Felt Jewellery

Do you remember when I made a long felt bead necklace? As it took several hours it made me think how to simplify the design and not to felt off my hands. Here it is, it is not that long and originally I planned to thread the “beads” lenghtwise, which I still might try later, but this time it felt better like this.

I had the “beads” ready since spring , but threaded them only over the autumn holidays, when there was not much time and space to work bigger. And lately, as I made more felt cords playing with them led me to bangles. Some I embellished with beads, some not, all rather chunky, yet so lightweight thanks to the material used – just extra fine merino wool, handformed with soap and water. The beads are securely attached on two or three sides of the bangles so that whichever way they turn on a hand they are always visible.

And a completely different style – cuffs with stones from around Scotland – preserving memories.

Some of the stones are from Loch Ness, some from a beautiful Isle of Iona on the west coast. We were there in the summer, just for a few hours and although the Isle is small, there was so much to see! Moreover, the weather was just beautiful, which was a special bonus since, as you rightly guess, it doesn’t happen often here in Scotland. The day after it was pouring rain and so foggy one wouldn’t see “the end of his nose”.

The Isle of Iona has a very interesting history too. “In 563 Saint Columba, also known as Colm Cille, was exiled from his native Ireland as a result of his involvement in the Battle of Cul Dreimhne,^[21] and founded a monastery on Iona with 12 companions. From there they set about the conversion of pagan Scotland and much of northern England to Christianity. Iona’s fame as a place of learning and Christian mission spread throughout Europe and it became a major site of pilgrimage. Iona became a holy island where several kings of Scotland, Ireland and Norway came to be buried.” (Wikipedia)