Filcani copati - Felted slippers

Takole poteka delo od kupa česane volne do filcanih copatov:

- Volno sem natehtala na-  Volno sem natehtala, za vsako stran modela - levo in desno, zgoraj in spodaj - štirje kupčki ...
This is how I proceeded when I made a pair of felted slippers:
-  I weighed four heaps of carded wool, one for each half of the resist, for the upper and the lower side...

... razporedila po modelu, omočila, najprej na eni in nato na drugi strani ...

-   I layered it onto the template, wetted, on each side ...

-  filcala na eni...
- felted on one side ...

-   in nato na drugi strani ...  
- and then on the other side

- ko se je navzgor potegnil ves filc, ko sem ga povlekla in ni več razpadal na posamezna vlakna (pinch test), sem prerezala ... 
-   I made the pinch test and cut the felt...

-  in izvlekla model...
-  removed the resist ...

-  nato sem najprej utrdila prerezani rob na obeh copatih (levi je že, desni še ne, če se slučajno ne vidi dobro)...
- I secured the cut felt on each slipper (the one on the left is done and the one on the right not yet, in case the picture doesn't show it well) ...

- vsak copat posebej filcala od zunaj in od znotraj ...
-  I continued to felt each slipper on the outside and the inside ...

-  tule je zraven vileda za primerjavo velikosti pred dodatnim filcanjem in skrčenjem ...
 - the washing cloth (19 x 19 cm) to show the size before fulling and shrinking ...

- oprala, da sem izprala vso milnico, pa tudi rese, ki so v naši domači volni... 
- I washed several times to rinse out all detergent ...

- copate sem tokrat strojno pobarvala s sintetično barvo Marabu Fashion Colour, temno zelena, za bombaž (na volno je prijela zelo malo).
-  and dyed the slippers in the machine this time, using the synthetic dark green Marabu Fashion Colour for cotton (it dyed wool poorly).

V pralnem stroju so se copati zelo skrčili: računala sem na številko 41, dobila pa sem komaj 38. Tole pranje v stroju je problem, ki ga moram še rešiti :-(

In the washing machine the slippers shrank to number 38 when I was after 41 - machine washing is a problem yet to be solved :-(



Ampak copati so luštni, nosijo se prijetno - čisto pravi lepi filcani copati!
Nevertheless, the slipers are cute, cosy to wear - a good pair of beautiful felted slippers!

Topla volnena kapa - A warm wool hat

Tole kapo sem spletla za sina, po njegovih željah: kite različnih širin, neraztegnjene - močno reliefne, kapa tako dolga, da se zadaj pobesi, iz debele volnene preje iz treh niti. Barvana je (verjetno) z rabarbarinimi listi v eni štreni v več stopnjah, tako da je v dveh niansah, vmes pa še prevezana, da je ostala skoraj bela oziroma zelo svetla. Dodala sem še enobarvno svetlo in še tretjo volno v malo bolj zelenkastih niansah. Pa vse je moralo biti namešano brez določenega reda, v nepravilnih presledkih, tako da mi je tudi pri kitah "ratalo" kaj nepravilnega, he-he!

The hat was knit for my son, custom made to his desire: the plaits are of various widths, not stretched so that they remain strongly embossed, the hat is so long that it hangs down at the back, and the wool yarn is three-ply. It was dyed (probably) with rhubarb leaves in one long skein in several degrees so that the colour is in two nuances. Besides, I tied it in several places where it remained almost white. I also used a yarn of very light solid colour and a third yarn in greenish colours. All this had to be mixed without any defined pattern, at irregular lengths, so that some irregularities also moved into the plaits, he-he!

Praznično - Sweet holiday season

In prišel je Božič in postavila sem jaslice, spekla potico, okrasilo božično drevesce, šla k polnočni maši ... res lep čas!
Tudi vam ga želim obilo!

So Christmas came and I set up the Nativity and baked the potica and decorated the Christmas tree, went to the Midnight Mass ... what a sweet time!
I wish you a very happy holiday season!

Volna vs. bombaž - Wool vs cotton

Tole ni kakšna pajčevina, ampak štrenice bombažne preje, prevezane z volneno prejo. In kaj je tu tako zanimnivega? Zame to, da sta bili obe barvani hkrati v istem loncu. Ta razlika, kako rastlinsko barvilo prime volna (namreč odlično) in koliko rastlinske barve sprejme bombaž - bore malo.
This is not a spiderweb but small skeins of cotton yarn tied with wool yarn. And what is so interesting about it? For me it is the fact that both were dyed in the same dyepot at the same time. The difference between the amount of plant dye taken by wool (excellent) and that taken by cotton (poor).

Tele niti so bile pobarvane z zelenimi orehovimi lupinami. Volna je temno rjava, bombaž pa sivkasto bež. Na nekaj mestih je videti precej močneje rdečkasto rjavo obarvane madeže. Nastali so tako, da sem vlažno prejo obesila nad lonec in jo samo delno pomočila v barvilno raztopino. Barva je nato potovala po mokri preji navzgor: različne barve, ki jih vsebujejo zelene orehove lupine, so potovale različno visoko, kar se na zviti štrenici ne vidi tako dobro, ko je visela nad loncem, pa je bilo dobro vidno. 

No, takole se igram z rastlinskimi barvili in temu rečem "rastlinska barvna kromatografija", he-he.

These yarns were dyed with green walnut hulls. The wool is dark brown and the cotton greyish-beige. Some spots are dyed fairly better - there are reddish-brown colorations. They developed when I hung the moist skein above the dyepot and dipped only a part into the dyeing solution. The colour travelled up the moist yarn: different colours contained in green walnut hulls travelled different distances upwards, which is not so well seen on the twisted skein but was very well seen on the skein hanging above the pot.

 Well, this is how I play with plant dyes and call it "plant colour chromatography", he-he.

Zmanjkalo volne - Ran out of wool yarn

Za tole malenkost mi je zmanjkalo volne. A ni to grozno? Morala bom levo nogavico malo sparati, pa narediti malo krajšo, potem še desno malo sparati...

I ran out of yarn for this little bit. Ain't it horible? I'll have to unravel the upper part of the left sock, make it a bit shorter, then unravel the right one a bit .... grrrrh

Sicer je pa volna barvana kontaktno s koreninami rabarbare in s skorjo nekega grma, za keterega sva s kmetom mislila, da je mogoče krhlika, pa ni. Če bi bila, naj bi dala rdečo (doslej sem dobila samo roza).

Anyway, the wool yarn was contact dyed with rhubarb roots and the bark of a bush that was believed (or hoped) to be alder buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula). If it were it was to yield red (so far I have only obtrained pink).     

Mi je pa precej všeč to prelivanje sive, rjave, rumene, celo malo rdeče na nogavicah.

I must say I quite like the variegation of greys, browns, yellows, even reds in the socks.