New England Felting Supply is now offering Nancy Dorian Silks in their felting kits!

These are great kits to have on hand … everything you need to felt your own nuno scarf. The kits include directions, bubble wrap, wool roving and one of my hand-painted Dorian silk scarves. Beginner and experienced felters will love the grab-and-go packs. Stop by and see them at New England Felting Supply … they make great holiday gifts for the felter in your life!

The sixth annual Fiber Twist in Deerfield Mass was great!!

I’m still pumped with adrenaline! Such a nice size show with so much luscious fiber. I had really nice neighbors … Dirty Water DyeWorks with all their lovely hand dyed yarns on one side and Sojourner Design with piles of carded fiber among other beautiful supplies on the other. Wish I had had time to take a saunter around with so much gorgeousness all around me. The traffic was almost non-stop. Some of my things found new homes … the first one out of the nest was my lovely white-on-white shawl. It has been one of the inspirations for a wedding outfit I am designing with a bride-to-be.

SOLD!

Feeling really grateful today and everyday for being able to do what I LOVE and make a living at it besides! I feel so blessed. My company was founded on the belief that doing what you love brings JOY and right now my heart is BURSTING with it!! Keep it coming universe!

My next show is at The Fiber Festival of New England on Nov 6&7 at the BigE fair grounds in West Springfield Mass. Hope to see you all there!

my laugh-in scarves will be selling in the berkshires this summer!!

I taught a great nuno ribbon felt scarf workshop at the hotchkiss school in lakeville ct last saturday. there was a grandmother/ mother/ daughter/ niece, a mother/daughter and an aunt/neice in the mix which made it really nice. As usual … ALL the scarves were beautiful. I haven’t seen any that weren’t beautiful yet. on the way home I decided to stop in great Barrington mass to see if I could find any new wholesale accounts. and there was EVERGREEN. Barbara, the owner happened to be there and loved my ponchos, so I’m sewing some up for the 4th of july weekend. then i figured i was on a roll, so i stopped in at the purple plume in lenox mass. the owner, judie, gave me a very cheery welcome and ended up wanting to carry my laugh-in scarves! I’ve been in the back yard painting up a storm on these gorgeous summer days. It doesn’t get much better than this!!

It’s spring!! and that brings new nuno ribbon felt scarves

the spring line is shaping up

here is a little sneak peak

wow … more media attention! nice mention in the times union in albany NY

Anyone who has a fiber addiction will be in good company here.

http://blog.timesunion.com/fiberarts/

My friend Harriet Levy, an avid knitter and spinner, wrote a fun piece about the dangers of knitting. Pick up those needles at your own risk!

I must confess … after learning to knit at the tender age of six,

I went on to crocheting, then sewing, needlepoint, pottery,

dabbled in weaving,

stained glass, jewelry, driftwood, shells and feathers, beads.

then, knitting over-sized garments and bags to then shrink down to felt

… onto silk painting and hand-dyeing silk yardage

which naturally progressed to nuno felting and dyeing my own roving

and, oh ya, did I mention I just bought a spinning wheel?

Fall line-up of nuno felting classes and workshops

My fall schedule of classes and workshops is growing everyday.

I will be adding them here on a regular basis, so stop in often to see what unfolds!

2009 workshops

saturday, sept 26
• ribbon felt scarves •  10-4pm
alchemy initiative
www.AlchemyInitiative.org.com

saturday, oct 31
• ribbon felt scarves •  9-4pm
new england felting supply
www.feltsupply.com

classes

mondays, sept 14 – dec 14
• knitting •   6-8pm
holyoke creative arts center
www. holyoke cac.org

wednesdays, oct 7 – 28
• ribbon felt scarves •  6:15-8:15pm
holyoke community college
www.hcc.edu/

thursdays, oct 22 – nov 12
• ribbon felt scarves •  6-8pm
WEBS
www.yarn.com

Hand-painted silk yardage anyone?

Love, love, love creating this luscious yardage! When the weather is nice, I’m outside dyeing and felting. So inspiring being out in nature with all the great colors and textures. Can’t help but take my inspiration from it. Many are like Monets on silk! I’ve been offering my silks by the yard at New England Felting Supply and to my students when I teach. This stuff is so wonderful to felt on. I use it for my base in some of my scarves. I’m going to sew up some silk ponchos or wraps with it, too!

progress on the new studio for felting and fibering

I decided last fall to move the studio to the house. That way I would save a ton of time and money by not going back and forth all the time. When I was here … I always needed something there and vise versa. Not to mention cheaper rent and besides it helps get the laundry done when the studio is next to the washing machine. Well … you know how moving can be. Some of us sail right through it and everything is set up in a day. Let’s just say I’m not one of those people. We moved the studio in late October and by December I decided I had to have that area of the basement sheet rocked to give it a more inviting feel. So, I enthusiastically jumped into that project (quite possibly to prolong the unpacking part of the process) and took progress picture as I went. Now that it’s April I am finally getting around to posting them. I’m telling myself it’s not because I’m stalling on unpacking the studio, but that might have something to do with it. If any of you artist type people out there are anything like me, you have so much stuff to make stuff with …. that it’s hard to get organized enough to make stuff. But, alas, the desire and need to “make”  is becoming overwhelming and soon that studio will be ready to roll! Who knows … maybe I’ll even do a few mini-workshops here!

Yay! I’m getting there!

if you get into rust dyeing this might happen to you!

That’s right folks .. there I am dumpster diving!!  I have been experimenting with dyeing with rusty objects.  It is sooo cool.  You find a bunch of stuff that will rust and lay it on your silk, add a little vinegar and voila … beautious fabric.  The reaction time is as little as 24 hours.  I didn’t think this up myself.  I had heard of it from reading about nuno felting with Polly Stirling.  This process was used at one of her retreats.  I can really see myself doing workshops on dyeing with found rusty objects.  Stayed tuned for a workshop near you.

So anyway, I did a few tests to find out what I liked and didn’t like and then did a body of work that reflects what I came up with.  Still not sure what these fine silks will become.  Something flowy and layered no doubt.

Doing this has triggered a whole theme of dyeing silk with objects from the Mill River in Haydeville, MA.  A dam broke up stream and washed away a brass foundry in 1874.  I spent the better part of a day last summer collecting items from the river that are obviously from the ruins.  But that’s a whole other blog post!

Nuno Scarf Workshop with Jean Gauger of Sugar Plum Originals

Spent all day Saturday at a great workshop learning some of the possibilities of nuno felting. Amazing! Jean is a natural and I feel so fortunate to have crossed paths. The workshop was held at New England Felting supply in Easthampton, so we had all that luscious merino wool and beautiful hand dyed silks to choose from. Owner Chris White is a renowned felter and author and a wealth of information. Now I’ve been bitten by the nuno bug and have all sorts of ideas brewing. Can’t wait to stop documenting and start playing! I love the way the felt gives way to the windows of shear silk. My first nuno scarf is at left. I used my hand painted silk for a canvas and then “painted” with merino wool. Reminds me of stained glass only softer.