Catching Up

'Zooks! September is one of my favorite months and it's already more than half over. I guess that's an indication that there's been lots going on. I think rather than writing a lengthy post heavy with photos, I'll try making several shorter posts.

So for starters, here's the felted wren hostel that I made at our last feltmakers meeting.



I used a flat resist - a circle of 1/4" thick foam with a 12" diameter. The wools were all medium to coarse, all easy felters - Karakul, Romney, Border Leicester. (Even though it's splendid wool for rugs and other items that will get hard use, I just cannot love Karakul. It's too darn hairy.) Before I went home, I gave the remains of my Karakul stash to a friend.

I removed the foam resist as soon as the wools began to feel as though they were meshing. If you leave the resist in too long, it will be very difficult to get the ridge at the edge of the resist smoothed out. I was careful not to cut too large a hole in the loosely felted wool so that the entrance to my birdhouse would only be accessible to smaller birds. As it is, it's still a pretty generous opening.

At home, after the finished piece had dried, I needlefelted the green vinework to decorate the exterior. It looked cozy but still seemed to be lacking something. I dug up some curly Border Leicester locks from my wool stash and needlefelted some around the base of the hanging loop.



It's not the nesting season for any of our local bird crowd so I'm going to store my hostel until next spring. Then I'll try to find a sheltered, inviting spot to hang it. The Carolina wrens are pros at using small, protected nooks to build their nests. Hopefully a chirpy couple will choose my wren hostel for their 2011 broods. I'll let you know!