stick a pin in it

As I mentioned, I am on a mission to move wool out of this house, hopefully in a profitable manner. One of my goals was to find a use for a "problem bag" of white Coopworth roving. It wasn't good enough quality to sell to handspinners, and I had over seven pounds of the stuff.

I stewed over it for a while, and finally figured it out:

Felted pincushions!

I use the washing machine to felt them, in knee-high nylons. One of the constants around here is a ton of laundry, so it is a win-win situation. Even though my washing machine is a front loader, a few trips through it felts them pretty solid.

The colored roving is the last layer. They are felted again, then the floss is tied on. The colors reminded me so much of fruit that I couldn't resist putting on a little needlefelted leaf, too.

Except for the floss, they are solid wool. The wool is reputed to keep needles sharper (as it knocks off the burrs) and rust-free—and the minimal amount of lanolin helps the pins slide more easily through fabric.

They were one of the new products I tried out at Maryland this year, and they did pretty well. The purple ones (both shades) sold out and I am busy making more. Best of all, the problem bag of roving is almost gone!