Wednesday, December 12, 2012

felted wool teether

I would say that lately I have been experimenting with felting wool, but as the photos show...I was experimenting with felting wool when there were leaves on the trees. March, to be specific. I don't know if that qualifies as lately.

I purchased a host of colors of wool roving on Etsy from a woman in Estonia. The wool smells delicious. Good enough to eat; it is a teether after all. Is that wrong to think that wool smells tasty? I know that wool on the hoof does not smell great, but this wool has been washed, brushed, and dyed using natural dyes.


 

Felting wool...here is the low down:

Start with wool roving.

              check.

Pull off a small bunch.

              check.

Submerse it in warm/hot soapy water and roll it between your palms.

              check.

Roll it until all the ends have tied themselves into the ball.

              check.

Rinse the soap out.

              check.

Set the ball out to dry.

Is anybody else hearing Monica from Friends saying "check" after each item?

                 Rachel: Who are you saying "check" too?

                Monica: Myself. Y'know, for remembering to pack a thing. 
                               Yeah, you do a good thing, you get a check! 
                               (pause) 
                               My mom does it, I never realized it was weird.


According to Wikipedia (shudder...I know, not a reliable source), the heat and moisture used in wet felting causes the scales in the wool fibers to hook together. The comparison of different fibers below shows why cotton does not felt.

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