Felting

Loki admiring the felted Jacob

I have started to play around with some felting, and while I really like it so far, it does not feel like anything that's too good for my hands. So far, I have made a few little acorns - which are cute - but I don't think I'll be doing too many more unless I can find some needles that have much larger handles. This picture is of a great little felted Jacob that was given to me last year by a student (the shepherd has a day job!) and his grandmother had made it just for me. I not only love the little ram itself but moreso love the fact that he was a gift from a kid who knows I love my sheep and wanted to do something kind for me (the day job has amazing perks like this some days). I sent his grandmother a thank you note with some of my babydoll fleece for her to experiment with, and she was thrilled with both I think. We emailed a bit back and forth, and she encouraged me to look online for videos on how to felt wool. Instead, I have read a few books that were loaned to me by my dear friend Lori - along with her needles and the sponge/foam. There are some amazingly talented artists working with fibers - felting and weaving and knitting and spinning - but, the more I learn about all of these possibilities with wool, the more I think my niche is really with raising the little animals. So, as artsy as this shepherd may want to be, I'm happy with taking care of the flock and knitting some hats. Oh, and dyeing the wool...I do really like that piece, too.  And so on that note...taking orders for the holidays, so let me know if you'd like to give some Salty Ewe Knit Lids as gifts this year. They are $25. each and will ship for free (old LLBean style).