Needle Felting a New Hobby for You?

I thought today I would post something  a little different.  I am posting instructions on how to make a simple needle felted ball which can either be used for decoration, if you add pattern and colours or as a dryer ball!  All you need are a few basic tools, a felting needle and a foam board and of course some roving or yarn.  I have lots of beautiful colours to chose from.

The article and pictures are from Simple and Joyful.  Hope you enjoy this as much as I have.  A warning it is addictive!  Felting can be simply like the attached article shows or much more elaborate!  Have a look and see what you think!  Then come see me for your fibre!  Enjoy.

Needle Felted Ball Tutorial

Please stop over at the new edition of Rhythm of the Home today and see my article on Powerful Princesses for Boys.

Needle felting is rapidly becoming a passion here in our home.  Almost everyday one of us gravitates towards the basket full of soft, lovely, colorful roving, grabs the needle and foam and starts creating.  Even  the little hands around here can easily create colorful scenes to hang on the wall or soft round balls for playtime.  I am finding more and more ways to add character and embellishment to our creations.  For the littlest hands who aren't ready for long sharp needles, making wet felted balls means that even baby gets in on the play.

Here is how we create needle felted balls in our home...

Material:  Wool Roving, needle felting needle, foam upholstery block (you can also use a sponge), old nylons if you choose to wet felt in the dryer at the end

Start with a small amount of roving of any color.  You will be adding layers as you go, so start small.  Gently and tightly roll the roving into a cylinder.

 Fold the cylinder into a ball shape.  This shape does not need to be smooth since you will be adding more layers.

 

Begin to push the needle into the ball from different sides and angles.  The barbed needle will catch the fibers and push them into the ball.  Gradually work your way around the ball.  When your ball starts to form a sphere, wrap more roving around a bit at a time and continue to needle felt.

As you wrap the roving, notice that the more you stab the needle in the same place, the more compact the area becomes.  You can use this technique to shape your ball, or in the future to create different shapes.  The more you use the needle, the tighter and smaller your ball will become.

If you did not start your ball with the color you desire, you can always add roving on top and change the color at any time.

Once you've created your ball shape, you can add on whatever pattern or design you wish simple by placing the roving where you want and stabbing it into place with the needle.  The options are endless.

When you are happy with your ball and design, you can play with it immediately, or wet felt it to further combine the fibers.  The simplest way to wet felt your ball is to put it in the washer inside a pair of nylons.  You can also dip your ball in warm (almost hot) soapy water and gently rub the felt between your hands.

These balls are wonderful for gentle play, rolling, bowling, playing with baby, decorating, or even adding a small bit of yarn and hanging on the Christmas tree.  Below are several example of patterns I've created recently.  Two of these balls are being offered as a giveaway today over at the Rhythm of the Home, so stop by or make your own.

The Picker and Fiber

As mentioned earlier in the week, the shearing has started, fibre evaluated, washed and picked....what do I mean by picked?  Picking is when you put fibre through a manual machine to "open" it up and prepare it for the next step.  The manual machine is called a Picker....and it looks harmless enough on the outside but on the inside....it looks like a medieval torture device!  

Picker

And if you don't wear your gloves and get "picked" I can tell you it feels somewhat like that too!  However, it rarely happens you get picked, you just need to watch what you are doing.  

Inside the Picker

The fibre used in the pictures is Alpaca.  You don't always have too pick fibre.  When you do, the added benefit is that along with "opening" up the fibre it cleans the fibre ...making it easier to remove any bits that maybe there.

Pieces of Alpaca Fibre

Alpaca Fibre

Opened Alpaca Fibre

Notice the difference in the Alpaca fibre after it has gone through the Picker....it is fluffy so to speak!  The fibre is broken down into manageable pieces to process.  A small tight piece of fibre comes through the outside "opened".
Next week I will show you what happens to this "opened" fibre!  
Have a great weekend.  Sunday is suppose to be lovely!  If you want to drop by the farm store please call(705-778-2070)or email
first.  And don't forget to call if you need extra eggs for Easter!

Fibre Goats

DID YOU KNOW???

WE HAVE FIBRE GOATS!!!

Yes we have Alpacas which are recognized world wide for the soft fibre, and you know about Patrick 1 of our 4 Olde English Babydoll Southdowns, which provide us wool, but we also have a few different kinds of goats which also bare fibre for us!

We have 100% Angora and 100% Cashmere goats, along with a mix of the two!  Remember an angora sweater means it came from an Angora rabbit, the only animal that keeps the Angora name.  If it an "Angora" sweater from a goat it would be called a Mohair sweater!  Patrick might have given this lesson awhile back!

We have bred 2 of our girls a 100% Angora (Talli) and our Pygmy(Jill) to our 100% Angora male, Omar.  What that would give us is 100% Angora from Talli/Omar and a 50/50 blend with Jill and Omar.  Good Pygora is hard to find so we are taking a chance, but we are hoping it is worth it.  Lucy is a Pygora goat and she had been bred to 100% Angora male producing offspring with beautiful fibre, and they are pretty cute to boot!  If the girls are pregnant we would hope for kids in the early Spring.

 Mohair fibre is very shiny, warm and strong with lots of krimp. Mohair is known as an exotic fibre.

In the next few weeks we will post different pictures of our goats and their description.  Here is Omar, the grey Angora male and Talli the 100% registered Angora female.

If you are interested in buying Mohair yarn or product or even an animal gives us a call or email.  Oh and we hope to have lambs in the spring too....but that is for another day!