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So I come down the ladder and startedfor down-stairs; but as I come to the girls room the door was open, andI see Mary Jane setting by her old hair trunk, which was open and shedbeen packing things in it--getting ready to go to England. rayquan wigman

Elephalution

A mass of grey wool.
This is where it all began...
this is the miry muck from whence came...

Oh my!!!!  

What is that emerging from the tangled mass of greyness?  

Could it be.....a Wooly Mammoth?

Well lookee here!!!

It's the little critter that evolved out of grey nothingness!  

But he lacks sparkle...maybe he just needs.....

....a shower!!!   

Doesn't he look happy now?  

He's out there by the creek in the sun enjoying a nice warm shower!

Now he really sparkles...he almost looks alive!!! 

Did he really evolve? 

I think not!

This creature was created! 

So much for Darwin's theory of evolution...HA!

I had the fleece covered soap wrapped up in this stocking and tied it. Then I drizzled hot water on and began the felting process. Gently tapping the fleece with hot water and gently massaging it all. So when I had what was sort of pre-felt over the soap, I opened up the stocking and took it out and decided to make something different...not another soap in a coat.

I decided to needle felt a landscape on one side of the pre-felt in honour of a friend's 100th birthday. You can see my Pumpkin Pixie displaying this coaster I made. She is the second little dolly I made with a "pipe cleaner" core. I don't know what else to call those things....not "pipe cleaner"..."Chenille Stem"...that sounds nicer..it doesn't conjure up the thought of stinky old tobacco pipes.

Here is the other side...I just needle felted over top of the pre-felt I started making on the soap. It was going to be another soap in a coat but this is what it became...a coaster with embroidery cotton blanket stitch around the edge. This is my very first little pixie I made. He has a "Chenille Stem" core so his arms and legs bend and stay in place.

Imagine How i FELT!!!

I am still getting used to how to blog...as you can see the post goes from the bottom to the top of the page.

Put the fleece wrapped soap into a cut off nylon stocking.

Wrap the fleece around the soap and decorate with different colours.

Put the soap in the middle of the fleece to make a Soap in a Coat.

A batt of wool made from hand carding fleece.

These are the hand carders used for combing the fleece.

Eucalan Delicate Wash on Knitting Daily TV

This product is fabulous!!!  It is an all natural, no rinse, delicate wash with lanolin.
I personally like the Eucalyptus scent as it is a natural moth inhibitor.
The demonstration is about washing hand felted slippers.

Wish I Could Dye!!!

Applying the colour with a basting tool.

Here comes the fun!  My kitchen smelled of Koolaid!  I mixed up various flavours in pint jars and set them in the sink.  My kitchen smelled GREAT!

Rainbow Dying with Koolaid

 Here is the second dye bath with even more colours.  I was getting brave and even mixed Koolaid with food colouring drops in the water.  It looks like one of those Clown Wigs doesn't it?  The dye bath (with white vinegar added) needed to be put into a double boiler type affair.  I set the casserole dish onto canning jar rings in a big soup pot with enough hot water to reach half-way up the casserole dish.  Remember, the water had to be the same temperature as the dye bath so felting would not take place.  I got the pot boiling and then kept it simmering for a good 45 minutes.

Nothing to rinse out...all colour gone!

I could tell the dye had all been absorbed by the fleece because there was no colour left in the dye pot...all the colour had gone into the fleece.

Squeeze water out gently.

The fleece needed to be treated very gently so as not to get the fibres tangled and matted.  No felting yet.

As you can see here the colours become more subdued as the fleece dries on this wooden rack.  Oh what fun!!!  I can hardly wait to begin to make felt with my beautiful fleece.

Washing Greasy Fleece

This is the stuff that I skirted out...dirty eh?!?

 Getting that little bit of stuff out of the fleece took several minutes...but I read it had to be done before the fleece could hit the water or else it would get tangled and become matted.

Steaming hot water...160 F.

 I had to go down to the basement to adjust the temperature of the water heater and then wait for the water to get hot.  I had a thermometer to make sure.

Letting the fleece soak.

 Raw greasy fleece cannot be agitated...it takes a LOT of soap and VERY hot water.  It must just soak in the hot water for half an hour and then put into rinse water of the same temperature or else the felting process will begin.

It still looks dirty!!!

So....here is my washed fleece.  One would never know it had been washed except to see how dirty the water was.  Not to worry.  The dye bath will get the fleece cleaner....I hope!