Needle Felting

This is so much fun!

Janet Hohmann, retired Forest Service Biologist, creates the most wonderful felt critters. I don't have a photo of any of hers, but you can find them at The Sheep Shed in Joseph, Oregon. When I saw that she was teaching a one-day felting workshop, I had to signed up.

We started out making a coaster to get the feel of the process. Janet had many colors of wool to choose from, and she showed us different ways to fold the wool over to get started. We worked on top of thick foam pads and just start poking the wool blob with a barbed needle to condense and weave (felt) the wool together. There are different sized needles that can be used, depending upon how tight and fine of a felt you'd like. It is amazing how quickly the wool tightens up and takes shape. It is very therapeutic, but you do have to pay attention or you'll get a very sharp needle jabbed into your finger. My coaster turned into an ornament.

Then we were on to making critters. Wally, the Wallowa Lake Monster, started out very worm-like and then very pregnant-worm-like. He was having a hard time "standing" up so we decided he needed water to serve as a base, and he had to be cut into three pieces. Janet happened to have this shimmery green wool that was absolutely perfect for a lake monster. Also perfect was the light blue wool that still had some of the sheep's curly hair, which made wonderful water texture. I did not get him done by the end of class so Janet was kind enough to loan me some supplies to finish him at home. I worked late (for me) into the night and lost track of time so I did not do a good job taking step-by-step photos.