the inventory. Otherwise, I'm thinking about splitting things up. I'm going to design a naturally light colorway and then a naturally darker one. So often I have crafters looking for doggie colors or skin tones and what they really want is a little bit of each color. It would be too difficult as a one woman show to break my inventory into bits and pieces, but perhaps I can give them what they need in one painted piece. That's my plan and what I'm currently working on.

Corriedale Wool Sampler 6oz

At some point I'm going to have to stop all of this listing and go buy a turkey, but let me procrastinate a little longer and show you what I've been up to today.

I have one more sampler. This is a big six ounce Corriedale Wool Sampler. These are commercially dyed and I know that makes a difference to some folks, so I want to be clear. On the other hand, these would make a wonderful gift along with a drop spindle or perhaps some felting needles.

Corriedale has a longer staple length, between 4 and 5 inches. This makes it much easier to handle if you are using a drop spindle or even a spinning wheel. The fibers just won't come apart on you that easily. Felters like that they can quickly cover more surface area in less time.

When I look at these colors, Jet Black, Silver Grey, Pagoda, Dark Blue, Olive Green and Crabapple, I can see so many possible combinations. You could spin some striking skeins of yarn and that's a fact!

Classic Christmas Hand Dyed Wool Sampler 2oz

I had to make one more sampler. You just gotta have those classic Christmas colors! So here's my Classic Christmas Hand Dyed Wool Sampler.

There are .5oz each of Fire Red BFL, Happy Green Merino, and Silver Falkland. All have been hand dyed right here at Wind Rose. This sampler also includes .5oz of sparkling snow white Firestar.

This is perfect for needle felting holiday ornaments or embellishing your Christmas handmade projects. It would also make a lovely gift for someone who loves working with fiber. Happy Holidays!

Contemporary Holiday Wool Sampler

Here is something brand new at Wind Rose and just in time for the holidays. It's my Contemporary Holiday Sampler. I get asked to make samplers all the time. With my hand dyed roving, it's almost too labor intensive for me to keep samplers in stock and keep up with everything else I do. Yet, it's the holidays and I know people are having fun making small felted ornaments or shopping for gifts. I don't think I could call myself a proper fiber studio if I didn't offer something for the season!

This is a 2oz sampler offering Four Modern Holiday Colors. It contains .5oz each of Crabapple, Olive Green, Dark Blue and Silver Grey. This is Corriedale wool so it wet and needle felts great! The generous 5" staple length of the fiber makes it a perfect choice for both beginning and experienced spinners!

So if you just can't resist a sampler, or if you have a friend who spins or felts in your life, this will make a perfect gift for the holidays!