WoolPets

Kitty and Pumpkin Needle Felting Class

Thanks to everyone for the fun class we had today at Esthers on Bainbridge Island. Here's a photo of everyone hard at work.

And the results are amazing little Cats and Pumpkins!

Bert the Bunny

Here's our new bunny, Bert. We adopted him from some friends who bought he and another male together in the spring. The two bunnies fought all the time, so we brought Bert home to live with the chickens. He seems to be feeling quite at home! And, he's so much nicer than our last bunny, Peach. Although she was a gorgeous Angora, she was kinda nasty! She would bite and scratch just about anything, even if she just wanted more attention! Bert, on the other hand, is as sweet as can be! Hopefully he will be happy here.

Hanging out with Heather the Hen.

Peeking around the corner-

Munching moss.

Ski Sheep on Hazel Mountain

Ski Sheep on Hazel Mountain
Originally uploaded by woolpets

It's a lovely fall day here in the Pacific Northwest-a great day
for taking photos. Although I have so much work to get ready for the holiday shows, I had to take a few pics of the "Ski Sheep" . These are designed like the Ski Sheep needle felting kit, but with a few extra touches. I made small hand-knit sweaters and I added curly locks to the sheep. I also painted the craft sticks and toothpicks a silvery color. If you have another idea for how to decorate your ski sheep, I would love to see it! You can post it here or on the Woolpets Flickr page.

Needle Felting Class

Yesterday, I taught a needle felting class in the nearby town of Sequim, WA. My favorite thing about teaching is seeing the delight that people experience once they see how easy and fun needle felting is. Everyone mastered the basics while making pumpkins, then some went on to create spiders, bats, leaves and a few dogs.

I really love to watch as imagination and creativity flows from everyone as they create their sculptures. Even people who don't consider themselves creative can add to the fun by sharing conversation and stories while busy hands work.

 

I also like to see how each person has a style that presents itself in the finished piece. It seems that with needle felting, there is no one specific way to sculpt. That leaves lots of room to develop technique and personal style. 

 

A big 'thank you' to everyone at Shelley's house. I almost left with this sweet kitten, but since we were already bringing home a bunny, I had to pass him up. Besides, the rule is no baby animals so that one day, we can travel!

He sure was hard to resist!

New Colors of Wool

Mr. Woolpets finally got around to photographing some wool roving for the shop. I'm really excited to be able to offer more variety now that more folks are getting into needle felting.
Most of the roving is New Zealand Corriedale wool. It works very well for needle felting and wet felting, too. Some of the new colors include moss, which is a much better green color than the old green I used to carry, lime, orange, pumpkin, purple and a beautiful royal blue.

The roving is sold by the half-ounce, which may not sound like much, but when you are needle felting little animals and such, you will have plenty.

I am also offering locally grown curly wool locks. Every so often, I come upon a beautiful fleece from either the state fair or local spining events. These curly locks are so much fun to play with. You can use the locks for hair on dolls, curly sheep or even to adorn a curly dog.

The curly locks are also sold by the half-ounce and come in white, grey and brown.

Here's a sheep decorated with grey curly locks.

Happy Felting!

Presenting the Ladies

I've been waiting for a nice, sunny day to take some photos of the newest members of the Sharp farm, but since that won't probably happen again until next July, I just had to go for it now.

A couple of weeks ago, we adopted a small flock of young laying hens from some neighbors who live on Bainbridge Island. We had been thinking about getting chickens for some time, and when Kevin saw an advertisement on the community freecycle website for some chickens, we jumped on it. 

This gal here is one of the 'Buffies'- a Buff Orpington chicken. Her feathers are beautiful and golden and the breed is know to be docile.

Here's Heather, who seems to be the most outgoing one of the bunch, and who's name we kept from the previous owner. Heather has given us a handful of huge eggs already. I understand that as the days get shorter, she'll be laying less. As a person who didn't grow up on a farm, I am easily delighted each time I look in the nesting box and see a big brown egg. It's a little surprise each time!

Kevin decided to invest in a cute little chicken coop for our new feathered friends-only the best for the Sharp animals. It's easy to clean and the hens are pretty happy at night when they all go into the upper level to roost. 

Having the real animals around as models helps with recreating them in wool. The more time I spend with them, the more time I have to study their shape, coloring, movements, etc. 

I hope eveyone is enjoing the start of fall. This is definitely my favorite time of year. I love getting cosy with a nice fire, good book and the rain gently pattering on the roof.