Felted Sheep Soap on a Rope

The Sheep Soap on a Rope is my latest craft product. It's a bit more of a faff to make than the original version, but as before, it was inspired by a misfortune which befell my dear companion.

I didn't see Elinor coming into the kitchen. I didn't hear her tapping her hoof. I didn't sense her mounting irritation. Happily oblivious, I was standing at the sink, massaging merino wool round a bar of soap, staring out the window thinking of nothing in particular. I started when she jogged my elbow.
"Gone OCD have you, Beaut? Developed a personal hygiene fetish?"
It took me a minute to catch on.
"Felted soaps on ropes are in demand down the craft shop, Elinor. I ought to thank you for giving me the idea."
"Glad you like them." 
Elinor leaned against the taps watching me, til I felt obliged to converse.
"I enjoy felting them even more now I'm using organic Welsh soap - it's got beeswax and honey and herbs in it. Go on, have a sniff of this."
"Mmm, rosemary. No wonder you're acting like a tranquillised elephant." Elinor jabbed my hand with her hoof. "Wake up, Nelly. I'm sorry I ever mentioned felting soap now. This is so dull and unimaginative."
"Oh, do let me be." I elbowed her out of the way to plunge my felting into cold water. It was absolutely not my fault that Elinor fell in too and came up clinging to the rope on the soap. It was a selfless act of inspiration, she is my muse, my singing, dancing, tragically sodden Melpomene. 

If you too would like to make a slightly more imaginative felted soap on a rope and you can spin your own yarn, here are the things you will need. If you don't spin, you can substitute thick wool yarn in green and black for the green and black wool tops. It has to be real wool yarn, in order to felt into the white merino covering. 

If you are a spinner, spin about 10m of a single with Z twist, about the right thickness for two ply double knitting yarn. Navajo S ply the single with lots of extra twist, then Navajo Z ply the resulting yarn back to the balance, so that you end up with about one metre of densely braided yarn in both green and black.

Choose a nice lathery soap. Scrape the edges of the bar to round them off, using a knife or a potato peeler. Sharp corners are liable to be rubbed bare of wool during the felting process. 

Cut a groove into the edges of the bar of soap in the middle of all four sides and on the long sides, also at one quarter and three quarters of the way along.

Tie the black yarn around the long axis of the soap, knotting it within the groove at one end with a loop, which can be cut leaving three ends to plait into a tail.

Make a knot at the end of the remaining black yarn, wrap it round the short axis of the soap and tie inside a groove, leaving a short length loose at either end to form two legs with knots for hooves. Repeat to make the other pair of legs.

Make a double overhand knot to create a loop of the green yarn at the length you would like the rope to suspend the soap. Pull the loop knot firmly against the groove at the top centre while you tie the green yarn with a knot lying in the groove at the bottom of the soap. 

Divide the white merino tops into two long strips and draft them out slightly. Wrap the first piece round the soap longways and wrap the second piece with the fibres running at right angles to the first, making small gaps to pull through the legs, tail and loop.

Hold the wool tops in position while you stretch the toe of a pair of nylon tights around the soap. Wet it under the hot tap and press the wool down against the soap, then start to massage the wool flat. After a couple of minutes, peel off the tights. 

The white merino will only have made a loose jacket round the soap, but the legs and tail are liable to get felted into it. Now is the time to rinse off the lather, free them up and continue rubbing the soap between your hands, making sure the yarn doesn't get bound back into the white body.

Plunging the soap from under the hot tap into a bowl of cold water helps to tighten up the felt. It takes about ten minutes rubbing and plunging to create a solid wool covering, at which point, you can squeeze off most of the water into a towel.

I've discovered that if you needlefelt the decorations straight away, while the soap is still damp, it's much easier to poke wool fibres into the soft surface and the needle is much less likely to snap. A 38 gauge star needle works better than the finer triangular needles.

Leave your finished sheep soap on a rope on the radiator to dry.

Hang it up in the shower and you can lather yourself clean against the gently exfoliating felted surface then hang it back up to drip dry.

Stop when the fun stops.

Needlefelting Wool and Silk Mermaids

I have been gambling on a frost free May this year. My most advanced young plants are already braving the weather out in the dye garden and another load of seedlings are hardening off on the patio. This week we have had plenty of rain after a very dry spell, so next week should be perfect for gardening. Poised on the brink of summer.

"Fancy going down the beach for a swim, Elinor?"
My companion gathered her shawl around her shoulders.
"You want to die of hypothermia? My core temperature is dangerously low as it is. Five minutes of sunshine and you've turned off the central heating, packed away your long underwear and planted out the geraniums. Far too soon, Beaut."
Just to get her blood circulating, we walked the dog on the dunes, coming home with a few gnarly lumps of driftwood.
"Himself will have a fit if you try to hide those in the garage. He's just reorganised all his bike stuff, I think he even had the hoover out there."
"Have no fear, Elinor, these are going straight up to the craft room. This week, I shall be mostly making mermaids."

