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Post by lyn on Oct 5, 2014 9:56:45 GMT
Marilyn has written a lovely blog post showing how she and Cathy had a 'podfest'. I think that working alongside someone is a very good way to experiment because ideas bounced around somehow get bigger and better. Please excuse the quality of the photos but they are from about 8 years ago when my daughter and I were experimenting with pods and didn't have much interest in taking photos. (We now know that it's a good idea to take photos of everything you make - we regret not having done that.) For anyone following the basic pod tutorial on our blog, we'd say make the plain one first then play around. For example: You don't have to cut the felt right out of the hole, you can leave it 'flapping' then roll it back and secure it with a bead.. ..or you could cut the opening like a starburst - either neatly or in an 'organic' fashion. And you can decorate the pod with loads of stuff - top left has wensleydale curls and beads, bottom right has a circle of dyed scrim and top right has synthetic yarn (it was a bit fluffy) felted in then crosses of embroidery thread added.
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Post by zed on Oct 5, 2014 11:30:35 GMT
These are gorgeous Lyn I really want to try some now
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Post by Shepherdess on Oct 5, 2014 13:57:39 GMT
This is the one I am using for my picture on Facebook at the moment. It was an experiment I did when felting with a friend. i wanted to see if I could make a very thin walled vessel and have it stand up and also it was the first thime Ih ad put locks on somthing and not wanted them felted down. I think it was Finnish wool I was using. It worked really well.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 5, 2014 15:43:06 GMT
Lyn, your pods are beautiful I like how you created each opening differently... Very pretty colors too....
Hello Ann, your pod is gorgeous too. I love how you have the curls flowing down. Did you wrap them in plastic while you was felting the pod so they would not attach to it???
Zed, I was looking at photos of Bird Pods and I found yours made of Merino, Gotland, raw locks and banana fibers. I loved it.. Did you keep your raw locks wrapped in plastic or did you just felted it all together and the locks just stayed free from the pod base???
I bought some Gotland wool down in Kentucky in May and I thought I might make a bird pod with it. I guess I am into the "Birds" at the moment!!!!!! Smile...
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Post by MTRuth on Oct 5, 2014 16:12:43 GMT
Working alongside other people is always fun. It does seem that creativity combined generates more awesome ideas.
Lyn, your pods are great and I like the different openings. Essentially the same pod but all very different.
Ann - your locks are gorgeous - I love the natural colors of your pod.
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Post by Pandagirl on Oct 5, 2014 16:40:29 GMT
Thanks Lyn! I love all the variations on the basic pod. Thanks for providing such easy to follow instructions. Yes, it's really fun to work with others.
Ann, the locks are great. I haven't been able to find long locks just the short wispy things.
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Post by Shepherdess on Oct 5, 2014 23:58:43 GMT
Thank you everyone. I think what I did was put plastic under them so wouldn't felt down and just kept checking the to make sure they were not felting to each other. there were 2 kind of locks but I can't remember what their were. I think the big ones are boarder leister.
Locks are expensive to buy. for my tiny curls ( blue faced leister) that I use for making sheep I bought a washed fleece from World Of Wool and spent time picking out the curls. After doing it you know why they cost a lot. You can buy raw unwashed fleece and you have better control over the washing so you get more curls. I really want to find a long teaswater, wensleydale or massum fleece I can afford.
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Post by Pandagirl on Oct 6, 2014 0:41:16 GMT
Thanks Ann! I hope you find them.
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Post by lyn on Oct 6, 2014 7:35:08 GMT
Yes, locks are expensive, but I have a big bag of them.
On our first visit to the annual Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace, Annie and I spotted a huge wicker basket full of dyed Wensleydale locks in a rainbow of colours - oh they were so beautiful! They were priced per gram and brown paper bags were provided for customers to choose the locks they wanted. In our excitement we mis-calculated the price by putting the decimal point in the wrong place and when our bags of locks were weighed and priced by the stall holder, our jaws hit the floor...but we were so embarrassed by our stupididy we just paid up without saying anything.
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Post by zed on Oct 6, 2014 10:03:45 GMT
I really like that, Ann I use the scoured BFL, Wensleydale and Gotland from World of Wool,for surface lock detail, but for more definition because they keep shape better I use raw locks for round the edges. I think all of mine were from Sara's texture crafts and her prices are really good. She doesn't have any in at the moment, but were great value. Judy, I just left the locks loose around the edges and if it looked liked they were tangling, separated them. I did a brown one too, but added more and wasn't that bothered about them felting together.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 11:09:59 GMT
Does anyone know what fleece would hold up the best for an outside bird pod? ? I really do need to buy a book on all different kinds of fleece so I good read about them all.. Is there a certain size if hole you would put in your birds pods Zed? Oh, How I loved seeing your bird pods... Smile.... Very very inspirational ...
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Post by Shepherdess on Oct 6, 2014 11:21:17 GMT
I had tiny BFL locks on one outside and they held up fine. The pod was purple and it did fade a lot in the sun and weather but otherwise stayed in tact. there is lot of controversy about shape and whole size. some people say it is very rigid but from what I hear about the people that make bird pods is that they get birds in all shapes and in all but the biggest holes. I make some with very big holes and use them as bird feeders. the chickadees love them.
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Post by koffipot on Oct 6, 2014 17:48:10 GMT
Whatever fleece I use for my pods, I like to full them very hard, so they are completely rigid and not at all hairy or fluffy. The shrinkage is huge, but that's just my way. As for holes in nesting boxes/pods, the RSPB recommend particular sizes if you want to attract particular species, but they are for guidance only as birds use natural holes, and as far as I know they don't carry tape measures under their wings. I'd be happy just to get any using mine. Note to self: - must make some feeders when I get back from my hols.
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Post by lyn on Oct 6, 2014 20:18:47 GMT
Whatever fleece I use for my pods, I like to full them very hard, so they are completely rigid and not at all hairy or fluffy. The shrinkage is huge, but that's just my way. Totally agree. It's the only way for a pod to keep its shape and not collapse. When it's fulled to within a gnat's whisker of its life, it gets a very different 'feel'.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2014 22:49:14 GMT
It nice to know about the need for fulling the bird pods to a very firm state. How do you know when it is at its firmer state. I think most of the time I stop to soon.
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