We felted today

These little guys are so homely they are cute. Almost. Angora goats with lots of hair. Fiber. I love fiber. I sheered my first goat last fall and still had all of the wool from the sheering. Was not really sure what I was going to do with it, but I was really excited that I had actually done it. They were pretty dirty and kind of smelly, but once I cleaned all of locks they were so soft and curly and the lanolin on the wool feels so good on your hands. The wool has been sitting with all of my stuff, staring me down. Challenging me to come up with something to create with it. I am a terrible spinner so that was completely out of the question. Then while on a kindergarten field trip at the Eggbournsville Farm it hit me! The children could felt wool around bars of soap. Why this came to me while the children were leading Lamas through an obstacle course I do not know. It would be a fun, easy project that they could do and they would have a mothers day gift when they were done. The teacher was excited when I told her about it, she said "great, lets do it on Thursday!"

Crap. Why do I do this to myself.

I collected my stuff. Soap from the Dollar store. Dyed wool from the neighbor to embellish the white wool I already had. A wash board from another neighbor, along with little wooden mats they use to make sushi. A carder to card the wool. Wash tubs and towels for the table. My laptop so I could show the kids the pictures I had taken of them while they were at the farm. I needed to make one more stop before heading to the school. A trip to a local downtown hardware store that carries everything, to buy another washboard. This also happens to be right across from a coffee shop, decaf please. I was set.

Oops, I forgot my power cord for my laptop better run back home to get it. Got it! Off to the school.

I get to the school and I am in the classroom and realize that I have forgotten the soap at home. Rats! OK, I have time to run home and get it. While I am home I remember that I could use baking racks to dry the soap and maybe I will use the Sizzex to make tags. Grab it. Got it. Head back to the school. Get half way to the school and realize that I have forgotten the soap AGAIN! Back to the house. Get the soap. Back to school. This is all because I have given up caffeine. I miss my coffee.

Twenty-one kindergartners and twenty-one bars of soap and LOTS of bubbles later we had felted soap. They did a great job. I hope they like their gifts.