A Walk In Wolf Wood...

Wolf Woolidermy Head

A Walk In Wolf Wood book

One of my very favourite childhood books was 'A Walk in Wolf Wood' by Mary Stewart. It's packed full of magical adventure, time travel to a medieval world, not too annoying brother & sister protagonists, werewolves, a perilous quest, dark witchy woods and evil sorcery. Enchantingly, it was read aloud by a lovely auntie who injected her voice with the appropriate drama (a splendid skill not everyone possesses I've since discovered). Why ramble on about this you may well wonder? Well, fond thoughts of this book were prompted by the recent request to make a woolidermy wolf head as my part in a happy art exchange (I got a fab graphite drawing). I have a long held fascination with the Grimm tales, in particular Red Riding Hood, which you'll see reflected in my business name & logo but it's this book that really drew me in first. Rather sadly I didn't need to dig out or dust off the book for this photo as it has a special place on my folk & myth book shelf (although purists, if any exist, will notice this is not the original 1980 cover). Anyway, with thoughts of dark forests and scary werewolves tumbling around my head, I created this she-wolf. I'm especially proud of her teeth! I've recently discovered that adding needle felting to my crochet heads opens up whole new possibilities and textures. I'll be excitedly trying a badger next, a creature I've previously found too tricky to make just crocheting because I crochet in the round which makes it hard to integrate vertical stripes of colour without distortion (and some frustrated crying).

Dolly, woolidermy head

Topsy, Me & Little Bro

Also, I've delighted myself by finally getting round to making my version of a Dutch rabbit woolidermy head. I love these striking black and white bunnies as we used to have two entertaining, very strong willed ones, Topsy & Turvy, who  bounded around our childhood garden, and occassionally the neighbourhood (they did have a hutch too for when they felt chilly/ lazy). This is me, my little brother & Topsy (or Turvy, very hard to tell) back when we were all adorable. My version, with a nod to the romantic season (well, we all have to keep warm somehow) has a needled felted heart nose.Dolly has gone off to Oriel MOSTYN's shop, I hope she'll be well received (she's very well behaved, unlike Topsy).

Woolidermy Heads

This week may sound as if I've willingly stumbled into a folksy woodland tale, especially when asked 'what have you been doing today', by the lovely in-laws, I responded with "finishing off a wolf and three foxes", causing some unintended merriment at the thought of having to fend off such creatures in the unexpected badlands of Caernarfon. That said, the town does harbour the  'Twthill Hound', an enormous dog which pads around very much knowing where he's going. Think a scarier, less benevolent version of the Littlest Hobo (although he could be doing good works, it's not at all clear). My husband occasionally meets him/her and comes home with a wide eyed look and an awed respect for the purposeful beast.

Now I must away to patch my red cape, it does get snagged on all those brambles/ trysts in the wood *Mum/ husband this is a joke*, tidy paperwork after the annual wrestle with the tax return (there's nothing fairytale about accounting) and update my new 'Woolidermy Database' to track the different names, heads, wools & paints I've used (a surprisingly enjoyable task).
Next time: a gorgeous castle wedding (not mine), an 80th birthday (not mine) and a plethora of handmade presents (some mine).