Actually, I should say 1st felted bowl.

For years, I figured I would not be able to make anything with wool yarn, nor felt anything – because I’m allergic to wool. Can’t wear anything made of wool without itching like crazy. I have a couple of winter shirts, that are wool and lined with cotton – and I still itch.

I opened a new Etsy shop the other day. The original shop I opened up had the same name as my website Sandi’s T’s. And I decided when I opened that shop that I would feature items that I make for my business. But then I started to do a lot of crocheting which is what I love to do in the evenings, as a way to calm down from a busy day.

The only items that I crochet and list on my website are dishcloths and scrubbie dishcloths.

But I can make a lot of things by crocheting and my desire to create got the best of me – now I have so many things I want to make, I can’t decide where to start. So I started by creating a new Etsy shop – called Handmade By Sandi. Here I can list those things that I love to make, one at a time, as I create them!

Back to the felted bowl. Even tho I can’t wear anything with wool – I decided, the last time I went to the yarn shop, to pick up some wool and see about crocheting a scarf or hat, to make sure that I could work with wool yarn.

I found a pattern for a crocheted bowl that was felted after the crocheting, and decided what the heck – let’s see if it works. I only used one strand of yarn, the way the pattern suggested – but after working with this bowl – I find it would be better to work with 2 strands to make it sturdier.  Even my DH suggested that – tho he did think the bowl was kind of cute.

I followed the instructions on the pattern for felting, and worked at it for 35 minutes. The bowl was just in the washer with hot water. Next time, I’ll put it in a pillow case and add a pair of old jeans to the agitation – it may make the time shorter – we’ll have to see!

I started looking at other Etsy shops to see felted bowls and how they looked – many are defuzzed, and I wasn’t sure how to do that or if I even should.

I belong to a terrific group of gals – EtsyTwitter Team, and decided to ask them for pointers. And as I knew would happen, many of them pitched in with ideas, hints and just general information.

Armed with that, I’m almost ready to tackle another bowl.

Here’s what my 1st attempt looks like -

I used Patons Classic Wool yarn in the Natural Marl color – tweedy look – made it difficult to make sure it was the tweed I was seeing and not the stitch.

You can’t see the color too well with an outside shot – but I’m going to use it for my cancer support bracelets. Now that I know what it’s supposed to look like – I’ll make more and see if they will sell on my Etsy Shop.