Tag Archives: Felting

A New Piece of Kit

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I will admit that I do find stabbing away every afternoon making my hand-felted sheep quite difficult at times.  I have a terrible habit of tensing my jaw while gritting my teeth and this is not good.

And then, a few days’ back, it suddenly dawned on me (and I have no idea why I didn’t know about these things), that I could possibly buy some contraption that could do the stabbing for me.  Surely something had been invented.

I did my research, watched endless YouTube videos, and looked at various options and decided on this nifty piece of kit – A professional hand held needle felting machine.  The seller was very helpful and I liked the fact it came from Ukraine too.

Oh yes, this bad boy is going to change my felting life.

And it does!  Obviously it took a while to get used to a new method and I soon realised that my days of bingeing on Netflix series were well and truly over as it is also has the potential to be a very dangerous piece of kit if I’m not concentrating 100% on it – think tattoo gun only 1″ deep, ouch, ouch, ouch!

The “felting gun” operates from slow to fast with a “volume knob” and my afternoons are much easier now. I don’t soley use it and alternate between using the gun and then stabbing by hand with my original needles to make my sheep.  Each method does a different job.

Does it cut down the time (each sheep takes about 2 hours to make)? – not really, but it does make things much easier. I 100% recommend this piece of kit.  It is well worth every penny.

I also listen to the radio in comparative safety with no lapses of concentration.

Does Madge Miss Edna?

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After a lovely morning in Sandness, Pepper had a grudging rest in the afternoon while I made another hand-felted Shetland sheep to add to my collection.

It is that time of the year, again, when there are not enough hours in the day to do everything on my list  This is all my remaining stock – the little sheep are selling very well and I can’t keep up with demand despite making a sheep every day even in the quieter winter months.

This just proves to me that Pepper is feeling better.  She is waiting to go and get her tea.

And is impatient for me to let her out.

I decided to give myself a break and went to sit in the real sheep field.  I remember worrying about Madge when her mother, Edna, died.  I didn’t think she would manage but she did and I am pleased she is not desolate without her mentor to guide her.

Madge has made her own friends now and is comfortable and settled in the flock, which is all I ever wanted for her (though if she could be a bit tamer (read grateful) that would be nice).

After wolfing down her supper, Pepper found me sitting in the field.  There is no escape.

While Pepper sat quietly looking for intruders, I chatted to Gussie.

Now Gus-Gus never has to be asked to be tamer or more helpful.  His one aim in life is to be by my side at all times and if I could just trip up over him too, then that would be perfect!