Needle Felted Dorper Sheep

I decided to make a last minute present of a needle felted sheep. Dorpers are one of the favorite breeds of  sheep of people who keep sheep to train their border collies on. They are hair sheep - meaning they don't have usable fleece. They are very hardy, parasite resistant and easy keepers.They often have dark heads and white bodies although mixes come in all sorts of pretty spots and colors.

Mills and Snowmen

Here's the finished warping mill cut down to just fit on my folding table. It's not as small as the one online but I didn't want to cut too much. It actually works better than it did originally.

And here's the needle felting project.

Mini Warping Mill

One major obstacle to weaving in a camper is winding a warp.
Several years ago I had made a warping mill out of pvc pipe. It wasn't elegant, but it saved wear and tear on my arm trying to use a warping board.
When I moved to Texas and into a camper, I found the warping mill was just too big and I didn't have a table to set it on.

It also seems to be missing one cross piece.

While browsing online, I came across a teeny tiny warping mill. That started my brain cranking out ideas. What if I cut this warping mill down to fit my small folding table?  PVC is easy to cut and drill and I'd have something I could actually use. I won't be doing any large pieces for a while until I find a place where I can use my floor looms. Better to make small pieces and stitch them together than none at all.

I'll start on this as soon as I finish my needle felting projects.

Little loom.

I dragged my homemade table loom into the camper so I can work on the rugs. I have to move it to open the fridge or make the bed but otherwise it fits pretty well. Now I just need to get something for the warp. I'm thinking I'd like to get some nylon string that won't rot out, even though I hate working with it. It's slippery and a little harder to warp the loom. I'm better at warping now so it should be ok.

Re Rag Rug Experiment

I've heard about people taking a rag rug apart and re-weaving it, especially if it was a family heirloom that was coming apart. This isn't exactly a family heirloom, but it certainly was coming apart. The string warp was breaking, but the cloth weft was still in pretty good shape if somewhat faded. The fading seems to give it a softer look.
It came apart pretty easily, but I should have measured it before I started ripping it apart so I'd know how much rug I'll have to work with. I don't have a place to set up my bigger looms so I'm going to see what I can do with a table loom. I think I'll make smaller pieces and stitch them together.

More Lucets

I made these lucets after reading up on home made ones. The green one is made from polymer clay. It was old and somewhat dried out and I'm not good with clay either. I don't even have an oven, but I read that you could put it in a plastic container and cover it with water and harden it in the microwave! It worked! The yarn is a little thick and stiff and it doesn't slide very well. I have to fiddle with each knot to get the right tension. I think it's the yarn though. When I'm done with this one, I'll try a different yarn.
The fork one is slippery enough, but it's small and fiddly. I'm not a tiny and fiddly kind of person. I think it would work better if I hadn't bent the tines out.
I don't know if I'll be able to do any cord thick enough to be a dog leash (although my old dog only needs a thin cord just to keep him from wandering out into the road when we walk.)
I managed to get a scrap of wood from a woodworker friend. When I get the ambition, I'll see if I can made a wooden one.

The Lucet

I've always been intrigued with lucet cording. It's an ancient craft and looked to me like it would go fast. I've done inkle weaving but it's a production to warp up a loom to do something simple like a dog leash. (Besides, my inkle loom is in storage)

I've tried kumihimo cording which does beautiful cords, but it's a bit tedious. Great for meditating.

I read that you could make simple lucets out of a plastic spoon by breaking off the two middle tines. I realized I had just the thing to practice on - a wooden shuttle.

Lucet YouTube Video

 This was my first practice piece with thick yarn. It was even easier than I thought and went fast. Now I really have to get a proper lucet.

How to Make a Lucet

 

Bass Cosy Part C

OK it's not pretty. But it has handles and padding. That's what counts. I DID say sewing wasn't my thing. I did add some buttons to keep it more or less closed. Turns out that with the padding and tufting, it came out smaller than I expected. I didn't want it too big so the bass would slide around, but too small isn't great either.

I can still add some tufting to keep the batts in place. I've done some but I'm easily bored.

Bass Cosy (Pt 2)

I took my stuff over to a friend's house to use her sewing machine. I got more done than I expected. I now have a fluffy case for my bass - almost. I still have to attach handles and do some tufting and attach velcro for closure. The thing is so fluffy, I decided it was a cosy instead of a gig bag. Well, it will keep my ubass nice and warm.

I was kind of winging it on this one. I'm not much for the sewing arts. I cut out the basic shape I wanted and sewed around the edges with the right sides together. I reached in and pulled right side out.  I had left an opening at one end to put the batts through. I had thought at first I would lay the batts down before sewing, but realized that would be a major mistake on this project. I had to sew up the top and bottom a bit. I didn't have a long zipper or even the money for a zipper so the two handles, one on each side will hold the bass in until I can get some Velcro to hold the sides shut.

Gig Bag (Bass Cosy Pt. 1)

I know I have been lax in the craft department. I just don't have the space right now to do much and I've been obsessed with playing music. See my music blog here.
I just finished making a music stand out of an old suitcase and my next project is to make a gig bag for my ubass. It is built on the body of a 3/4 size guitar so the bag will be guitar sized.
I didn't have any padding so I carded eight batts of fleece. I imagine that they will felt down over time, but if I put enough in there, it should be fine - if fluffy for a while. I'll be working on this at a friend's house tomorrow so I'll take some pictures as I go. For now, here's a picture of the instrument in need.

Slouch Hat

I just finished a new hat made from yarn scraps. I found the pattern on Ravelry and I absolutely love it. My other little cap made me look like a bag lady. This one does not slide down over my eyes like many of my other hats.
There are some other great patterns on there I'm going to try.