Wool Felted Balls

Wool balls amongst the rocks.

I took some blue/turquoise dyed wool roving and shaped it into a ball of wool, and then placed the ball inside a nylon stocking in the toe and tied a knot to keep the ball in place. I tossed the nylon-covered wool balls into my front loading washing machine the next time I did laundry and these felted balls were the result. It was a little tricky trying to pry the balls out of the nylon because they sort of felted themselves to the nylon! Better to use a cotton sock in the future as that doesn't happen with the cotton.

The brown wool was bits and pieces of wool leftover from a sheep shearing that my friend Susan gave me several years ago. The brown was a bit harder to shape into a ball because the pieces were short. After the brown one felted, I had to trim the little pieces of wool that were sticking up. Still it felted very nicely.

 

These will become pincushions, as wool makes the best pins cushions. The pins feel so much nicer gliding into felted wool and the wool actually conditions the pins. I have some ideas for transforming them into beautiful pincushions. Check back and see how these little wool balls will look in the future.

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