Your Pictures page 3

Barb Clark of Canada needle felts fantastic caricature people. She agreed to let me share Banjoman (my favorite) with you. He was a gift to her daughter who is a musician. Barb calls them "funny folks". She says, "I usually start out with a general idea of what I am going to make but they tend to evolve into some other character as they progress so I never quite know "who" will show up, but it is fun!"

Barb doesn't sell her characters, after the 30 hours or more that she puts into each one, she is too attached to them. Thank you for letting us enjoy them as well.

This beautiful rainbow of color is Marr Haven Natural worsted hand dyed by Hayes Johnson.

Hayes is a Work At Home Mom (WAHM)and has belonged to a group of other WAHM who offer their creations for sale at Midday Faire. Hayes' uses the name BAJO BOUTIQUES. What a wonderful way for all these artists to share their ingenuity with the world.

Teri Stenerson got her set of Round Looms and in 6 weeks she had made a total of 48 hats in various sizes, 5 pair booties, 3 pair tube socks and 5 pair of socks with heels and now working on a blanket for isolettes. Due to health problems, Teri is at home for months at a time; she says" I have to keep busy, this looming and sewing for charities are the best therapy I could ask for. The looms I bought from you were my first, I made 3 hats the day after I received them and have not stopped since". She calls herself a "looming idiot". Whatever the name or goal, more power to Teri for making herself so useful to others.

Nathan Fergeson and his mother, Deb, came to the shop looking for locker hooking supplies for his eight grade independent art project. He decided to use all natural colored wool, drew his own design and completed it. His teacher was impressed enough to want try it herself. I can see why she was impressed, the design is well balanced and his hooking loops are very even.

I asked to share the picture with all of you, as well as, the picture of Nathan with his horse Emma and dog Teddy. It is nice to meet some of the young people enjoying life and fiber art.

Ryckje Wagner of California shared some photos of her first knit then felted sheep made from the Fiber Trends pattern. Her husband named the little sheep Peggy Sue, another Buddy Holly fan I bet. Ryckje had so much fun with this sheep, I think she may be going for an entire flock now.

Ryckje is a talented photographer and I hated choosing just one photo and then reducing it so much. It seemed appropriate to show Peggy Sue with the California Poppy blossom though and gives you an idea of her size. She was knit with our worsted weight wool in Natural and Medium Grey.

Mary Joan Mondello of Maine sent this great photo of one of her Knit then Felted Hats. She used the flat brim felt hat pattern by Beverly Galeskas pattern to knit the hat then shaped it with the Untouchable Hat Shaper. I love the addition of the scarf band and the colors are wonderful on her.

She is a busy woman with her own business, Maine Coast Herbals with products from their own organically grown herbs, natural oils, and flower essences.

Earlier we shared Frances Stroscio knitted Wallaby. Now we have an even better picture to share of the Wonderful Wallaby sweater. This is Lilly wearing the hooded sweater, she is as beautiful as her name. Looks like she enjoys the bells as well.

Thank you Susan for letting us enjoy your precious bundle.

Maryalice Ray celebrated the Chinese New Year by needle felting a rooster. He was a big hit at the celebration. He now resides in Philadelphia and may start a needle felting phenomenon there.

He is a big guy, can you see the felting tool sitting on the table by his tail. I think his crow would rouse me in the mornings.

Debbie Brisson didn't waste any time making this darling teddy. Her kit arrived on Saturday morning and by that evening, Bailey was complete with little dark foot pads and toes. She said she couldn't wait to start another one.

Debbie has give Bailey great facial character which shows how much fun she had needle felting.

Betsie Cumming knit this sweater pattern forty years ago for her husband using natural oiled yarn imported from Europe. She said, "It is one of my favorite patterns and as the years have passed it became a bit snug. Until I found your web site I was unable to buy the right yarn to knit a larger size to replace the original. Here is the picture - and we love the result. The yarn is soft with the mild aroma of lanolin. This pattern is knit with a double strand of sports weight and I expect it will last as well as the original."
Reducing the picture to fit this page makes if difficult to see all the wonderful aran stitches and bobbles in the sweater, it is definitely an heirloom sweater.

When Aimee Nemeth of Wyoming chose one of my favorite merino top colors to spin; I asked to see a picture when she finished. I am so glad she agreed.

She is such an accomplished spinner and knitter. The shawl is spun from Glowing Rust, the pattern from Fiber Trends "Spirit of the Southwest". The scarf is spun from Pink Pewter, the pattern came from a back-issue of Spin-Off magazine.

Weaving is only one of Bruce Bowman's many interests and talents. This scarf is his first project using all Marr Haven yarn. He used the 3 natural colored colors in the plain weave: Natural, Light Grey and Medium Grey in sport wt. (warp, 12 epi) and worsted (weft, 8 ppi). He wrote he couldn't be happier with it. Although he says he is a novice, in our opinion, the finished scarf says he is very good.

Bruce and his wife, Celia who is also interested in fiber, spend much of their time onboard a sailing catamaran, Goosebumps. They have a very interesting website for all of us with dreams of their fascinating lifestyle. Check the website goose--bumps.com

Martha McGrath of West Virginia is a sheep breeder and fiber lover. She has one of the minor (rare) breeds; Coopworth. Her website is very informative about the breed and other sheep type information.

She shares her first Locker Hooking project, the rug on the left. I wish my first had looked this good. Her website, www.deerrunsheepfarm has some wonderful pictures of locker hooking as well as information about dyeing wool.

Candy Goodson of Texas made the beautiful baby blanket on the left with her Hairpin Lace Loom.

She is holding the precious recipient, her granddaughter Rylee. The delicious shades of pink and white are perfect for such a sweet looking baby. Bet she loves to snuggle in it, too.

Lisa Williamson of Michigan does sculpture needlefelting. The two friends on the right sold the first day with a Buy It Now option on ebay.com. Lisa's ebay name is LisaAnn315 if you would like to have one of her friends.

She found her new talent with the help of Marie Spaulding's Beary Best Friend, A Mini String Jointed Bear booklet.

Judy James of Hartford certainly has an artistic flair for hats and animals. Only two sides of her first hat are shown, I know you can appreciate it even in this small size.

If we had given her a better background the turtle on top would be clearer.

Maggie Brown of New Jersey created a real show stopper with her first self-designed shawl. The shawl is shown here laid out on her bed for blocking and gives you some idea of the size and intricate stitches. She knit it with Marr Haven Light Grey sport yarn.

Her daughter was as impressed as we are; she said she wants one "just like yours, Mommy". I hope Maggie keeps designing her lovely creations.

Rosanne Garvison of Michigan shared her first needle felting piece. She used a piece of felt from a swatch sample she had felted. She said, "It was so much fun and I have sooooooo many ideas for things. My sister and I name our projects in case you were wondering. I was feeling Spring that day."

Her stylistic lines and form are a wonderful inspiration for us.

Bobbie Ripperger of Illinois creates lifelike miniature animals and sells them under the name of "Creative Design Studio". The two polar bears shown here are made from our Merino Rambouillet roving. This tiny picture doesn't do them justice. Visit her site to see much more.