Another Baboon

This past week, I crocheted a new baboon. This time, I used very coarse wool, produced by Bedouin women in the Negev Desert. Traditionally, the wool is used for rug weaving, but I decided to give it a try in crocheting.

It has many advantages, since it is very strong and stable, and in the sculptural crochet technique I use, it easily holds a 3D shape, even on a larger scale. This wool is thicker than the other types of yarn I usually work with, so I get the large shapes much more quickly as well, and most of all –  I like this wool's crude appearance.

There is one major disadvantage to using it in crochet work: It is thick and stiff, so it requires much more effort of the hand muscles, which causes some pain. It became much more difficult when I had to crochet the smaller parts, such as the fingers, and I had to take increasingly longer breaks between crocheting each finger.

As I was eager to get on with the work and see my baboon fighting the tigers, I was looking for an immediate solution, and it was right in front of me – I always have some discarded fabric bands on my desk, which I use in my wrapping technique, so I just wrapped the crochet hook until it was so thick that I didn't have to bend my hand while holding it. I can't say that it solved all the problems, but it was much more comfortable to crochet that way.  

Miniatures

Miniature wrapped creatures

The tiny one is very, very tiny

The other one is a bit taller (but not by much)

It has this embroidery "print" on his yellow shirt

They are both listed in my Etsy store.

Now for my workshops - I am glad to host my first workshop at my new place!

If you happen to be in this area of the world on Friday, July 30, you are more than welcome!
Contact me for details or for subscribing to my mailing list to recive updates about upcoming workshops.

שמחה להודיע סוף סוף על סדנת בובות ראשונה שתתקיים בדירתי החדשה בקריית שלום בת"א ביום שישי, 30 ביולי

צרו איתי קשר לקבלת פרטים או להצטרפות לרשימת תפוצה שלי שבה אני מודיעה על סדנאות חדשות

Lady Chicken and Mr. Rooster

During the last week I was wrapping again, wrapping until I came up with these two:
Lady chicken,

and Mr. rooster.

Both of them were made using my new technique of wrapping recycled strips of fabric on top of each other.
I was trying to test this technique by creating more detailed creatures, incorporating the crochet and embroidery I use when creating my other creatures.

I was quite obsessed with their details, as I always am.

I made the poor rooster put his crocheted vest on and take it off at least 8 times, until I came to the decision that he is the kind of rooster that should wear a vest.

As you can see, they are quite detail-oriented too, and they don't like it when I don't clean the window rails.

Besides that, they have a lot of fun together.
*You can find Lady Chicken and Mr. Rooster at my etsy store.

Bird, wee friend and workshops

When Mr. Gingo and his pink headed girlfriend were done, I felt like taking a rest. It is difficult to describe how much energy the making of my sock dolls (with all their details) can sometimes consume.
I felt completely exhausted, so the next morning I spent some time doing nothing; just staring at my computer screen and reading stupid news.At noon, I went to take something from the studio, and then this bird reminded me that I had promised that as soon as the sock couple would be done, I would take care of her.

When she was done, she asked for company.

So she has a wee friend as well.

Now I would like to invite those of you who happen to live in this part of the world to my upcoming workshops:

The first one is for my wrapping technique, and will take place on Friday, March 5, 2010.

The second one is the Sock Dolls workshop, on Friday, March 12, 2010, and Friday, March 19, 2010.

*Just a reminder that if you would like to get updates about my workshops, you are welcome to join my mailing list.

תזכורת - לגבי רשימת התפוצה של הסדנאות, אם אתם מעוניינים לקבל עדכונים לגבי סדנאות, שלחו לי מייל.

Bird and Pink creature.

Lately I have been hooked on my new technique of creating dolls by wrapping strips of fabric scraps on top of each other.
I experimented quite a bit and created different shapes and creatures, but I wasn't really satisfied with any of them, until these two "came to life".

And here they are:

This pink creature is already one week old, and has been very patient since then,

Until this bird was completed today.

Finally there was someone to play with, and they had a lot of fun together

Next Friday I will hold another workshop for creating this type of dolls at my home.
E-mail me if you would like to participate, or if you would like to receive updates about future workshops.

סדנה נוספת של בובות ליפוף, אצלי בבית בשישי הבא. שלחו לי מייל כדי להירשם או לקבל עוד פרטים.
אתם מוזמנים גם להירשם דרך המייל לרשימת תפוצה כדי לקבל עדכונים שוטפים על הסדנאות שלי, כולל כאלו שלא מתפרסמות בבלוג.

Doll workshop and Happy new year

סדנת בובות חדשה, הפעם טכניקה חדשה שפתחתי ליצרת בובות, ייצורים וכדורים על ידי עטיפה וכריכה של רצועות בדים ממוחזרות אלו על אלו. מתוך התהליך הזה נוצרת הצורה הבסיסית שאותה אני הופכת לדמות באמצעות עיצוב והוספה של תווי פנים. זאת סדנא שכבר העברתי להורים וילדים, בה התמקדתי בצורות פשוטות, בסדנא הזו שמיועדת למבוגרים אלמד גם צורות ודמויות מורכבות יותר

חוץ מזה כמו שכבר כתבתי אני פותחת רשימת דיוור חדשה לעידכונים לגבי סדנאות שלי גם במסגרות אחרות, שלא תמיד יוצא לי לפרסם בבלוג, תשלחו לי מייל אם אתם מעוניינים להצטרף לרשימה

New Doll workshop in which I will teach new technique I have developed for creating dolls, creatures, balls and more by wrapping upcycled strips of fabric on top of each other.
You can see more about it here.
Besides that as I already wrote I have new mailing list for updates about my workshops, including workshops I conduct in other places and not always mention in this blog. Mail me if you would like to be included.

שנה אזרחית נפלאה לכולם!
Wish you all very happy new year.

Digging in the trash

New group of scrap dolls and toys, made from fabric scraps I have collected on the streets of my neighborhood .
There are many sewing workshops in my neighborhood (as I have already mentioned in the past); actually, these are not exactly sewing workshops, but the workshops where fabrics are cut. I don't know where the clothes themselves are sewn, but I'm surprised that there is still some sort of textile industry here in Tel Aviv, where real estate prices have been steadily increasing, and companies keep transferring to China the few assembly lines that are still in operation here.Anyway, those workshops throw away dozens of huge scrap sacks every night. The hard work is to pick out only upcyclable scraps – those that come in reasonable sizes and nice colors (for some reason, most of the fabrics are black); otherwise, my house would be full of useless scraps.Workshops and classes I have to conduct always serve as a wonderful excuse for digging in the trash, playing with those scraps, and coming up with new characters and designs I would never think of otherwise. Creating this bunch of creatures was a long process, in which I had tried a few different techniques for dolls and other toys, until I came up with the idea of creating those.
The process of creating samples for workshops forces me to think about the all process of creating and what kind of experience would it be. It should be impressive but something that people will enjoy to make as well. It is difficult.
These creatures were made by wrapping strips of fabric on top of each other, so that besides the facial features, no sewing is required. There is no stuffing at all, since the shapes were created by the wrapping, and they are made of 100% upcycled fabrics. Using this technique, I had already created my marionette heads, and this time wished to use it for something new. Here are the results:

play balls can be created as well.

Wish me good luck tomorrow I am going to conduct this workshop.