I’ve had a complete change of gear over the last week, making a prop for our village Pantomime.  We’re very fortunate not only to have a shiny new Eco-built hall but a lot of home grown talent so we have an original script, scenery painted by a professional artist and wonderfiul costumes designed by my friend Kit.  I’ve been involved over the years, and have made all sorts of weird and wonderful things… A Humpty Dumpty costume which reduced gradually all the way through the panto as he went on a diet, Daddy, Mummy and Baby bear suits,  an egg laying goose are just some of the bigger things. 

This time it’s Sleeping Beauty, with a Queen who wants everything to be pink including her dog, so the request was for a custom made glove puppet style dog for the page to carry.  Kit came round with the fur fabric which in the shop had looked to be a candyfloss pink; in the cold light of day it is scarily fluorescent!  The logistics of making chuntered round in my head for quite few days.  It’s a strange process, like hunting through a tangle of wool trying to find an end and then, Ping! a lightbulb moment, there’s the thread and everything starts to wind into a neat ball of resolution. 

Needle felting was the answer, and what I used to form the face of the puppet.  I then stitched the fur fabric on to make the rest of the head and the body and blended the wool and fur fabric together. And here he is…

He’s not quite completed yet, needing front paws and a wavy tail, but I’m pretty happy with the way he’s shaping up so far…

(Edited to add: I’m being asked what Higgins thinks about Pink Pooch; he  is desperate to tear it to shreds. Vigilance is necessary!)

Remember I mentioned  a knitting project which I was playing around with, the one which didn’t need a lapful of pets? I finally finished it, a little fairisle heart…

It’s sweet, but soooooooo time consuming.  I knitted up two squares (the back one is striped)  put them in with a load of washing, felted them and then stitched the pieces into a heart shape and stuffed it with wadding and lavender.  It’s just waiting for a ribbon hanging loop which will happen once the Pink Pooch is all sewn up.

It’s still really quite cold here, but I managed to fit in an afternoon of cheering up the courtyard area by my studio door.  A tray of primroses is always a treat…

and inside I’ve had hyacinths to fill the air with scent.  White…

…and blue.

I can’t believe it’s the last day of January…See you next month!