Well, I promised to share the results of my first attempt at true wet felting.  I was apparently on a real sharp learning curve!  ha!  I'm pretty embarrassed, I'll tell you that!  I think 2 things went wrong:  (1)  My layers were too thin and (2) I didn't roll long enough.  I was aiming to have as thin as possible a piece of felt so that it moved and flowed rather than behaving stiffly when draped, and went too far in layering thin.  The rolling!!  It's more exhausting than you would think!!  It's actually hard work!!  Have some good arm and back strength when undertaking felting.  If you don't when you start, you will if you make a habit of it.  It's quite a workout! 

I still think it's fixable.  Since I didn't roll long enough, the fibers are still open enough that I think if I add more wool to it, I can get them to felt together easily enough.  Once the weather is warm enough I plan to give it a shot.  I can't stand to see materials wasted, so I'll definitely find a way to fix it one way or another!!  

One of the awesome things about Easter is that you can get egg dying kits for dirt cheap this afternoon and tomorrow!  We're talking 4/$1.00 or less!!  Do you know how much wool you can dye with that??  For those of you who don't want to deal with or invest in the expensive and more troublesome professional acid dyes, this is a great way to get your creativity moving and do your own colorful wools and yarns! 

(Picture borrowed from Deer Run Sheep Farm)

The second is from WoolFestival.com and gives a great little tutorial on several different methods for dyeing yarns with Easter egg dyes.

Both should give you some really great ideas for safe, easy, non-toxic and even kid friendly ways to use Easter egg dyes to color up your wools and yarns!  Have fun!

Now, I said that discounted Easter egg dyes for your wool was one of the awesome things about Easter, but there's something else that's even more awesome…. The very most awesome thing about Easter is what it really means, and that is that we have a way to be free of the not so awesome things of this world, and even the not so awesome things within ourselves through the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross.  Today represents Christ' defeat of death - yes, even death! - through His resurrection.  If even death can be defeated through His power, there is nothing in this world that can't also be overcome through Him.  I won't preach a sermon, but if you happen to want to know more, I'd be glad to tell you more about it and have a conversation with you on the matter.  You know how to reach me.

I hope you all have a great Easter!

The next step after adding more layers to my fiber over the top of the boucle' is to start wetting and rubbing! 

For my soap solution, I used Kiss My Face olive soap.  I shredded it using a cheese grater and dissolved it into a jug of very warm water.  **WARNING**  If you aren't going to use all of your soap solution in one sitting, store it in a jug that will fit into your microwave, or just make up small batches each time you need it, storing your soap chips in a baggy!  Once the solution cools, it will begin to again saponify and separate, and will need to be warmed up to blend it all again.  

When I got ready to use the same solution again later, I had to dump the whole jug out into a giant mixing bowl, heat it up and then transfer it back to the jug and my spray bottle.  Big pain!  

In this picture, I had had my layout ready for a while before I had a chance to start the wet part, and the fine fibers were kind of sticking to my bamboo mat when I would go back to work on it more.  I rolled a layer of newspaper in with it, and it kept it in place for me nicely.

In the bottom half of the picture, you can see where the fiber has been sprayed with my olive soap solution and pressed and rubbed gently with the bubble wrap.  The upper part has been sprayed, but has not yet been rubbed down.  

In this picture, you can sort of see 3 different sections of my length of fiber.  1/3 sprayed and bubble rubbed, 1/3 sprayed but not yet rubbed, and 1/3 not yet sprayed or rubbed yet. 

Next:  Rolling and rolling and rolling in hot sudsy water!