French Press 3

Black mohair, Alpaca/Silk, Merino and white mohair content. Same size as French Press Cover 1 & 2.
The aborigine and seafoam- green are New Zealand wool. The green wool has some unidentified content which I suspect is mohair as it has many wispy hairs. Because of the strong design element of the strand of white mohair, no handle to top tassel is necessary.

French Press Cover

Felted French Press

At home, I use a four-cup stove top espresso maker, however when entertaining, it is not very convenient. I like the whole idea of a French Press Table presentation but the coffee cools much too quickly. While I have been making tea cozies for friends, it only seemed appropriate to make something for myself. I am only a one cup tea drinker contrasting to the multiple cups of coffee consumed daily so why not a cozy for the French Press?  I have acquired some lovely black mohair ( from angora goats) and mixing it with the white mohair gives a nice sheen, with a curly texture so I am using it on the top layer of foundation of merino wools.  The tassels are  rolled wool–these a tad crude but have become rather exotic in later cozies.  A particularly striking combination of colors is black mohair,  a sea-foam green spirals with strands of white mohair gingerly placed on top.

French Press Cover

French Press Cover2

6 C French Press with Cover

Joseph’s Scarf of Many Colors

I call this piece Joseph’s scarf of many colors. it is my first attempt to nuno felt, the base is a cotton gauze, with metallic threads. I nuno felted with various fresh colors then embellished with satin ribbons and scraps of silk hence the title. the rayon thread adds another dimension of sheen in comparison to the soft alpaca wool.

\

Joseph's Scarf

Mohair Clutch7

Challenges and more challenges were on the menu today. Using a new Mohair roving in a raspberry color, layered with varying hues of pinks, watermelon, scarlets,  canary, sherbet orange and some cream, to achieve this clutch. The mohair is either just meant to be “hairy” or it is mixed with a non feltable fiber like nylon. I had to full this piece two times and there were so many loose surface hairs. The second fulling was achieved with a tumble  in the dryer for ten minutes. This tightened the fibers yet the outside STILL had numerous wispy fibers. I ironed it heavily concluding that it was still not fulled properly, then, I realized the mohair was the culprit.  Dimension: 5″ x 12″

Mohair clutch 8

Bookend Papers and Recipe

End paper recipe

3Tablespoon (T) Rice Flour

4T fine Wheat Flour preferably Wheat Starch

1 teaspoon (tps) tincture of green soap… clear

½ tps glycerin

3 Cups cold water.

• Stir flours and add1 C water together in pan until smooth.
• Add rest of water
• Heat on medium heat, stirring constantly.
• Cook 5 minutes—until glossy, thickened and translucent.
• Remove from heat.
• Stir in glycerin and green soap.
• Cool.
• Mix with acrylic paints until smooth and even.

· Clop dollops on high quality drawing paper. Smooth evenly then used fingers or soft instruments to create designs. Paper is rather sturdy but if overworked will begin to show signs of wear.

· Bling can be added using powdered metal flakes or powdered fabric glitter (Createx).

Paste may be stored in the refrigerator in air tight container…cover top of paste with wet paper towel so condensation will not drip on paste

. I used this recipe to make some decorative papers which I covered old books for accessories in a home setting–yes purely staging.  Originally the recipe was for end papers used by printers who could not afford the popular marbleized papers of the 1400’s. The recipe is from a secondary source, which I can not cite.

http://www.philobiblon.com/endpaper.shtml

http://cailun.info/index.php?/archives/186-Decorative-Endpapers.html

http://www.flickr.com/photos/arielmyers/sets/72157604072041456/

http://www.cyclopaedia.org/bookbinders/boyet1693-2.html