All Fiber Arts

Madder dye

Paivi Suomi — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 16:59:11 +0000

During winter months, I tend to dye yarns mostly with acid based dyes because they are quick reacting and simple to work with. Now that it is spring and the sun is shining, I can again do some dye work outside so work more with natural plant dyes. Natural dye baths and mordants require [...]

Felted cat bed

Paivi Suomi — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 15:52:27 +0000

My cat loves wool and crawling into small places to nap. I have many bags of wool so I thought I should make him his own special place to hide from dog and curl up.

I am using the wet felting method to make this cat cave. This project will take about 6 hours [...]

News031013

Paivi Suomi — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:29:40 +0000

Hi everyone, Easter and spring are quickly coming. Here are some highlights of projects I’ve been working on the past few months.

Felted Quail Eggs Why not felt a few eggs for your Easter basket?

Rebuilder Tapestry A new tapestry is underway at Chichester Cathedral.

Felted Pillow How to make a felted cushion [...]

news102712

Paivi Suomi — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:24:10 +0000

Hi Everyone,

Christmas is coming faster than we think. Here are some projects that you might like to try.

Needle Felted Christmas Ornaments You can easily make needle felted Christmas decorations using a cookie cutter as a template.

Santa Doll Knit a Santa doll and make him a hand felted Santa suit.

Super [...]

Crochet bowls

Paivi Suomi — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 09:11:12 +0000

Hemp Crochet Bowl

Crochet bowls are a fun project for a beginner and use up odd bits of yarn. I crocheted this bowl using one of the crochet bowl patterns below. I used a hemp yarn and size 3.5 crochet hook.

I have recently discovered double ended crochet hooks by Knit Pro [...]

Rebuilder tapestry

Paivi Suomi — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 15:55:16 +0000

LouLou Morris, one of the regulars to our local Stitch and Bitch group that meets on Monday evenings at The Park Tavern in Chichester, is also a tapestry weaver. Recently she was commissioned to weave a tapestry for the Chichester Cathedral to celebrate the rebuilding of the cathedral spire.

Artist Statement

Loulou Morris [...]

Felt pillow

Paivi Suomi — Sat, 16 Feb 2013 17:55:25 +0000

This is a project to felt and sew a hand felted cushion cover.

Materials used: Wool roving for making felt approx 1 yard of cotton fabric 16 inch zipper 19 inch pillow form

Hand made Felt

To make the felt top for this pillow, I made a large piece of felt approx [...]

Why Knit

Paivi Suomi — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 09:06:21 +0000

Why should you take up knitting?

Many people associate crafts like knitting and crocheting with old ladies, however this is a stereotype which could not be more wrong. An increasing number of young people are now getting into this creative past time and are knitting scarves, gloves and even toys. Plus [...]

waterlily

Paivi Suomi — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 18:50:03 +0000

A great way to use up some of your handspun stash is to knit flowers and felt them. Here is an example of a waterlily that I knitted. The pattern came from a book I purchased from Amazon – Knitted Flowers, 20 to make. The pattern calls for double knitting weight yarn. I substituted [...]

Russian join

Paivi Suomi — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 16:15:26 +0000

What is a Russian join? A Russian join is a very effective way to join 2 yarn ends without using a knot. It works well on any type of plied yarn, especially when the yarn doesn’t felt, such as for cotton, linen or superwash wool yarns. It can be used for knitting and crochet. [...]