OT: šakotis

A short off topic :)
Last weekend me with my mom and friends baked traditional Lithuanian Šakotis in our back yard.

When I was a teenager, my parents used to bake these beautiful big cakes for weddings, other big feasts. My sister and I were their helpers. I've separated thousands of egg whites from the yolks those days :)))
Few years ago, we revived old big cooking equipment, but it seemed too big. So my husband have made a small outdoor "grill" suitable to make Šakotis. Loooots of eggs, butter, sugar, work and we had a beautiful delicious result:

Felted wool boot for men

Felted wool boots for men.
These are size 48:

Shoe soles for your own projects of extra large sizes you can find in my Etsy shop supplies for shoemaking
And felted wool shoes for men with ethno motives:

For both:

Lithuanian feltmakers Summer camp 2013

Last summer Lithuanian feltmakers joined into association. This year we had a great event of our association - Lithuanian feltmakers summer camp. Skilful felmakers participated there 4 days. We shared our skills, painted pieces with plants, joined all our ideas and fantasies into one big common piece of art – 3D panel "the bottom of the lake"

The whole story is here


Here are few moments:

Naginės

Veltų klumpių padai gali būti visokiausi. Šį kartą jie odiniai, užsakovo pageidavimu. Nesinorėjo siūti odos, taip, kaip klijuoju guminius padukus, nes siūlės greitai nusivaikščiotų, tad užlenkiau kraščiuką ir gavosi vos ne naginės :)
Gražu, lengva, tik skalbti problematiška.

Tokias veltas klumpes galima rasti čia: Felted gray clogs Sun , o Europai čia: Filz Hausschuhe Sonne

Sheephair Boots

The feet are warm, and the sheep are intact:)
I've felted new wool boots:

Felted Snowboots

Felted wool shoes for real Winter

Baltic Amber

Today it is the first anniversary of my WoolenClogs shop! I am glad that my  wool felted clogs (mostly made of Lithuanian sheep wool) reached my customers in all over the world:) They were shipped to Europe, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil etc. I wish a warm wearing to all my customers!

I have just finished the second pair of the clogs with Baltic amber. Amber is often titled the “Lithuanian gold” – it is something uniquely Lithuanian. And natural :) I like how it harmonizes with the wool.
White felted clogs with an amber  - we have made them together with my sister Eigile. She is on vacation from her school now. We had a real crafters workshop at my house:)
The brown felted clogs imitate carved wooden clogs. "Carvings" are traditional Lithuanian ornaments.  

Atgal į senovę / Back to the antiquity

Senovėje žmonės irgi veltinius veldavo, tiesą sakant veltinis - viena seniausių tekstilės rūšių. Visai netikėtai išsiaiškinau, kad senoviški metodai yra ypač efektyvūs veliant neapdorotą šiurkščią lietuvišką vilną. Kloti vilną pirtyje ant plautų - labai patogu, tašytis galima į valias, vietoje dabar įprasto bambukinio kilimėlio storą klojimą itin greitai padeda suvelti kočėlai, formuoti medinis plaktukas.
Į šį reikalą įvėliau savo šeimos moteris - mamos pirtyje su jauniausia sesute Eigile vėlėme sesės Jurgos sodyboje išaugintų avelių vilną:) Rudenėjant pasiilgau lietuviškos vilnelės, o tokia sava ji dar mielesnė. Masažiukas pėdoms, taip reikalingas vėstant orams.



In ancient times, people also felted wool. Frankly felt is one of the oldest kinds of the textiles. I found out that ancient methods are very effective felting Lithuanian raw rough wool. Laying the wool in sauna is very comfortable, instead of the usual bamboo mat it is very useful to use mangle and a wooden hammer - they helpes to form thick felt.

This time I involved my family women into this woolen thing - in my mothers sauna my youngest sister Eigile and I were felting local sheep wool, which was reared in my sisters Jurga homestead :) It is getting colder and lithuanian wool is so great for foot massage. 
Love this naturality? Striht from the sheep,on your feet:) You can order such natural handmade felted clogs in my Etsy shop

Verpimo ratelis / Spinning wheel

Įsigijau verpimo ratelį, man naujas, bet realiai - senutėlis. Tas jam visiškai netrukdo atlikti savo darbo - iš visko sukti siūlą:) Bandymus dariau su lietuviška vilna, paskui prisiminiau beturinti sunkiai besiveliančio įvairių spalvų merinoso vilnos rinkinį. Ir štai mano eksperimentų rezultatai:)

I got myself a spinning wheel - to me it is new, but actually it is very old. Antique spinning wheel still works perfectly:) I was experimenting with lithuanian sheep wool. Later I remembered, that I have a big mix of merino wool tops, which wasn't very good for wet felting. So here are the results of hand spinning experiments on my "new" antique spinning wheel:)