Purple Hummingbird Woolens | Johanna Richardson | Keene, NH | 603-762-1663 | purplehummingbird444@gmail.com | etsy.com/shop/hummingbirdwoolens
Handmade Woolens for the Whole Family
Keep the whole family warm with our woolen socks, felted hats, mittens, slippers, knitted legwarmers and wristers, felted zippered vests and felted silk scarves
About the process…
When my first child was born, I wanted to find a way to work from home, and so Purple Hummingbird Woolens was born. What fun to shop and order LOTS of beautiful yarn and start knitting socks and mittens for my business! For thirteen years I taught knitting, crocheting, felting, and sewing to grades one through eight at Monadnock Waldorf School. All the while, I continued to create woolens, which I sold at fairs.
As I was selling at more and more fairs and sheep festivals, I started creating more wearable items for the whole family. At shows people tell me they come across the room or field to my booth because of the stunning display of colors!
To be in My Tiny Studio making all my woolens is the best! Creating the wool fabric, cutting out, and sewing up into vests is so gratifying. From animal fiber, again and again, I make wearable and warm clothing that is beautiful. I love being a part of this ancient, magical art! Whether it’s hats, mittens, socks, or slippers…..I love the process.
I use Harrisville Designs Shetland yarn to create my colorful vests. They offer 65 colors in beautifully spun yarn, and I live just 8 miles from their store. For each vest, I knit up two large rectangular pieces on my flat bed knitter. Then I put the fabric into my 1954 (my birth year!) Maytag wringer washer. It is great for agitating and swishing the knitted fabric in hot soapy water, which shrinks the fibers, deepening and intensifying the colors and softening the wool. Shrinkage is around 40% in length and 20% to 30% in width. For a garment chest size of 48” around, each rectangle is knit 194 stitches wide by 370 rows long. The thick, wet fabric dries laid out flat in My Tiny Studio, with a woodstove in the winter and outside in warmer months. When the fabric is dry, I cut and sew it according to the size planned. I always sew zippers into front pieces first (not my favorite part!), then the shoulder and side pieces, and finish with the armhole and neck edges. From here, I hand the childs’ vests off to my lovely, artististic daughter, Lili. She needlefelts sweet, unique designs of her own imagination. I have watched her create animals and flowers many times but still cannot mimic her charming magic.
For the felted hats, I use the same Harrisville Designs Shetland yarn. The process begins the same, where I knit the hat on my flat bedknitter. I begin with cotton yarn to knit the brim lining, which makes the wool hat warm and comfortable, then continue knitting with wool yarn to the top, bind off, and finally sew the back seam and create the ear flaps and cord ties. The final step is to put the hats into the washer to felt. I have worked out the proportion of shrinkage of both fibers, as they do shrink differently. I also just make knitted hats with soft merino wool and cotton, again, for lining.
The process is similar for the felted mittens. The mittens have a nice long ribbed cuff to keep out snow and cold. Customers tell me they sometimes fold back the cuff for extra warmth at the wrist. Knitted and felted mittens are very warm as the fibers have snugged and shrunk together, keeping out the cold and wind. Wool is an amazing fiber because it feels warm even when wet.
Browse our woolen products
