Woolly-backed Chickadee, Poecile Lana

Day 109: Closely related to the Chestnut-backed Chickadees and Black-capped Chickadees who are regular visitors to my yard, a single Woolly-capped Chickadee (Poecile lana) perched on a mossy fence rail long enough that I was able to make a positive ID. This specimen was slightly narrower in the body than the Chessies, but otherwise, its markings were quite similar and could easily mislead a casual observer. However, Woollies forage for insects in moss by scratching with their coppery-coloured talons in a "jump-back" maneuver reminiscent of the Spotted Towhee. This behaviour distinguishes them from Chessies when it is possible to observe the bird feeding.

Now I'm sure none of you were fooled by my description, but just in case, here's the disclaimer: my latest needle-felting project took the better part of a week to create (the arthritis in my hands prevents me from working very long at felting). I put the finishing touch on yesterday: plastic "pin eyes" which I felt served the purpose better than wool eyes. The legs were formed by wrapping glue-soaked wool around twisted copper wire. Mr. Woolly is free-standing, and is my first felted 3-D bird.

Coprinus Petersonii, Peterson's Inky-cap

Day 98: My good friend and mentor Arnie Peterson presented me with the challenge of finding a new species of Coprinus, and although I wasn't quite certain how to go about doing so, fortune favoured me with one in my own back yard. It is customary that when someone discovers a new species and describes it scientifically, they have the privilege of naming it once it has been assigned to the proper genus. I have chosen to honour Arnie by calling this unique fungus Coprinus petersonii, or Peterson's Inky-cap. The scientific description is as follows:

Cap: 2.–2.5 cm in diameter, 4.5–6 cm tall; cylindrical with a rounded top when young, becoming scaly in age. Cap white, flecked with light brown, darker brown at the apex, deteriorating into fine grey-black strands at maturity. Surface tomentose.
Gills: Undistinguished, creamy white.
Odour: Reminiscent of damp wool.
Stipe: 1–1.5 cm wide, cylindrical and tapering only where it attaches to the cap. Surface tomentose. The stipe is solid and compact. An annulus may be present.
Spores: Scaly, 2.5–5 µm, black with an apical pore.
Geographical distribution: Known only from one location in western Washington.

Here, a bit of apology is in order to the several people who swallowed (hook, line, sinker and copy of "Angling Times") my post regarding Cantharellus lanafiltris a few days ago. I have been known to pull legs on occasion with bogus birds, fake frogs and counterfeit caterpillars, but never before without revealing in the last few sentences the deception. I neglected to do so with the Woolly Chanterelle. Those paired fungal specimens were, of course, needle-felted...as is this Coprinus which, I believe, fulfills Arnie's true challenge: to create an Inky-cap with wool.

Cantharellus Lanafiltris

Day 95: Extremely rare, Cantharellus lanafiltris might be confused with some edible species of Chanterelle, but although they are never found in the same habitat, knowledge of the morphological distinctions should be kept in mind. Otherwise known as the Woolly-Needled Chanterelle, C. lanafiltris is tomentose on all surfaces including the swollen, sparse veins on the underside of the cap. Although not poisonous, the texture of this fungus is unpleasant to the human tongue, however, the fruiting bodies are attractive to felines of all sizes and may cause digestive disturbances if consumed by small cats.

Crow's Mushroom Farm

Day 91: I'm having way too much fun with needle felting! I've done it before, but never three-dimensional figures. The Boleta (center) was my first, cobbled together with leftovers from a kit. The Morel (Helvella, actually, if you want to press the issue) was next, and it took me several days to make. Laying on the ridges was tedious, and in hindsight, there was a better way to do it, namely putting the light colour over the dark, and then adding dark spots to make the pits). The Amanita came together in about three hours this morning. Making the annulus (ring on the stem) was the hardest part. I made it separately and slid it down over the stipe before affixing it to the cap. The Helvella is 2.5" tall, the Boleta 1.5" and the Amanita 1.25". Next up? The Chanterelle Challenge!

Felt A Boleta, Too!

Day 87: I had quite a bit of wool left over from the moose kit, particularly the brown shades, so I decided to try my hand at making a 3-D mushroom (specifically a Boleta, for those of you who might appreciate the distinction). I started by making the stipe (stem), tapering it down from a bulbous base. In hindsight, I should have left a bit more "fuzz" at the top for ease of attachment, but even so, there was no issue with respect to attaching it securely to the cap. Next, I created a flat disc for the pores on the underside, and then built the cap on top of that. When it had reached the desired size and firmness, I began turning the edge so that it rolled in on the light-coloured disc. Predictably, this compacted it a bit more, but it was easy to add more wool around the edge to broaden it out. Once the cap was done, I felted the stipe to it, and at this point, I want to say how much I like working with spiral needles as opposed to triangular ones. They create a much smoother surface, for one thing, but they also embed the wool fibers much more readily. As a final touch, I felted directly into the base to make a flat bottom so that the 1.5" tall Boleta would stand up on its own. For my first time felting a three-dimensional sculpture, I am happy to say that I managed to complete a fairly tiny project without poking my fingers with a needle.

I Felt A Moose

Day 86: I felt a moose! Er...um...I felted a moose! This little kit was a present from one of my sisters-of-the-heart. She understands that sometimes I need a break from spinning and weaving but can't bear to have my hands idle, so she figured this would be just the thing for those times when I need to step away from the loom and the wheel. I hadn't done any needle-felting in quite some time. In fact, the last thing I made was cat-hair "selfies" of Skunk and Tippy. This has inspired me to take up the craft again, perhaps to make some three-dimensional figures. That's something I've never explored.

Selfies!

Day 299: Kitty selfies! As you can probably guess from the title of the book, the portraits were hand-felted from Tip's and Skunk's fur. A friend had sent me the book suggestion as a joke, but I took it seriously and ordered it almost immediately. I'm always interested in learning new crafts, and needle-felting was something I'd never tried. Special felting needles with barbed points are used to mingle wool (or cat hair) onto a base fabric or into its own fibers to form a matted fabric similar to the felt you'd purchase in a crafts store. Here, I used a commercial felt square for the background, shaping the cats with the aid of a plastic stencil. Stray hairs always linger around the edges, and these were trimmed away with embroidery scissors to give more defined outlines. I made Tip (the black kitty) first to get a feel for the process and then created Skunk, a more challenging subject because of her colouration. Each kitty took about fifteen minutes to complete. The same technique can be used with wool (sheep, llama, goat, etc.). To protect the felter's lap from inadvertent pokes, felting is done on a thick piece of foam, but mind your fingertips! Warning issued, rest assured that no cats or mamas were damaged in the making of these "self-portraits."