Needle Felted Kitty
This cat looks more at home in the snow. I like how its pose came out, it looks super intent and sneaky. I think it’s an adolescent cat that’s building up its hunting skills. This was my first animal with whiskers — they’re made of embroidery thread slid through beeswax. I liked the effect and added some to the pocket mouse as well. The tortoise … Continue reading Needle Felted Kitty
Needle Felted Duckling
As I mentioned in my previous post, the weather hasn’t been so good for photography — it was sunny for a while, but too windy and I couldn’t set felts down without them being carried away. Then it was grey and snowing for several days. Today it was sunny but snowy, which is probably as good as it’s going to get for a week at … Continue reading Needle Felted Duckling
Mary Barton Book Review + Junk journal pages and new felts
I hadn’t read anything by Elizabeth Gaskell before, and picked Mary Barton to accompany my investigations of the Industrial Revolution because both Nineteenth Century innovation and this book took place among the textile and steel mills of Manchester in the North of England. Continue reading Mary Barton Book Review + Junk journal pages and new felts
Needle Felted Hare
As I mentioned in the rabbit post, I wanted to make both a little rabbit and a jackrabbit, so here he is. So different from a tiny, round bunny — it was more like working on an antelope, with long legs for running or bouncing, and those huge, pink ears, veins showing to let the heat out. Perhaps if I make another it will be … Continue reading Needle Felted Hare
Needle Felted Chipmunk
Working on this chipmunk, I finally figured out how to make proper rodent paws, with some help from tutorials by other artists. It turns out the secret is wrapping tiny, thin bits of wool around a wire base, rather than trying to poke the wool in with a needle. I had known that was possible with yarn, and used it to bind the wires in my … Continue reading Needle Felted Chipmunk
Book Review: The Alchemy of Air
I enjoyed The Alchemy of Air — it was a good mix of science and history, showing the cycle of how problems produce solutions that produce other, unexpected problems. Continue reading Book Review: The Alchemy of Air
Tiny Needle Felted Bunny
I couldn’t decide whether to make a cute, round bunny, or an awkward, funny hare. I had just decided on the hare, when I saw this picture of a pigmy rabbit that apparently lives in Montana, and decided to do a tiny one first, then the hare. This tiny bunny is about 1.5 cubic inches, and is very cute in person, but a bit … Continue reading Tiny Needle Felted Bunny
Needle Felted Warbler
A friend recommended I make a warbler for spring. Looking them up, they have some great, fun patterns, so I made this yellow rumped warbler. The patterns came out rather nicely, I think. I’m still experimenting with different materials for feet. This bird has steel wire bound together with wrapped wool yarn. It’s sturdy and has the nice sharp look of bird feet, but … Continue reading Needle Felted Warbler
Needle Felted Desert Pocket Mouse
When I was about 10, I discovered polymer clay and fell in love with the ability to make any little figure I could imagine. That set off 10 years of fiddling with the medium, usually making heads (I was rarely up to the task of completing the bodies or clothing), and animals. Especially mice and miniature roses. When I asked what people would like to … Continue reading Needle Felted Desert Pocket Mouse
Book Review: The Most Powerful Idea in the World
The “most powerful idea” in question is that of intellectual property, and the book traces the dual history of steam engines, which had previously been invented by mechanical entertainers in ancient Greece, with similar preliminary discoveries in medieval China — and of patent law, which had seen a significant shift in English common law that paved the way for the invention boom that was to follow. Continue reading Book Review: The Most Powerful Idea in the World
