The last time we made felted bracelets at The Mansion was five years ago. Then it was Mary, Alice, and Jean and we used brown and white roving from two of my sheep.
All those women are gone now, but I thought of them today as we made felted bracelets using colorful roving from Suzy Fatzinger’s Angora goats.
The big round table was full. Susan and Jane chose to keep coloring but everyone else made a bracelet. Ellen made two.
I started the class by passing around the roving and letting everyone feel how soft it is. Then I pulled up pictures of Suzy’s goats on my iPhone and walked around the table showing everyone where the mohair came from.
There were lots of oohs and ahhs over their sweet faces.
When I spread out the towels that we would be working on, Paryese, the activities director, held one up to her face and breathed in. “You dried these on the line didn’t you?” She asked me.
I never expected to be talking about the wonderful smell of clothes fresh off the line. It brought back memories for more than one of the women at the table.
Making the felted bangles is so easy. It’s just roving, soap, water, and a lot of agitation. It’s the agitating that makes the fibers from the mohair or wool mesh together to create fiber. We rolled the wet soapy roving between our hands and on the textured cloth (you can use bubble wrap too, anything the roving won’t stick to and has some bounce) on top of the towels.
When the fibers were all tightly woven together, I tied the long stand of felted mohair around the person’s wrist making sure it was loose enough for them to get on and off, but small enough so it wouldn’t fall off,
I’d tie a few knots making it look decorative then tuck the ends in with a long pin.
Then more rubbing with soap and water.
Just as everyone was finishing up, Art said he’d like to make a bracelet. He finished his in no time, doing an expert job.
We got to talking about the pigeons as we worked so I showed everyone pictures of them as babies. Susan said they were cute and I thought that kind of her (I think they are really ugly babies) although she meant it.
Nancy asked when Jon was coming back to teach his meditation class and everyone was excited to know he was going to be there right after my class. As people were finishing up on their bracelets, I sat next to Sharon who wasn’t up to making a bracelet but had a few poems she wanted to share.
One was about me, Jon, and Zinnia coming to The Mansion. She also gave me a copy of one called Rain Is Beauty, and said I could share it on my blog.
Rain Is Beauty By Sharon Denny
In one’s life some rain must fall
That’s what my father used to tell us all
There’s no free life in this world today,
So buck up and be someone’s blessing
It could be roses, but so what if they are dandelions,
Yellow is pretty too
God has no favorites
They all have a purpose
So be happy for the rain because in the long run,
it brings beauty,
Because that’s all god makes.
We created some beauty today at The Mansion and I feel blessed to have been there.
What a great tactile project and a beautiful poem. I know I would enjoy rolling the soft soapy roving in my hands! It would be very calming for me. I love the reference to yellow dandelions, my kids would bring me a dandelion bouquet for my birthday when they were little, they knew I loved yellow. You do wonderful work Maria and you’re a beautiful patient teacher! Thank you for all the inspiration you continually bring me!
I remember picking dandelions and bringing them home for my mother Josie. Sharon recently sent me a video of all the uses and benefits of dandelions. Makes me want to pay more attention to them. I think you’d like felting, it can be a lot of work, but not for small projects.
Your picture of the bracelets above, also is a beautiful picture of women’s hands. It tells a story. And the hands tell many stories. Thanks for the image.
Yes, Barbara, I loved their hands and also saw stories in them. Thank you for pointing it out.
Please thank Sharon for sharing her poem with us. I’m a lover of dandelions, so that part really spoke to me. And I love “So buck up and be someone’s blessing.” I think I’ll tell myself that each morning as I walk into the school where I work.
I will let her know Trish. I imagine you do just that at your school. Be someone’s blessing. I want to remember that.