Maureen’s Fiber Arts & my carving/chest plans sales

Most of you old hands here already know this, but for the new followers/readers – it’s not just me in this household who spends their time making things – my wife Maureen has been waggling her fingers away at knitting for longer than I’ve known her and took up dyeing, eco-printing and felting somewhere in the last 10 years or so.

Every so often I feature links to her work here – and with the you-know-what season fast approaching, she’s been busy. The link to her Etsy shop is https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

Here’s her note about what’s posted recently:

“I recently did some indigo dying with one of our friends who wanted a clothing update before a trip. It was fun to get into a dye vat again. From this batch I have added various indigo dyed shibori silk scarves to the shop. 

I also added –  botanical eco print wall hangings matted and ready to be framed or displayed as is. I enjoyed this botanical dying during the end of the summer and early autumn while there were still lots of green leaves and plants. These prints are a memory of this fleeting time of year. (photo up top)

Rose and I have been needle felting in the afternoons listening to some early Christmas music, relaxing and creating ornaments for Christmas trees. We hope you enjoy them. (PF adds – I can’t believe I’m posting this picture!):

In the shop you will also find – felted bowls, hand dyed silk scarves and knitted items. There will be another shop update the first week of December – shibori organic cotton scarves, knitted items and more felted ornaments, and maybe a few surprises! Thanks for your support and interest in my work.”

To which I will add my emphatic thank you as well – it always makes me feel good when she tells me she got an order from readers of the blog here – I greatly appreciate the support you all send our way.

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Chest Plans, Carving Drawings & Vimeo Series on Sale

Maureen’s way ahead of me getting ready for holiday sales. I doubt I’ll ever get there really. I do have a couple of things in the loft to dig out & discount just to make room up there. It’s supposed to be storage for wood and projects…but in the meantime I have gone through some paypal-button hoops and reduced the prices on two sets of drawings – https://pfollansbee.wordpress.com/carving-drawings-plans/

I reduced the chest plans and the 2nd set of carving drawings by $10 each. These sale prices will be for the rest of 2022. And yes, this is a loft-space saving move as well. Lots of rolled drawings in tubes up there.

chest plans carving page

At the same time, I’ve put the chest-build video series on sale as well. It is just about all done – I keep saying I owe one carving-tool sharpening video. And I’m close to making that one, so I’ll add it before the year is out.

One more horrible plug – if you buy the video series, there’s a further discount on the plans. Spend more to save, just like the advertising always says. This video series has been a fun undertaking for me – although it’s a lot of desk work. My son Daniel left me holding the bag doing the editing (I don’t blame him, it ended up at 21 hours of video, which means a lot of time watching [for him] pretty boring videos.) – but I got a lot of practice shooting & editing video. So the next one is underway, the Jennie Alexander chair. That one I’ll shoot & edit the whole thing before I release it – no more serial woodworking video gig for me.

OK – next post is back to woodworking in the shop. Or the yard.

shaved rungs
cutting pine panels for the cupboard

Maureen’s Fiber Arts

I’ve been taking & sorting photos today; boxes and some odds & ends for sale tomorrow. In the meantime, upstairs Maureen’s been knitting and felting away and has posted a slew of things on her etsy site. Now I know what’s going on in the house while I’m out in the shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

She’s adding shibori bags, knitted scarfs, and felted bowls (& more besides) – if you’re going shopping, have a look…

Scarfs, scarves – I looked it up – either works. Today is a good day for one here…

scarf
felted bags

We’re both very appreciative of the support of her work from readers of this blog. Frequently, I see someone’s name I recognize from here on her outgoing mail – it’s a great feeling, thanks everybody.

felted bowl

Maureen’s knitting & felting

Longer than I have known her, my wife Maureen has been knitting. I remember when I got to the museum 20 years ago…every staff meeting would be punctuated by clicking of needles. All these women were knitting away constantly.

Hand knit blue tweed wool drawstring bag with tree pattern
drawstring bag

When the cold weather hit here recently, out came sweaters, scarfs (or scarves) hats – all knitted by Maureen. What could be better than handmade clothing? My favorite sweater even appeared in the joint stool book, the back part where Schwarz said we needed head shots…

best sweater
best sweater

My friend Bill Coperthwaite wrote about knitting in his book A Handmade Life, calling “hand knitting one of the most efficient methods of production ever developed” I won’t copy it all here, you can read it, pp. 97, 98. He talks about the portability of the craft, the ability to knit while visiting. talking, etc – “it is quiet work and does not interfere with conversation.” And “the quality of timelessness adds to the knitting’s incomparable, unquantifiable beauty.”

Knitted Noro wool and silk wallet or clutch bag
wool wallet

When our kids were very young, there was not much time for knitting, but Maureen has taken it up steadily again, and it’s great to see. These days the items are small-scale; part of being a full-time mom cutting into available time for larger projects like sweaters. As I mentioned recently, she was part of a craft sale in Plymouth. Now that’s over, so her Etsy site has gone up and is ready for visitors. It’s cutting it close for Xmas presents, but with some quick shipping it’s still possible. But her site will continue past the season, and she plans to keep on knitting & felting. So if you know someone interested in these crafts and items, please send them the link. http://www.etsy.com/shop/MaureensFiberArts

These felted bowls are something new to me, I really like them. Lousy for breakfast, but a great tactile thing. Not yet on the site, but soon:

two small felt bowls
two small felt bowls

 

I can hear “click, click, click” upstairs now…

 

knitted interlude

The kids are the real creative ones around here. Us grownups try hard to keep up. While I have been fooling around with spoons and things, Maureen has been knitting away for a craft sale she’s participating in. Here are some knitted and felted bowls she finished the other night. If you drop these bowls, they don’t break!

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It’s great to hear her needles clicking away again; when the kids were really small she didn’t get much chance to knit. Now they are learning too –

KNITTING

Here’s a couple more samples of Maureen’s recent output. and the flyer for the sale. It features work of many friends and others, so if you are near Plymouth, Massachusetts and inclined the dates and times are on the flyer. Starts today, Saturday December 7th.  Dig it.

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MANY HANDS

Many Hands Flyer 2013 (2)