Sunday, October 07, 2007

oh, my aching limbs

Well I woke up this morning and my limbs did protest...

Could it be because, ever eager to try new things and expand my skills, I headed out here

yesterday morning?

Whoooops. That's just the view from where I headed yesterday. This is where I actually went:

the rather wonderful White House Arts.

Here Roger Prime

(felter, teacher and textiles whizz extraordinaire) showed us how to make reversible, seam-free bags in our very own felt. Roger is a wonderful tutor, enthusiastic, encouraging and able to diagnose why I went wrong when I did.

Once I was over my initial excitement at seeing a plethora of vivid shades of merino tops (from Wingham Woolwork), it all seemed so peaceful and relaxing...just roll gently, rub for a while, but I'd forgotten how my legs lock if I stand still for any length of time, and after 8 hours at the work bench, and rolling each of my 3 felt items over 800 times...I limped to the bus stop!

But look what I made: a small piece of felt (ideal for a tiny purse) with impressionistic "birds" (an idea pinched from Navajo weavings), a brown clutch bag to go with my favourite dress and also with one of my favourite hat/scarf combos (still got some finishing touches to add to the clutch bag, so watch this space)
and (hidden in the bubblewrap) a large, freeform pouch in a soft white, sandwiched around around the colour of kingfisher wing feathers, with highlights of terracotta, violet, lime, eau de nil, pink... This, too isn't quite ready for you to see yet (even though I completed the rolling and rubbing once I got home) as it has a hole at the bottom, so I'm going to be sewing later this week.


All in all, a brilliant day and I can't wait for the nuno felt course Roger is teaching next month! (But I will remind myself to walk round a bit more, in the hope of having less ouchy legs).

5 comments:

Heather said...

Beautiful! It looks like a great fun day, I hope your legs will be better soon!

Anonymous said...

Those are gorgeous, and it sounds like a lot of fun. I hope the sore, hurty legs feel better soon.

Pig wot flies said...

And there I was thinking you'd been rowing! Felting seems much more sensible, although I didn't know it was so hazardous to health. The results look very pretty.

Cornflower said...

Eight hours, Rosie? You've got stamina!
Sounds like a super day.

Liz said...

I've done felting and it really does require alot of physical stamina!! Which you realise the next day. Looks like a good place to be though, and not far from me. I may see you there sometime!