two dolls made using pipe cleaners and needle felted wool
My first foray into the world of wool and fiber arts happened because of I. He went to a school for a few year that was inspired by the Waldorf philosophy of education.
When he was in kindergarten there, his teacher had all of us parents do a special project for our children in which we used barbed needles and wool to create a doll. This technique is called needle felting…and I was hooked the first time I tried it.
Then, my dear friend Merce taught me to wet felt felt wool about 4 years ago now (it was really crappy timing, she taught me to felt right before we moved to Maine). It’s a really simple process; one that’s been used for thousand and thousands of years to make things like coats, slippers, even yurts!
I really love it and have only begun to tap into the possibilities of the art. I have tons of ideas, but not enough time to bring them to fruition.
Then, once we arrived in Maine, I learned to knit.
needle felted designs on wet felted wool
As we began to get to know Maine, I noticed knitters everywhere! My gram had taught me to knit originally – I had to return home and I never got to learn to cast off though….kind of an important part of knitting!
So, I never really learned, and knitting was always something I’d wanted to learn. When I saw all the knitters in Maine, I figured my chance was at hand!
And it was. When we walked into our first homeschool meeting here in Maine and there were, as would be expected, several knitters. I warmed right up to those knitting ladies and they became my “knitting mammas!”. It was a great way to not only learn a skill I’d wanted to learn for a long time, but, to also break the ice in this new group.
Slowly but surly I got the hand of it, and now, nearly 3 years later, I’m a pretty decent knitter. I can’t make up my own patterns, and, I can only make a few things (I haven’t learned how to make socks yet for example).
some knitted projects I've done
But regardless, I absolutely love working with the fiber and enjoy making my family special things to keep them warm.
Knitting and felting aren’t the only things you can do with fiber though. On my list of “Things I’m Going to do When I Have More Time” is to learn to spin wool, and to card wool.
Carding is probably more realistic because the equipment isn’t nearly as expensive, but, spinning wool on a nice wooden spinning wheel is just like nothing else. I could sit there for hours and hours…..
Back to reality though!
Since O. was born, I’ve had really limited time to work much on any fiber projects. I really should have titled this post, “Confessions of a Fiber Arts Addict Who Has no Time for Her Addiction!”.
my current project for O.
I’ve made a few hats for O. and our new nephew N. Oh, and I’m working on a pair of gloves for baby O….he’ll probably get to wear them once it’s warm enough he doesn’t need them!!
I’m hoping to make that statement false though – and that’s why I added this section to the ‘ol bloggety blog….to help motivate me and keep me working! Hopefully it will help another fiber arts addict too : )
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