A recent discussion on the
Felting and Fiber Forum reminded me of a technique I haven't used for a while, it relies the quality of some coarser wools to migrate through (engulf) finer wools, Gotland is a good example of this.
For this cat cave I laid out 3 layers of Gotland, some thin plastic resist in a scroll pattern and 2 layers of teal merino.
Here you can see the Gotland already starting to invade the merino after just 100 rolls:
The pattern on the finished cave before shaving, the Gotland has engulfed the merino except where the plastic resist was placed (even there it has tried to migrate over the merino (it really is the Japanese Bind Weed of the wool world):
And after shaving:
This is the resist and the finished cave, it shrank just a little during the fulling!
The finished cave is about 60 cm across.
I feel silly asking, but was it difficult to remove the resist since the Gotland is so fierce in penetrating the merino? I bought some Gotland roving and had made a sample using it alone. I have to say that I really hate the hairyness of it. Although, I bought some locks from Zara (since the curls are so gorgeous) I am not giving up on Gotland. Does I corporating a finer wool over the Gotland lead to less hairyness that using Gotland alone? My orginal thought when I bought the roving was to use it for slippers. But since it is so itchy, I don't think I will use it. I did see your slippers you made with Gotland and Merino as a design. Did you shave those as well? I apologize for such a long comment. I think the cave looks great! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Angie, not a silly question at all! For this cave I used a very thin decorator's plastic for the resist so you can't tell it's still in there (I didn't remove it). Gotland is incredibly hairy, I made one bowl that I left hairy (I like to stroke it like a dog) but every other piece I have shaved, if you add any decoration the hairiness tends to overwhelm it.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to use your Gotland for slippers I recommend at least 4 layers of a softer wool on the inside, I like Gotland for structural pieces because it fulls to a very firm felt. Please post some pics on the forum when you've decided what to make :)
Lovely cat cave! The Gotland is like something out of a horror story the way it gobbles up other wool isn't it?
ReplyDeleteThanks Lyn, I'm not sure it is even safe to store in plastic bags next o other wools! ;)
DeleteThat is so cool Teri!
ReplyDeleteThanks :)
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