Etsy is a great place to buy handmade items, it is also a great resource for supplies. I wanted some plain undyed wool to use in the core of projects (such as our felted rattle balls) so I looked to Etsy since I wanted to start with a small amount.

I found just what I wanted from Etsy Seller 8muddyfeet. Wonderfully soft, washed dorset ram wool that was shipped promptly. Just what I have come to expect from Etsy sellers. :)





This should carry us through for a few projects.

Some of the wool used in our recent projects comes from a great little shop in Montpelier, Vermont called The Knitting Studio. We stopped in on our way to New Hampshire last week. Their motto is “Vermont’s Friendliest Knitting Shop” & I would have to agree! I can’t wait to stop in again the next time we are in the area.



Beautiful local Alpaca wool…this is the type of thing I am always in search of. A well known art & craft chain sells wool for felting from Nepal – at very steep prices. Why when there is such wonderful local product to be collected? This gets me excited to attend my first ever Fiber Festival! I hope to make the one in Vermont in October.

Today was the perfect temperature to be outdoors, and I decided to take the opportunity to head to the deck and make small wet felted balls with Sophie, my two year old. This is a great project for outdoors since little materials are needed, and the soapy mess that ensues makes no difference at all!



(on a side note: do you see the cloth basket? That was my mom’s. As a kid I remember it always stocked with yarn for hooked rug projects and crochet. Now it’s filled with lots of lot of wool. :))

This is a great project for toddlers. It involves water and wool – and works up really quickly, which is great for little attention spans!

You will need:
A bowl of warm, soapy water
wool roving, you choice of colour
a towel



I started by showing Sophie how to dip the wool roving into the warm, soapy water. The hotter the water the faster the felting process, but with a toddler who wants to dip their fingers in, this water was kept at a comfortable warm temperature.



Together, Sophie & I worked our piece of wool roving, taking from my lead.



After dipping in the water a couple of times and continuing to roll the wool, a ball begins to form.



Our finished mini felted balls, a hit with both the children and cats in our house!

See what came in the mail today:



The colours are beautiful! I can’t wait to start felting! Mind you, I am still waiting for an order of core wool, which I need for most projects, but it was so nice to touch & see all the beautiful colours in person!!

For Mother’s Day this year, I received two books on felting which include how to projects on needle & wet felting.



I’ve wanted to try this out for some time now: the idea of working with wool roving and forming it into felt has appealed to me for some time. Since I have so many creative interests I put it on the back burner until now…the projects you can do with felt are wonderful for little hands.

So I ordered some wool and look forward to getting started. I am worried that this may turn into an addictive hobby. It’s relatively inexpensive to start and the choices of materials is amazing! Then I hear about these fiber festivals and I go…oh boy…this could get dangerous. :)

I can’t give the books a proper review since I have not yet tried out the projects – but I can say from first glance they are well laid out, the directions seem straight forward and the projects look absolutely delicious!