Art : Drawing; Painting; Fiber; Etc.

More colorful yarn.

~ micheleballantyne ~ 2 Comments

So . . . I made some more colorful yarn. This time I wanted the yarn to be super soft so it is made of fine merino wool, silk, alpaca, rose fiber, and bamboo. 

Sometimes Alpaca and bamboo and Rose fiber are not super soft but this particular fiber is SUPER soft.

Though I haven’t had time to make anything with it yet, I’ve enjoyed envisioning what I’m going to make.

I am not a master spinner by any means but I would be willing to give lessons in what I do know. If anyone is interested please contact me.

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Eye Candy Wool

~ micheleballantyne ~ 1 Comment

I have been having so much fun! These colors were created by immersing the washed and dried wool fleece pieces into hot water with vinegar and food coloring dye. Then I added more dye in different places straight from the dye droppers or powders and pressed the intense colors into the wet wool in separate areas of the pot of wool and hot vinegared water!  To make sure all the die was absorbed, I turned the heat on till it just almost simmered.  After a bit (10 min to a half hour or so) I checked the water. Once the water was clear when I checked it, I knew that dye was completely absorbed.

I’m not one for careful calculations or measuring so this fits my personality perfectly!

These gorgeously colored fleeces will be incorporated into my felted wall art, scarves, or spun into exciting colored and textured yarns!

Dying eggs and wool. 

~ micheleballantyne ~ 2 Comments

After we finished dying Easter eggs, I decided to put my recently washed and dried Gotland/Marino wool fibers into the egg dying cups to see what would happen.



We had about seven or eight cups with colors, some pure, some mixed. Below are the first bunch of colors that came out of the dyes. 


Three of the cups still had dye in them so I added more wool. As you can see below, the blue die that is left in the cups is not anything like the color of the wool that came out already. The dye must have split and some colors absorbed faster than others.


I think this is a great way to dye lots of different colors in small amounts!

Fun with Spirals!

~ micheleballantyne ~ 2 Comments

IMG_3413 (1).jpg

   Close up of center.

Wiggly spiral of merino, silk, and linen felted on a background of merino/silk 50/50, embellished by glass pearls and sparkly glass beads.

I have always loved spirals so of course I must include them in felting!  This wall art is ready for framing as is, or can be stretched on a wood frame backing, which I will do if I put it in The Art Center in Corvallis.

“Spiral Universe in White”  14″ x 13.5″IMG_3413.jpg