January 2, 2007 in Home

Art of felting sees revival

• Print
• Email
• Share

COLORADO SPRINGS — It’s like watching a sow’s ear transform itself into a silk purse before your very eyes.

But in this case, it’s wool that magically turns into felt — with a little help from Black Forest, Colo., llama rancher Marlice Van Zandt.

She starts by spreading puffs of multicolored llama wool in an attractive pattern on a bamboo mat, tops it with a plastic liner, then adds another layer of wool. She sprinkles the wool with hot water, rubs it with a soapy goo and whacks the heck out of it with a meat cleaver.

That done, she rolls up the mat and rocks it back and forth zillions of times. When her arms get tired, she sits down and rolls it back and forth with her feet.

Eventually, she unwraps the mat, and there — in soggy splendor — is beige felt with a brown design, soon to be turned into a purse.

Van Zandt is one of the many crafters breathing new life into the 8,000-year-old art of felting, turning animal fibers into vests, boots, pillows, wall hangings, masks, jewelry and more.

Several new felting books have come out in the past few months, with two more due to be released by January, and more classes are popping up locally.

Several attributes make handmade felt the material of choice for clothing and crafts projects. It’s soft, drapable and warm — nothing like the stiff stuff that kids use for arts and crafts projects. And it can be cut without fraying.

Felting has become especially popular in the Pikes Peak region because “there are so many animals with fiber — and owners who don’t know what to do with all of it,” says Kris Hill of Table Rock Llamas Fiber Arts Studio in Black Forest, where Van Zandt teaches felting classes.

Both she and Van Zandt use wool from their own herds of llamas to make felt, but some people even use fur from their cats and dogs.

“If you ever forget to comb your dog, you can see felting — those mats behind the ears or under the chin,” says Van Zandt, who has been felting for 10 years.

But you don’t have to use your own animals’ fur to felt. Felting has also become popular with knitters and crocheters who use store-bought wool. Rather than soak and beat the wool, as Van Zandt does, these crafters rely on a washing machine to do the felting.

At Green Valley Weavers and Knitters in Colorado Springs, students recently knitted colorful cloglike house slippers. After making the booties much larger than needed, they threw them in the wash to felt and shrink.

“Felting is great,” shop owner Kathleen Orr says. “It’s good for knitters because it covers up a lot of mistakes.”

Elizabeth Nijkamp, a Woodland Park, Colo., resident and engineer for the city of Colorado Springs, was making a bright orange and yellow pair of clogs. She started knitting two months ago and has already felted three purses.

She quilts, too, but loves the portability of knitting and eventually felting an item.

“You can knit 10 minutes here and there,” Nijkamp says. “The felting is easy. It’s instant gratification.”

Although wool can be expensive, the equipment used for handmade felting is not, and it can be picked up anywhere. For example, Van Zandt uses sushi mats, window screens and a large, flat pan — an oil pan she got at an auto supply shop — to catch the excess water.

She uses a glass washboard to rub the felt, although a clean stove broiler pan would work as well. And anyone who has a washing machine has a built-in felter if they don’t want to use Van Zandt’s method.

No matter which method felters use, they love the “wow” effect of the finished product. The yarns and wool are often hand-dyed for special effects, and silk, beads, pieces of metallic threads and other items can be used for embellishment.

“You have something unique,” Nijkamp says. “You know how much these would cost in a boutique if you could find them?”

“That’s the whole idea — make things you can’t get at a store,” adds Dottie Weir, the class teacher. “It makes a special gift.”

No comments on this story so far. Add yours!