Issachar’s Roving, Cat Toys and Felted Soap

Issachar’s roving. I have one 8 oz bag and two 4oz bags still available in my Etsy Shop.

I’m never sure what I’ll be getting when I pick up my wool from The Vermont Fiber Mill.  I choose colors but how the dye will actually look on my white or gray wool varies.

Somehow I’m never disappointed, the wool always comes through for me.  And when I get 50 more ounces of roving than I expected, I now know that I’ll be able to figure out a way to use it.

A couple of years ago I started making dryer balls which are very popular.  When I told Deb at the mill I was making dryer balls from Asher’s roving which is a mix of Cormo, Romney and Blueface Leicester wool, she was a bit shocked.  She thought the wool too good to use for dryer balls.

But I think that’s why my dryer balls endure so well.   Wendy who bought my dryer balls last year just told me she was thinking of getting more but hers are in such good condition she doesn’t need them.  “And they really keep the wrinkles away,” she said.

Today I’m mailing out four bags of Issachar’s roving.  I’m giving one of them to Suzy Fatzinger and she is sending me some colored roving scraps to use in my dryer balls.  Suzy is planning on spinning the wool with some of the locks she has from her own goats.  The locks add another color and texture to the finished wool.

I’ll have some of Suzy’s handspun and hand knit shaws to sell next week.  I don’t know if she’ll have time to spin and knit with Issachar’s wool this year, but if not, she’ll use it on next year’s shawls.

This time I decided to offer Issachar’s roving in 4 oz as well as 8 oz bags.  It was the perfect amount for Bridgett who is using it to make felted cat toys. She sent me this message….

I’m planning o make a few cat toys w/the roving; buy a bag of inexpensive plastic balls w/bells in them, wrap strips of roving around it, wet the whole thing w/hot water then keep rolling and rubbing it w/your hands until the wool felts. Let dry, rub some dried catnip on ’em, and voila- cat toy! The nice thing about the roving-covered jingle balls is that, when you accidentally step on one (and you will..) the roving contains the broken pieces of plastic and it STILL jingles when tossed by the cats.

One of the things I like to make for myself is felted soap.  It’s a similar process that Bridgett described felting around the plastic balls.   In the end you basically have soap with a built-in wool washcloth.  A few years ago we made felted soap at The Mansion.  Maybe it’s time to make some more.

4 oz of Issachar’s roving is $15 + $5 shipping and is enough to make felted soap, four dryer balls or experiment with wet and dry felting.  I also have one more bag of 8oz roving, it’s $30 + $5 shipping. You can buy them here. 

Issachar eating grapes

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