so...what do you do with them?

When friend chat these days turns to my felting wool obsession, after I detail the great end-of-season deals and share how-could-you-not-want-them? hints on felting technique, after the polite (and sometimes enthusiastic--those are my good folk!) nods, I get some version of "and so what do you do with them then?"

Good question. Not really enough to currently justify the quantity I'm working into the stash right now. I'll probably use them for just 5-6 projects in the next couple of months (it's birthday season in the Frandsen family. Plus I have lots of babies I love who are overdue gifts), but don't really want to try to stock the shop with woolens right now.

I keep coming back to 2 things:

(1) I am a miserly hoarder (who is working to quell that inner nasty, inviting friends to use my shears and a grocery bag and dig in)

(2) Now, end of season, really is the time to buy woolens, what with $3 and $2 bag deals and other half-price lovelies. Plus, I feel less guilty about felting and chopping what is sometimes a quite nice sweater, knowing no one wanted it all winter long, and I'm genuinely saving it from the landfill, not swiping off the back of a would-be sweater wearer.

And also this: I really love working with this material. It's thick and soft and warm for winter crafting. Happy fuzzies all around.

My first finished project: a case for my sister's GPS unit.I started with an internal pocket of a thickly felted green cardigan. I cut it out with a flap on both bottom and top, boxed the corners, and turned it inside out. The top flap became the over flap of the finished pouch, and the bottom flap I used to cover the hardware I used as a clasp (recovered from another sweater). One part of it needed to be inserted through a slit in the fabric before being stitched in place, and the flap (later sewn down) covers it nicely, for both aesthetic and practical (protective) purposes. I cut the other pocket for a future use. I needle-felted in a vine-y swirl on the side, added a be-leafed belt loop on the back, and covered the top-flap hardware with a blanket-stitched leaf, cut from a felted green blazer. With the birthday girl's initials.

I tied it all up with another upcycling project, a golden blossomed poppy headband. I added a couple of citrine beads with the black to make it blingy-er, but think I just prefer the black. My holding-the-baby photo: