Fun With Felting

I just went back to work today for half a day after being sick for a week with this horrid stomach virus that seems to be raging through the entire state.  I still feel awful and at this point, I'm starting to despair that I will ever feel well again.  If I just lie about, it's not too bad so I have read a lot of books and watched a lot of DVDs.  I have cruised through several discs of Lost, Torchwood and Dexter (Just a small digression here to ask is to totally wrong to think Dexter is hot??  I mean, he is a sociopathic serial killer....but likeable.)

I certainly haven't felt much like going out to my studio to work but one thing I can do whilst lying about on the couch is crochet.  I got some lovely wool yarn in various colors from Craft Warehouse and I have been wanting to experiment with felting crocheted items.  I crocheted a little bowl from this pretty cerulean blue yarn and then wet felted it.  I hadn't wet felted anything in a very long time but it is quite a simple process.  Basically you throw the finished item in a tub with extremely hot water and lots of dishsoap and then rub the heck out of it.  When the bowl was sufficiently felted, I shaped it and let it dry.  It seemed to need a little more oomph so I needlefelted some vines and leaves around the outside of it.  I liked that but it still needed more so I added little clusters of blueberries, too.

I'm quite pleased with how it turned out.  I love creating 3-dimensional, sculptural objects and I love the tactile quality of the felted yarn.  The single crochet stitch gave it a nice thick texture.  It just fits in the palm of my hand and I think it would be lovely on an altar or tabletop.

It is listed in my Etsy shop if you would like to bring it home to live at your house.  I am planning on making more in different colors for different seasons and elements.  I really enjoy spiral crochet.  I find it to be very meditative and I love how simply adding and subtracting stitches changes the shape I am creating.  It flows very organically and intuitively.  Also, it can be done without getting up off of the couch.