When I was a teenager, my family and I would use wool roving
to create felted balls. They were about the size of a tennis ball and were
loved my toddlers and teenagers alike. They were the only balls my mother
actually approved of us throwing at each other.
Felted beads can be created in the same way and are a
fabulous addition to crocheted jewelry pieces. Check out Beading Daily Editor Jennifer VanBenschoten's blog tutorial on
creating felted beads. Here is an excerpt:
Step 1: Roll Your Wool Into a Ball
I saw a couple of tutorials online that instructed me to
roll my wool into a loose ball before dunking it in the hot water. I have to
say, a loose ball of wool held together in that hot soapy water about as well
as a piece of limp spaghetti! Winding that wool into a tight ball made all the
difference in my finished beads.
Unroll your wool into a long strand. The longer the strand,
the bigger your finished felted bead will be. (A few of the tutorials said that
the beads would shrink by 50% when they were finished, but I didn't find that
to be the case with my felted beads.) Begin rolling it into a ball the same
way you would wrap a strand of yarn into
a ball. Wrap tightly as you go until you have a ball of the desired size for
your bead. Read More . . . .