Wednesday 6 May 2009

Filcani vazi - Two felted vases

Pred prvomajskimi prazniki sem šla na delavnico filcanja pri Alji Venturini [http://www.sredina.org/] in ustvarila tidve vazi, natančneje, en ovitek za vazo in eno okroglo posodo, ki je lahko tudi vaza. Med prazniki sem ju dokončala, po praznikih pa sem čakala na svetlejše vreme, da sem ju lahko še poslikala.
Just before the May holidays I attended a felting workshop given by Alja Venturini [http://www.sredina.org/] and created these two vases, or to be more precise, a wrap for a vase and a round bowl that may also be used as a vase. I finished them during the holidays, then waited for a brighter day to take the photos.

13 comments:

Tomaž Ovsenik said...

Bjutiful :)

Beth Grim said...

Nice work on your felted vases.
To answer your questions about the walnut hulls; I'm lucky enough to have a giant, old-growth Black Walnut tree near my house. When the nuts begin to fall from the tree,(in late Fall), every few days I walk around with a bucket, picking them up (green). I cover them with water and let them soak (with the lid on)until I'm ready to use them. I've had some soaking for over a year! When I'm ready to use them, I pour off some of the brown liquid and add a few handfuls of the soaked nuts to my dye pot, then proceed in the usual way. If the water in my storage bucket gets low, I just add more. Here's a photo of some yarn I dyed with the walnut: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3146/2326217756_1a18954843.jpg
I left this to soak in the dye-bath for a couple of weeks, and unfortunately, it got a little moldy. I like the color, though! Next time I do a long soak like that, I'll try the trick of bringing it to a simmer every other day, to kill the mold spores.
Hope that answers your questions!
Beth

Ladka said...

Beth, thank you very much for your exhaustive answer. The colour obtained in this way is lovely and interestingly different from anything I've obtained in my way. Walnuts are indeed a rich source of dyes. This is the charm of natural dyeing - no wonder it is so addictive.

Manya Maratou said...

Hello Ladka, I am Manya from greece- I love your colours and the felting work as well
about the walnuts- are they already formed in Slovenia? here they are still longish on the tree, not at all rounded out. when is the time to gather them? what about leaves?
also I saw a comment of yours on Leenas blog about st Johns Wort being the queen of dyes, It is true, what I have read about it is fascinating and I am itching to try
the plants I have found wild are very small- where do you get enough to dye with?
what do you do to get colour?

Manya Maratou said...

I looked at my comment and it seems like a barrage of questions
I just want to add: Ladka, thank you for a lovely blog
Manya

Ladka said...

Hi Manya, thank you for your interest and all your questions. I answered those regarding St. John's wort in your blog where you show the little dots on their leaves.
The walnuts are not yet ready in Slovenia. Last summer I started collecting them in mid-June. I described my dyeing in detail on my blog on Working with felt community at http://workingwithfelt.ning.com/profiles/blogs/dyeing-with-green-walnuts. Waiting to see your colours on your wool! By the way, what wool do you use? I only use Slovenian native sheep "jezersko-solčavska ovca" breed for natural dyeing. So you intend to buy (merino supposedly) or use your native sheep wool?

Manya Maratou said...

hello ladka, =thanks for coming by,
there are still flocks of sheep in this area, and goats too, I have to get talking to the shepherds something which is a project in itself. I have no idea what they do with the fleece, because I think they are bred mainly for meat.
the wool in skeins is for rugmaking and tapestry, I do not know yet where it is from, it is quite harsh I buy it in Athens. even though it has been spun it still has little bits of thorns and dry grasses in it so it probably is native.

Maia said...

Hello Ladka,
Your felting works are great!!
I look forward to your updates!

Guzzisue said...

nice vases :-)

Ladka said...

Thank you Maia and Guzzisue :-)

Majali said...

Pozdravljeni!

Najprej čestitke za vaše delo, zdi se mi čudovito!!! Vprašala bi vas pa, ker se tudi sama začenjam zanimati za filcanje, kje se dobi preja. Hvala za odgovor in srečno še naprej! Maja

Ladka said...

Živjo, Maja!
Volno kupim oziroma jo dam česat na Gorenjskem, barvam jo pa sama z rastlinami, kot vidiš na blogu. Če te zanima kaj več, se mi lahko oglasiš na moj e-naslov ladka.volna@gmail.com.

karin said...

the vases are so pretty !!!!
Karin/ blaushorty