Felted Oven Mitts

Although one normally thinks of wool as being used in winter designs such as hats, scarves and mittens this wonderful fiber has summertime uses as well. Because wool is naturally heat resistant, it knits up into a great hot mitt for taking things out of the oven or holding onto a hat pan.


For this one I used Lamb’s Pride Bulky yarn. I love the way Lamb’s Pride felts up, perfect for this project!

Wool Flapper Hats

Wool Flapper Hats are here!
The new wool felt hats by Divella Delights are going fast. It takes 3 days to get them finished and they are selling faster than I can make them! I will have more in a couple of days so come see me at Divella Delights!
When I make my hats I use high quality fibers and fun embellishments. Most are in the style of the 1920s but I do have some more modern funky styles too as well as some good old-fashioned crochet beanies. I also have (or can make you) scarves to match. The scarves I make are 16X4 or so inches and have a 2-button closure so they don’t get al tangled up in whatever you are doing. They are especially nice for those who are involved in winter sports and they make your fun a little safer.
Special orders can be made after the Holidays to create something that is uniquely your own.
Come see the beautiful new wool flapper hats at Divella Delights!

Felted Hats

Divella Delights has some beautiful new felted hats coming. This one sold in less than 2 hours so I guess I will be making more of the felted hats.
I begin with 100% wool, usually Cascade 220 but I do have some really yummy Lamb’s Pride wool as well. After I knit or crochet them, they are felted into a nice wool fabric. They take about 2 days to dry and at that time I form them to the shape I want. Next comes the embellishment phase, which is my favorite. This one was needle felted all by hand using a small barbed needle and a foam block. Some will have knit or crocheted flowers and leaves, some will have beaded flourishes. It all depends on what the hat tells me it wants! I will also be doing some clutches to match and I even have a pattern tucked away in my head for a scarflet. Check in often at Divella Delights, things are changing every day and it looks like the felted hats are going to go fast!

Felted Bags

I am very happy to report that the "Little Bag" series is a success! You can see more at Divella Delights as well as some larger felted bags and clutches. I love to have an excuse to knit so thanks to all my wonderful customers!
I really need to focus on getting some jewelry done but with the temperature dropping all I want to do is knit and crochet. The jewelry store is getting low on stock and it is not the best time of year to neglect that for sure. I suppose that in light of this I will be at the table creating designs of the gemstone variety this week when I am not at LL Beans answering phone calls!
As far as those wonderful Flapper hats I have some in stock already. Last year they took off suddenly and I was up until well after midnight crocheting like crazy. This year I have quite a few made up ready to go.

Grab a cup of tea and stop by Divella Delights and check out the new jewelry, hats and felted bags.

Felted Bag Accessories

I am so excited about these new felted bags. I found a wonderful website some time ago for oxidized brass, silver, etc… to use on some of my jewelry. I was fooling around with some of her products the other day and came up with this bag. Now I have placed an order for some beautiful leaves, flowers and other filigree items that I can use on the 6 bags I have drying now. I can’t wait to get them! The shop is Accessories Susan and her prices are great which is important to me, as I want to keep the bags affordable. They take some time to make, then there is the expense of the felting process so keeping the embellishments affordable is key and Susan makes that happen!
Check in with Divella Delights in the next week to see what I come up with!

Wool Allergy?

Do you have a wool allergy or just don’t need quite the warmth of wool hats? Perhaps you live in a more temperate climate and don’t really need the wool.
The hats I usually make all have some sort of wool in them. I use mohair, angora, lambswool and a variety of wool blends. A couple of months ago I had a request from a Boutique to make some without the wool as they have quite a clientele who are allergic to wool. I put together some of the same beautiful Flapper hat that was so popular last year only I made them using only acrylic yarns. They still have that same great appearance, just no wool. Here are some photos, some with wool and some without. You can see more at http://www.divelladelights.com/

Monthly Winner and Other Ramblings

A bouquet for your wrist and a smile for your heart…
I had a wonderful compliment on one of these new bracelets from a customer. She said, " It makes me smile every time I look at it"...that is what I call a success!
I am absolutely convinced that once these bracelets really hit the streets, I won’t be able to keep up making them. That wouldn’t bother me a bit as I have so much fun creating them! In order to really get them out there, I have decided to run a short term 30% off sale on them. And because it is a pain to separate them I have all the bracelets at the same discount, lucky you. Enjoy!
The winner for this month’s free drawing is Tonya! Congratulations Tonya! I hope you enjoy the gift I am sending you.
I am beginning to get orders already for the winter hats! I had a lady contact me with an order for 3 of them and here we are in May…well, nearly June but you get the point. I am also talking with some local boutiques and the local jewelry store has taken them as well as the felted clutches. The gallery who featured me last month has decided to buy outright rather than consign which is so much easier for me. She sold many of the ones she had and is buying the rest as well as more on the website. That says a lot as far as confidence goes. I think at this point I will forgo consignment, I am just too busy!
The summer hats did not go so well so I am donating them all at the end of the month. I hate to see them without a head in them, they are so cute!
I hope you are all enjoying the Spring, I am looking forward to Summer as it is still a bit chilly here in Waterville, Maine!

