French Tote ... Felted & Felted & ....

How it got started, but I get ahead of myself.... I was shopping for vegetables at my local "farmers market" oh yes we have farmers even here in Venice Beach ... This is my favorite way to shop the quality of the food is fresher and the atmosphere is friendly it makes what could be a tedious task into a fun experience.


The sellers have smiles on their faces and the shoppers seem to have all the time in the world to leasurely stroll shop and visit with each other.

At the super market the shoppers always seem to be in a hurry, talking on their cell phones with serious lists and major concentration on their task at hand. No time to stop to chat or to slow down and "smell the roses". No lists or cell phones here just people wondering around and tasting and seeing what is fresh and what looks good.

There are samples too, the sellers offer their sweet fruit or vegetable for you to taste hoping you will buy their wonderful product. Somehow it all tastes a lot different then at the super market. The super market the fruit looks good and it looks like it would taste good but somehow it's all looks the taste is usually flat. I also like to buy as much organic fruits and vegetables as I can.


You see men and women carrying babies, young and old alike stopping for a friendly chat, they serve coffee and offer some nice chairs to sit and enjoy. And we are one block away from the Pacific Ocean. For me this is as good as it gets as far as food shopping goes.

Oh that salad looks good, flowers and all. Eatable flowers in the salad, my absolute favorite. (not really, they don't really taste like much). But it all goes in my French Tote really nicely.


I spotted this lady with a straw basket .... where did you get that? I asked. Then blurted out: That is a basket from Ibiza! .... how did you know? She asked, I used to have one just like it and I loved it. I used it till it fell apart.

That started the conversation and we "bonded" and had a lovely chat ... she is Betty Gold (bettygold.com) a well known artist. Betty is a professional sculptor, she has works in more than 100 permanent installations and private collections throughout the world. Her pieces are constructed from welded steel, and are painted with glossy enamel or left in their raw steel state to rust to a velvety patina. Wow ...

Some of her sculptures are housed as permanent installations in Spain, Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Ireland, South Korea, Mexico and the United States. Projects by Ms. Gold include a monumental piece at Pepperdine University, Malibu, Calif.,


Who would guess that this petite little lady would be making these huge sculptures, made out of metal, she welds....



What a lovely surprise to have this wonderful chat with Betty, we talked about baskets. She told me about her home in Majorca and her collection of baskets and her wonderful home in Spain.

Here I am with my mom and dad at the Los Angeles Airport headed for Hawaii. Circa 1969 and my Ibiza basket was my luggage. You see some fringes hanging from the basket, a hand knit shawl that I used to cover all the contents and I would just tie the handles and check it through.

I have no idea how it made it but each time they would hand carry this basket and hand it to me when we arrived. It was actually a good idea I never had to wait for luggage and nothing ever broke.

My felted shopping bag looks good feels nice and is very versatile and practical. I love it when a project turns out well. I get lots of compliments especially on the color. It has stretched and I've had to "refelt" it a couple of times I think it is done now.






I created my own pattern. I used Reynolds Lopi wool made in Iceland and used size 17 circular needles.