Saturday Fun

Is there a better way to spend a Saturday morning than playing with wool? Perhaps, but several Fiber Guild members gathered to make "wet felted" balls and prepared some dry balls to be felted in the washing machine for the Guild Christmas tree.

First, roving was carded into batts. Aligning the wool fibers all in the same direction makes felting easier.

The wool is carefully removed from the carding drum.

Then a handful of odd bits of roving are then blanketed in the batt.

For "wet felting" the balls were submerged in hot water and then dish soap was applied to the ball. The wool is then worked to allow the fibers to adhere to each other.

We rubbed, rolled, dipped, rubbed, rolled, and dipped for about 15 minutes. Gradually the balls became more compact.

Once they were the size that we wanted, the balls were rinsed in cold water until the water ran clear.

The dry balls were prepared the same way, but they were placed in an old pair of nylons with knots between each ball. One of the ladies will felt the wool balls, knotted in three pair of panty hose, in her washing machine.

The felted balls will be embellished at the next Guild meeting.