Making Felt Balls from Wool Roving

Making Felt Balls from wool roving ~ I had so much fun with this and it is so easy to do! I was shopping for felt wool so I could learn how to crochet and knit felt. And I saw all these funny looking wool that was not yarn.

Felting & Beading

As I contemplate my fist felting project, I know I want to add some bling and beads to the felted project. (What actually happens in the end is anybody's guess at this stage!) But I cannot decide whether to bead and then knit/crochet and then felt, or whether to complete the felting project and then embellish.

A few of the questions I want answered before I start in earnest are:

Knitting and Crochet Felting Samples

I read that felting shrinks your pieces more lengthwise than it does widthwise, so I decided to do some experiment as soon as my new felting wool arrived. All yarn shown here are 100% wool. This was done by hand felting.

I also did both knitted and crochet swatches as there is not a lot of literature on Crochet Felting and I wanted to see for myself what the difference was and why it seems less popular than felt knitting.

Cubic Zirconia

As Good As Diamonds!!!

Cubic Zirconias, often referred to as CZ, are the most successful simulated diamond. They are more reflective than glass, rhinestone, or crystal and sparkle much more brilliantly.

Sparkling Crystal Beads

The wondrous joys of a plentitude of glamorous sparkles

Crystal is glass with more than 30% lead. Crystal beads produce wonderful sparkles. It is this lead that produces the high refractive quality so sought after in crystal.

What is Cabochon?

An ingenuous cut that highlights your stone

Shaped, Polished, Not Facetted

Cabochon, traditionally, was a gemstone that had been shaped and polished, but not facetted.  Nowadays, it also comes in other materials like cat's eye (optic fiber) and polymer clay.

A cabochon, sometimes spelt as cabouchon, sometimes incorrectly spelt as cabochan is often also referred to as a cab. 

Bone Beads

from bone comes such unique beauty

Modern Beads from Bone

Most modern bone beads are made from cow or sheep or camel bones. Bone is a durable material that is hard enough to wear well, but soft enough to be worked with nearly any hard tool.

Metal Bali Beads

Soul-Touching Ethnic Charm in Jewelry

The term 'Bali Beads' arose because this style of beads was originally only handcrafted in Bali, Indonesia. Due to their individually handcrafted nature, they are fairly pricey.

Wool Felting Tips

Handy list of checklist and tips you should at least once to make sure you get a smile and not a frown on your face when your felting is done.