Hand-Made Hostess Gift

Hand-Made Hostess Gifts:
Sometimes coming up with an appropriate Hostess Gift is difficult at best. If they drink wine I can make some of those adorable wine glass charms with a theme to match a home or if it is a single woman I can make some sort of jewelry. If however, it is a couple and they don’t drink wine, as is the case with my brother and sister-in-law then those gifts are not appropriate. I wanted to come up with something for the home and I wanted it to be hand-made.
My sister-in-law is big on Victorian so has lots of pinks, creams and such in her décor. I make knitted hats and fulled bags in addition to my jewelry and had recently made a piece of fabric using some wool left-overs to cut flowers out of for my bags. This sparked an idea for the Hostess Gift I wanted to make.
When I got home I went to the yarn store and found some really pretty vintage rose colored wool and knit up a large piece and fulled it. I bought some creamy natural roving (unspun wool) for the needle-felting portion of the project. I thought about putting a little jeweled charm on the corner of each but decided against it because I was afraid it might scratch the wood on the tables. While the large piece was still damp I cut into 4" squares then let it dry completely.
I wanted to make them match but not exactly as is the Victorian era theme so I needle-felted hearts on each one with the cream roving making them each a little different. Then i just tied it up with a pretty satin ribbon...et voila!
I hope you like the outcome.
If you are going to make items such as these remember when you are knitting to allow for shrinkage. Generally speaking you are going to lose about 25%. The formula for that is to divide your finished size by .75. For example I wanted 4" square so I knit the fabric about 10 2/3 X 10 2/3. That gave me enough to get my coasters and trim them square. Or you could knit them at 5 1/3 each. I use a rotary cutter, which was a little pricey. If I did not have one of these I would probably make them one at a time, as scissors don’t really do a very good job.

New! Spring Knit, Felted Clutch

These beautiful bags measure roughly 10"x6"x2" and are felted very thick. First I hand knit them using exquisite woolen fibers then I felt them. After they are dry I add the embellishments.
I make the felted adornments as well and any items with needle felt are also done by yours truly. Naturally I also so all the beading. About the only thing I don’t do is raise the animals and spin the yarn.
This series will be going to the local shop when I get a dozen made. At that point they will no longer be available on line.
I am having a sale on my site at http://www.divelladelights.com/ on selected hats and jewelry so come by for a visit!

Handknit Felted Bag Clearance Sale

All my bags are hand knit using high quality wool then felted. Most are lined but there are few I did not get around to or that did not need it as I felted them 3 times for extra thickness. My hats really took off and are taking over my space so I need to clear out the hand knit felted bags and find them good homes. They start at $10.00 and are not small bags! So some on over to www.divelladelights.com and steal a handknit felted bag!

Fall Specials from Maine

There are lots of new and exciting works by Maine Artisans and you can get a glimpse at Etsy.com When you get there put in Mainefall in the search bar. The items pictured here are from 4 different artisans and do little to represent the variety of works you can peruse. There are clothing items, paintings, jewelry, dolls, toys, children's wear, ceramics and there are even items for your pet! So go to http://www.etsy.com/ and type in mainefall in the search bar. For even more of a treat you can type in Maineteam to so what they are all up to!

ROVING AND OTHER KNITTING SUPPLIES

SO yummy, this wool blend roving is hand painted and is wonderful for spinning and felting. You had better hurry though because I intend to get some of this for my needle felting! The prices here are excellent their products varied. They also feature handspun yarn as seen here. In addition to the roving and yarn they have other supplies and even kits making this shop a knitters paradise. They have swifts (yarn winders), knitting needles made from Birch wood that are handpainted, slipper kits and fantastic sock kit. "The kit includes 440 yards of hand painted 2 ply wool sock yarn (fingering weight), a set of our handcrafted birch wood sock needles, our hand beaded glass, metal and floral clay row counter and full illustrated instructions to make these socks. This all comes in a plastic drawstring bag for storage.Everything you need is included to learn & complete a beautiful pair of handknit socks. Basic knitting knowledge is needed." Get one now and knit up some socks for someone special on your Christmas list. As with all their supplies they use non-toxic, colorfast dyes and have a smoke free environment. Check out their shop now at http://www.mainewoodsyarn.etsy.com/

NEEDLE FELTING

This necklace was created using the needle felt technique. The felting needles have very small barbs on them so when you put them through the roving or yarn they grab. Get more info at http:www.thesilverpenny.com/FreeProjectNeedleFelting.html. There are lots of sites that give free instruction and it is also available on YouTube as well. It is not for those that need a quick fix as it does take considerable time but it is not difficult! I love working with wool and this makes it really fun!

Felted handbags and ID Lanyards

This was supposed to be the first bag for my Fall series but it has already sold and not even lined yet. I hope I can figure out how I made it as it came out really cute. My sweetie keeps telling me I have to write down what I do in case I really like it. I guess he is right (shhh). It is made of high quality 100% Peruvian highland wool, hand knit then felted, same with the flower. I am felting them much thicker this year so they keep shape much better. I have also bought some roving to begin some different needle felting designs I have had in my head, they need to get out! I am making ID lanyards for the local VA this week as well so I am keeping very busy and waiting for something to break.

Felted Accessories

Because I love artisans and I love Etsy I am doing a ittle diddy on different artisans I find on www.etsy.com where you can find just about everything you can imagine (and some things you could NEVER imagine). This sweet little felted hair accessory was done by Julie's Creation Nation and can be viewed and/or purchased at juliepersons.etsy.com. She makes a wide variety of felted objects including nursing dolls, hair accessories, tapestires and jewelry. This is no easy task either folks. It requires pain staking (at times literally) repeated poking thousands of times with a special barbed needle and wool. I love felted wool and make handbags and I am just begining to take this on and I can't tell you how many times I have stabbed myself! Julie does beautiful work, check out her shop!