However she had not bargained on her goat’s popularity. He’s a quirky character with a cotton linen and faux wool head and velvety horns.
Mary has since parted with Beau who is so lifelike, I wanted to take him for a walk. I’m sure if I threw a stick, he’d chase it. Modelled on her friend Jenny’s bichon frise-maltese cross, he’s actually a cushion made of long tips of alpaca fleece on a felted wool backing.
He’s gone to live with Jenny who says she walks into a room and often mistakes him for the real Beau sitting on a chair.
The creative fibre worldModest Mary describes herself as a “wannabe” in the creative fibre world.
“I’m not at all creative but I love looking at fibres, the feel of fibres, the smell of them and the process of morphing them into some sort of unique and useful creation.
“It’s not just wool that I like — I enjoy fiddling with other fibres too and am always on the lookout for old wool, silk or linen garments that I can cut up and use in a project.
“It doesn’t come easily to me and my creations don’t shine like my clever colleagues’ ones do. But I still love doing it.
“And I really enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow fibre-loving friends. They inspire me and are incredibly supportive,” says Mary.
“Before we moved to New Zealand five years ago, I would never have imagined that I would be doing any crafty-type hobby,” says the Oregon-born and raised accountant.
“I was seriously into rock climbing, mountain biking, road biking, wind surfing, snowboarding and tramping. I never dreamed I’d ever pick up knitting needles. But when we moved here, suddenly I wasn’t working so I had lots of free time on my hands. I thought it would be a good time to develop the ‘creative side’ of my brain but I’m a very analytical person which is probably the reason I don’t shine in the craft world.
“If my friends in Oregon could see me, they would laugh their heads off.”
Mary started with knitting.
“I spent more time ‘negative knitting,’ as a friend described it, or ripping it out and redoing it, than I did actually completing projects.
Ten Talents“I eventually went to Ten Talents for help and ended up meeting Frances Bailey who happened to be the Gisborne area delegate for the Creative Fibre NZ group.
“Our local chapter is called Poverty Bay Woolcrafters, a group made up 60-plus ladies who weave, felt, hand-dye, hand-card and spin, knit, crochet and experiment with different techniques with wool.
“I first started felting in my kitchen with my neighbour and dear friend, Helen Hovell. We had a ball, following along with a You Tube video.
“Helen is an amazing felter and artist. She’s really talented with a great eye for colour, lay- out and design. She wins lots of competitions with her work and is a real inspiration to me.”
Mary enjoys making whimsical, fun, colourful creations — nothing too formal.
Apart from Billy and Beau, I loved the marine-life mobile she has in her office. It’s a needle felted fish, jelly fish and starfish made from merino wool. Each piece took about 10 hours, depending on the detail like beading.
She also knits and felts slippers, wrist warmers, scarves and flowers (above left).
Mary works full-time as an assistant financial services accountant so her craftwork is condensed into weekends and evenings. She attends a Monday evening Night Owl spinners group, dyeing workshops and looks forward to creative retreats and long weekends away where she can focus entirely on her craftwork.
Future projects on her wish list include a felt cape or wrap and a silk and merino hat in orange and purple — the brighter the better.
“But I need more time . . . and space,” says Mary whose house is steadily being taken over by her creative projects.
“Clutter,” Richard calls it.
“Treasures,” replies Mary.