The idea of modifying basic wool fairy making into a mermaid shape had occurred to me before, though I hadn't worked out all the details. I started with the usual strip of white merino tops, tied with a thread at the centre. Rather than twisting a pipe cleaner round the felted ball of wool that forms the core of the head, I used a 20 gauge green florists wire, which is strong, but flexible enough to bend easily. Twirling a thin length of white roving to cover the pipecleaner arms, I had to go back and add an extra layer, since the mermaid wouldn't be wearing a dress and her bare arms looked weedy. The white merino was then folded in half over the head and tied at the neck with another thread.

Thinking the nude shoulders and torso might look scrawny, I added a shorter, second layer of white wool with a hole pushed through, to drop over the head in place of the usual dress. For the tail, a section of merino/silk blend in blues and purples was laid flat with a strong thread across it two thirds of the way up.

The top third of the coloured wool was folded over the thread and the mermaid placed face down with the thread at waist level. Tying the thread firmly at the small of her back brought the coloured tops round her circumference and allowed me to stretch and fluff the lower coloured fibres in towards the midline ready to start needlefelting her tail.
Despite intensive stabbing at her torso with the needle to compress the fibres tightly, this mermaid ended up with a fine pair of shoulders.
"Not much in the way of tits, though, Beaut. How's a girl supposed to lure sailors onto the rocks if you don't give her the right equipment?"

"Beauty comes in many forms. She'd be very successful modelling a Spring Collection in Paris."

"Not with no legs, she wouldn't."

Agreeing that the androgenous look might be better suited to the catwalk, my next mermaid was given no extra layer over her shoulders. Instead, a strip of white tops was knotted round the florist wire then flipped up and wound around the upper arms to add substance where it was needed.

Making the tail narrow down before flaring into fins also proved a challenge. Tying it with silk or ribbon spoiled the sleek shape. Twisting the entire bulk of fibre, then needlefelting into the spiral gave a better effect. The lowest section was easy to open out and divide into two fins which could be needlefelted flat.

This mermaid also got a padded bikini top, needlefelted separately before fitting it onto her chest. Sewing a bead into her cleavage cinched the centre down for a considerably more buxom result.

Once long ringlets of Black Wensleydale wool locks had been needlefelted onto her head, the first mermaid's torso was mostly concealed. Drilling two holes through a piece of driftwood, the florists wire was passed through and twisted firmly to fix her in a sitting position, followed by some glue to keep her hand and tail and a few decorations in place. 

"Doesn't look very chirpy, does she?"

"She is a pensive mermaid, Elinor. Fathoms deep in thought."

"Probably wondering where her boobs are."

The other mermaid cheerfully adopted a more confident pose.

Since it had started raining again, Elinor left me to walk the dog while she offered her personal assistance with a smidge of extra wool for one of the new arrivals.

"There we are then, feeling better now? Buck up, girl, accentuate the positive."

Then the mermaids began to sing and within moments, Elinor was fast asleep.

Needlefelting Wool Fairies & Ladies with Lavender Bags

My companion, Elinor Gotland, sat watching me turn out my wardrobe in a fruitless search for 'something fabulous'.
"Give up, Beaut. High time you had a Spring makeover. We'll go shopping this weekend."
"Too late, Elinor. Tomorrow, BG and I are off to Carmarthen for the Merlin Festival."
"Ah, I wondered why the sudden urge to smarten up. Going in for the Magician Competition, are you? Which of you two is going to be the lovely assistant, wear sparkles and get sawn in half?"
"Actually, we've been invited to set up the Rich & Strange stall at the Fairytale Market in St Peter's Hall. The dress code is 'fabulous' and the theme for the whole event is 'Arthurian Legend'."

Elinor looked at my cupboard full of old jumpers and jeans. She sighed.
"BG can dress up as Morgana Le Fay and you'll just have to hide behind your spinning wheel, pretending she turned you into a toad."
It's my guess our invitation to the Fairytale Market came as a result of one of the Christmas Fairs, where we exhibited a tree full of needlefelted fairies and angels. I've been making fairies by the usual method, using Spring colours, silk and merino blends, bit of sparkle, carrying little organza bags full of lavender. Hopefully, customers shopping for Mother's Day and Easter presents will be enticed by the smell.

Though the thread tied round the waist gives a suitably blossomy, blousey effect, I got bored of making pretty pastel fairies and fancied doing some with a more chic and stylish look. A wide ribbon knotted moderately firmly gave a better defined torso, though it left nowhere to tie on any wings. The figure could still hold an organza bag, perhaps she was destined to be a Lavender Lady, rather than a fairy. I skipped the flowing tresses and pearl head band with dew drop decoration, instead needlefelting some locks of wool radiating out from the back of her head, so that they stood straight up round the face. Much more snazzy.

Tying fat pink silk thread in a bow round the back of her head didn't seem quite sufficient. Some kind of headgear seemed called for. A tiny oblong of black netting ruched up under a couple of buttons made the right sort of hat for a chichi Lavender Lady. And hats are fun to put together.

Adding a drop of lavender essence enhanced the scent of a small lavender bag. Grey hair for a modish, mature look. The lavender ladies can dangle from a coat hanger to perfume a wardrobe full of clothes.

