Adventures in Alternative Fiber

Seems that the last couple of weeks have been spent looking through Rubbermaid bins, knitting baskets and "hidey" places to find interesting "non-wool" fibers to hook with.  I was getting ready for a workshop I attended on Saturday that was like "play time" in kindergarten.

Patti Armstrong, a fellow OHCG teacher and the workshop leader, is allergic to wool so has been ahead of most of the rest of us on the curve of fiber experimentation. She did an amazing job of showing us her binder full of results that could be achieved using all manner of interesting things - including bubble wrap, candy wrappers, garbage bags, the net from body scrubbers and many other amazing fibers.

I had decided to create something functional and do a "jeanius bag" front. Some of the fibers used wouldn't suit a hot plate or a mat on any surface, so carrying it around will be much more fun. Oh, the conversations it will start.....

Here are the results. I have labeled a few of the materials that I used in this piece.  If you click to enlarge, you can see what is in there.

I took pictures of the rest of the pieces on my iphone - I have not labeled them,  but suffice to say that there was lots of sparkly bits, bathing suit fabrics, quilting bias tape, gift wrap, the Grab-it sheets that go in the wash to prevent colours from running, the mesh tape you use to hold up plants, ribbon, velour, etc. etc. I have made a few notes under each picture.

And as Patti said, if you can cut it into strips, you can hook with it. Look how amazing these are:

Marnie's exploration included eyelash yarn, fabric strips, yarns and some unrecognizable tape from Norway that had been hidden in her weaving stash.

This lovely bird was part of a free pattern from RHM - he is a multi-coloured organiza type fabric that was just beautiful.

Cheronne was working on a mushroom and using all kids of textures that were animal prints and anything else that would create lovely texture in here. If you click in, you can see a couple of the fabrics at the top right of the frame.

 Ruby was working on a landscape with an amazing cherry tree and all kinds of wonderful textures in her water. Click in and you can see them more closely.

Elaine wanted to be able to identify what she used, so set up a tidy grid for further experimentation. She is going to take scissors to a couple of them and "fluff" them up a bit.

 Marjorie's rooster is definitely the "cock of the walk". Click in and see him shimmer.

Anne's Mexican pattern will be ripe with textures when she is done. The plant next to the cactus in the foreground is made from brown plastic bag.

Barb's foreground in her landscape is a monochromatic exploration in a multitude of fibers, including ribbon and roving to make the flowers.

Jennifer's geometric has lots of texture and already looks like an antique.

Viv's geometric also has segmented areas for exploration. Look at the calico cotton she is using in the wedge at the top.

All in all, it was a fabulous, care-free day. People were sharing like crazy and soon sequins and shimmer appeared everywhere.  Not a single wool strip was used by anyone for the entire day - and the results couldn't be more spectacular.

Thanks Patti for being our sherpa on our big adventure.