Wool is ancient, but still in style

Most likely before there was spinning, weaving or knitting, wool fibers were bound together with agitation. Wool is a unique fiber with microscopic scales that will connect with their neighbors, especially when heat and agitation are added, the bonding becomes durable and permanent. A curious analogy for the human world right now!

One of the many things I love about felting wool is that the materials and the methods are not so different from its ancient beginning.  Fleece, water and agitation is all that is needed.  Machines may be used, but I choose to make things by hand, embracing the physical and meditative (slow) process.   It wasn’t so long ago that “we” made most of our fabrics and clothing and many of our household goods.  Just in the past 150 years we have culturally forgotten how to do most of these things and do not know where, how or who makes the things we buy or what they are made of.  To live more simply, I strive to need less in my life and appreciate the beauty and function of hand made things.  I hope that I can empower others to make things for themselves, be playful and creative in the making and understand the resources and work that goes into anything we buy, whether it is hand crafted or from a factory.   Seeing the pollution that is being discovered in our water from the fabrics we use, I dream about a clothing revolution, returning to natural fibers, making more of what we need and losing much of the rest.  We would need less if we had to make it for ourselves.  We would cherish what we own and pass it on rather than send it to a landfill.