Bigger bags and purple rinses, these girls are growing old disgrace-fully. I may not manage fabulous dress myself, but even Elinor agreed the Lavender Ladies should give the fairies in the Fairytale Market a run for their money.

Making Christmas Tree Angels with Tinsel Yarn Halos

"Ooo, I've never seen handspun, 
100% wool, eyelash yarn dyed gold with plants. Who'd have thought!" 
My companion has been rather a trial to live with this week. I pretended I hadn't heard her.
"Have you heard back from your agent about that audition yet?"
She remained apparently absorbed in marvelling over the tinsel yarn.
"Wonderful work. Such craft."
"Elinor, you know as well as I do that's just King Cole polyester."
"Oh, I don't take a dim view of a bit of sparkle, Beaut. You're the dreary eco-warrior round here." She let go of my three balls of shiny tinsel in order to push her specs up her nose and give me one of her looks. "I see the worm has not so much turned, as tied itself in a bow."

I bought this tinsel yarn with a view to adding halos to my usual wool fairy making process, in order to turn them into Christmas angels. 
Wrap most of the length of a long pipecleaner with white roving, just as you would for the arms. Now tie on the tinsel yarn near to one end and twist the pipecleaner to wrap a diagonal of tinsel around it, simply knotting it again when you get toward the other end. Bend the decorated, middle section into a circle, leaving a few centimetres of straight pipecleaner on either end.  Pass the wool roving meant for the head and body through this loop before you tie up the fairy's neck and it works a treat. Once the waist is also tied over the dress, the hidden straight part of the halo loop has been fixed in two places, making the whole thing firm, ready to be bent into its final position while you are adding hair.

I also made bigger, angel style wings, by folding two decent strips of white wool roving in half and tying them together about two thirds of the way up, then needlefelting them into a butterfly shape before knotting them around the fairy's waist.
I think these angels hang better with a thread suspending them from the waist, rather than the top of the head.

Next day, I spotted Elinor out in the frosty garden, deep in an angelic conflab. Tirion and Seren were bending low over her head. They were talking in Welsh and I couldn't make out what they were saying.

Elinor came back into the kitchen stamping her hooves against the cold.
"Did you hear any tidings of comfort and joy, then?"
"No, Beaut, I did not.  Fair play, Seren and Tirion are nice girls, but they tell me angels don't do wishes." She sighed as she unwound her scarf. "Never can find a fairy when you need one."
I reached for the tea bags.
"Put the kettle on, shall I?"

Needlefelting Halloween Witches with Stripey Socks

Black Llama fibre is silky when it lies in locks, rather wild and fuzzy when needlefelted.  The fibres must be quite scaley, because it does needlefelt quickly and securely, even when blended with silk, which I find a devil to stick onto to anything with a felting needle.  Last summer, I was very kindly given a bundle of black llama, specially for making Halloween witches.  This prototype was put together using the same method I learned for making wool fairies.  One of the fiddliest bits is getting a thin strip of roving to wrap smoothly round the pipecleaner to make the hands and arms smooth and neat.  Having knocked out quite a few fairies in the past year, I think the best technique is to twirl the pipe cleaner itself, rather than trying to wrap the roving round it.  

Just hold the fibre against the side of the pipe cleaner with light tension and use your other thumb to roll the pipe cleaner, letting the fibre wrap in a slight diagonal so it covers the length of the pipe cleaner, little by little. Witches need legs if they are to ride broomsticks. After covering two pipe cleaners with red wool roving, adding yellow on a steeper, open diagonal, gave a smashing stripey sock effect.  

It is a great deal easier to complete the legs before starting on the main construction.  The far end of the pipe cleaner was wrapped in black wool, the tip was bent up and wrapped some more to make boots with yellow laces sewn on.  My companion, Elinor Gotland, remarked that the witches she knew would have chosen stiletto heels.  

Mine definitely prefer Doc Martens.  Elinor also insisted that witches have long legs. Admittedly, the first witch I made had legs on the stumpy side. The next was positively arachnoid.

Trying to make the total length from the top of the head to the heels in a ratio of 3 to 2 with the span of the arms gave the best proportions. If you're not bothering with legs, it seems to me a witch looks most dramatic in a really elongated frock. Time to show that small, but perfectly formed, grey sheep how I was getting on.

Elinor took a critical look at the latest arrivals.
"Well, Beaut, this one isn't shy about showing her petticoat."
"Oh, Harriet is hurrying to the Halloween party at Crafts by the Sea.  The big end went on her broom, so she kicked up her skirt, hung onto her hat and ran for it." Smiling in a superior fashion, I continued "What a good job she wasn't wearing stilettos."
"A party?"  Elinor shot towards the door.  Neatly deflecting my point about appropriate footwear, she called back over her shoulder 
"Kick up your heels, these hooves were made for dancing. Come on girls, follow me!"

If you can't get to the craft shop and would like to have a witch at your Halloween party, they are £12.50 plus p+p, order by emailing me at tribulation2013@gmail.com