Over the winter our resident squirrels finally destroyed one of our wooden bird boxes, they had been chewing on it for years but this year they finally broke in an detached it from the tree.
I’ve been making a few felt pods recently and thought one might translate well into a bird house. My only concern is that the squirrels will probably destroy a wool pod in a fraction of the time it took them to ruin the wooden bird house. I will have to find a squirrel-proof location for it.
I started with a tear-drop shaped resist and used 4 layers of merino for my first attempt. Unfortunately I made the hole too low and over stretched it while fulling the inside the pod. I think that pod will become a suspended bowl / pod.
For my second attempt I used strips of red muslin, green merino and grey gotland. This is what it looked like just after removing the resist and before a quick spin in the washing machine.
And after it came out of the machine. As before the grey gotland has consumed everything else, including the muslin:
I selected a spot on the side of the cabin that hopefully the squirrels won’t be able to get to, here is the pod in situ:
I added some fluff groomed from my cat as extra encouragement for the birds to move in but only time will tell if my pod is up to avian standards….
I hope the birds like it and the squirrels don't!
I hope the birds like it and the squirrels don't!
Lovely piece! I was going to make something like this myself (we have a lot of birds!) and yours is very nice! I don't know if birds have a sense of smell? Could smell of a cat deter them from using this lovely house?
Lovely piece! I was going to make something like this myself (we have a lot of birds!) and yours is very nice! I don't know if birds have a sense of smell? Could smell of a cat deter them from using this lovely house?
Thanks Felicity. I hope they don't have a sense of smell, a friend deliberately grooms her border collie outside and says the birds hop down to collect the fluff for their nests.
Thanks Felicity. I hope they don't have a sense of smell, a friend deliberately grooms her border collie outside and says the birds hop down to collect the fluff for their nests.
This is so cute, love it! I had something similar happen with alpaca fiber, it "consumed" all the decorative thingies I had used on a vessel I felted recently, so I just added some afterwards by needle felting it on.
And birds do love cat/dog hair for building their nests, I also brush my dog outdoors so that the birds can use his fur.
This is so cute, love it! I had something similar happen with alpaca fiber, it "consumed" all the decorative thingies I had used on a vessel I felted recently, so I just added some afterwards by needle felting it on.
And birds do love cat/dog hair for building their nests, I also brush my dog outdoors so that the birds can use his fur.
That's good to know, I recently bought some alpaca to play with expecting it to be a lot like merino, sounds like I need to make some samples first!
Ii sounds like birds are more than happy to use dog/cat fluff so long as it's not still attached to the donor 🙂
That's good to know, I recently bought some alpaca to play with expecting it to be a lot like merino, sounds like I need to make some samples first!
Ii sounds like birds are more than happy to use dog/cat fluff so long as it's not still attached to the donor 🙂
I bought some alpaca at a fiber fair, it was the first roving I ever used because that was the only stuff available. I've since learned that it has lots of guard hairs in it, and more experienced sellers tend to remove it before selling it. So maybe yours won't be as hairy! The stuff I have tends to give a southwestern look, or even Native American, to finished products.
I bought some alpaca at a fiber fair, it was the first roving I ever used because that was the only stuff available. I've since learned that it has lots of guard hairs in it, and more experienced sellers tend to remove it before selling it. So maybe yours won't be as hairy! The stuff I have tends to give a southwestern look, or even Native American, to finished products.
What a shame your alpaca was so hairy but Native American sounds like an interesting look. I finally got round to felting a sample of mine yesterday, it is gorgeous, feels a soft as merino but has a beautiful sheen to it like silk. It felted really easily too. Definitely one to buy again – I see it making some lovely fingerless gloves…
What a shame your alpaca was so hairy but Native American sounds like an interesting look. I finally got round to felting a sample of mine yesterday, it is gorgeous, feels a soft as merino but has a beautiful sheen to it like silk. It felted really easily too. Definitely one to buy again – I see it making some lovely fingerless gloves…
Oh my …. where have I seen that before : Gotland eating all the other layers (of fine merino !!!!) 🙁
(though I love the shine (and feel) of the Gotland !!!)
Your Gotland bowl was beautiful, I thought the grey Gotland toning down the red merino interior really made the red craters on the outside "pop".