Curly Whirlies!

Last night, I told you that I'm working on costumes and props for the upcoming Broadway Review, offered by a local theater? Hang on, this has a fiber connection, lol. Well, one of the numbers is "Fine, Fine Line" from Avenue Q. I've not seen Avenue Q, but I understand that it involves puppets? The director owns this completely BUTT UGLY puppet - she was Sister Mary Annette in Nunsense, lol. I flat out refuse to show the puppet on this blog, lest you think that I made her, *shudder.* I didn't make her, I'm only her costumer.

Anyway, Sister Mary Annette needed to shed the habit, and put on an evening gown, and she also needed HAIR. The director asked me if I could make Puppet look like the lady who is operating her. This lady is perfectly beautiful, and she also has a mane of auburn curls. So... I bought some nice, soft Corriedale roving at my LYS, in the perfect color, and the actress suggested that I try mousse to set her curls, and voila, it worked perfectly! I followed the directions on the bottle of mousse, for getting the mousse onto the roving, and then I wrapped the roving around a foil-covered dowel (I ever-so-slightly twisted the roving, as I was wrapping it around the dowel), then set the dowel into the clothes dryer on its hottest setting, and with the little tray thing so that the dowel didn't bang around in the dryer *grin*.

Let me tell you, I was amazed. The actress has worked with this puppet for a few days, and Puppet has gone into and out of her "box," over and over again, and her curls are just as bouncy as can be. Now, I'm thinking of experimenting with this stuff for blocking woolens for "show." The finished product holds its shape wonderfully, and it has body, it stays nice and soft, it looks and feels like "wool," and it has a fairly nice smell, even though I don't like perfumy smells. Really,it still feels just like plain old wool, only, you know, moussed, lol. Think of it - this is what it's designed to do with people's hair, yes? Imagine how nice it would be to block a lacy shawl with this stuff for entry into the State Fair? It would STAY blocked, and it would stay soft and wow, imagine the possibilities? Hmmm... gotta work on this one.

Here is Doiley #2, blocking on Weed Whacker Stuff, and off of the blocking "wires." Yes, two thicknesses of this particular weed whacker line works better than my fancy schmancy stainless steel blocking wires, for a circle this small in diameter. I think that I'll try to find some thicker weed whacker line for blocking purposes - then I won't have to double it. The straight wires will work perfectly on straight lines, but the weedwhacker works better for tight curves.

This was such a fun pattern! Relatively easy, and wow, isn't it pretty? I've decided that doileys are the most magical of knitting - they don't look like much when you are knitting them, but they undergo a complete transformation in the blocking process. I didn't know about the mousse yet, when I blocked this doiley, but I'm going to give it a try. Do you suppose that mousse works on cotton, too?





(Yes, it is round, not oval - I tossed the doiley onto my dd's cello case, for a quick pic against a black background, and the cello case is curved, so it looks oval. It stayed nice and round. Trust me. *smile*)