February 22, 2023
Needle Felting
Do you like poking things into other things until they ultimately make one big thing? We do, too! Needle felting is a fairly simple idea made into a fun hobby, and you don’t even need experience with knitting or crafts to take it up. Here’s the run-down:What is it? Transforming wool into 3D objects using a barbed needle.What do you need? Just three things: Roving wool, a felting needle (not a tapestry or sewing needle), and a felting surface like a sponge or foam pad.How do you do it? Tear off a piece of your roving yarn, roll it into a ball of the desired size, and place it over your felting surface. Use the needle to poke the ball in a straight up and down pattern until the fibers start to bond and the felt begins forming. NOTE: You’ll know you’re getting there when your ball has shrunk up a little.What can you make? Anything you’d like, but for beginners, we recommend something small that can fit into the palm of your hand, like a mushroom (consisting of two colors) or felted animals heads with less complex shapes (a bear head with one big circle as the head and two smaller circles for the ears.)What is the cost? If you’d prefer to buy everything at once, a typical needle felting kit that comes with a spectrum of roving wool colors averages around $18-$30 online. If you’d rather start with just the needed pieces, the individual needles are typically $3.50 for a pack of two, the roving yarn anywhere from $8-$15 depending on how much of it you purchase. If things are getting serious with you and your newly acquired hobby, consider buying a needle grip, average cost varying between $10-$25.