Rowan (www.knitrowan.com) has a free pattern on their website for these adorable chickens.  You must join (for free) their website but it is well worth it for all of the yarn inspiration and free patterns.  Rowan is great about sending out only relevant email blasts once or twice a month.

We have these new My Felted Herdy needle felting kits just in from the UK.  The kit contains wool, felting needles and photo instructions. We tested one out this past weekend and made this little gal.  She still needs a name and buddies.  We understand sheep like buddies so  we are working on getting one for her.  This kit is a bit different than our other needle felting kits.  Herdy uses a rustic wool yarn for the main body shape unlike typical wool roving.  The yarn is poked with the needle just like we would do with more typical wool roving.  The kit indicates it takes about 8 hours to complete but we finished in about 4 hours.  The illustrations were helpful for making the feet but we struggled a bit with the head and ears.  However, we like our gal a bit unique.

We have a new product, Sunset Swirl Felted Bowl Kit, now available on our website.  This kit contains all of the supplies needed to make a needle felted 3” bowl in just a few hours or less.  The wool roving is shaped around the 3” Styrofoam ball by continual poking with a felting needle.  The poking binds the wool fibers together and the Styrofoam creates the shape of the bowl.  If there are some “thin” spots, simply lay more wool over the area and slowly poke into place.  Detailed instructions demonstrate how to remove the felted bowl from the Styrofoam.  The Sunset Swirl wool roving is in limited supply for now.  We will be adding more bowl kits in different colors and designs in the near future.  Let us know if you have any colors you would like to see!

We had our very first show ever this past Saturday, September 8, 2012.  Cy-Fair Women's Club organized "Shop til You Drop" here in Houston and we really enjoyed our experience.  We met lots of really nice people and had fun sharing our enthusiasm for quick gratification and contemporary needlecraft kits. 

On a recent trip to Ireland, we were able to check out Killary Sheep Farm where we received a personal tour and demonstration from the owner, Tom Nee, and his trusty border collie, Sweep.  Sweep showed us how he herds sheep and what a typical working day is like for him.  Tom gave a shearing demonstration and we were able to bottle-feed the lambs.  Killary Sheep Farm is located near Leenane in Galway County and it overlooks a spectacular fjord.  Leenane, in the Connemara area in Galway County, also boasts the Sheep and Wool Centre.  The Sheep and Wool museum offers insight to the rich history of Connemara’s sheep and wool industry.  Check it out at www.sheepandwoolcentre.com.

Purl & Loop has a short video now available demonstrating simple needle felting techniques.  We hope this video demonstrates the simplicity as well as the abundant creativity options available within the craft of needle felting.  Happy Felting!

I am kicking myself for not buying this necklace at Cardon when I saw it in Buenos Aires.  We were on a plane back home a few hours later so no time to rectify the dilemma.   It is a simple design but the color combination is very unique.  Constructing each individual component would be time consuming but not difficult.  The fiber jewelry world is getting ever more creative and inspiring!