Well, the directions were simple and very easy! The kit contained plenty of wool (roving wool is what it's called), two felting needles, tiny beads for eyes, and some ribbon to hang your otter. I made mine into a Christmas ornament and will be sending it off in a package I'm putting together.
At first it looked like a turd. I kept showing it to Dale and screeched "Hidey Hooo! It's Mr. Hanky, the Christmas Poo!" I did have my doubts that I could create such a cute and professional looking finished product like was pictured on the package. I just kept working and following the directions and realized that needle felting really wasn't an exact art.
The little woolie turd started out soft and squishy. I'm not trying to gross you out! You just keep jabbing the wool with your special needle and then add little shapes of other colored wool balls you make by jabbing, jabbing, and yet more jabbing. I realized that you're sculpting your wool and the needle turns the soft and squishy into a firm and shaped form.
I found this to be very easy and very satisfying! The hardest part was the little sea star, but I was able to remain faithful that my jabbing and jabbing and coaxing would pay off. It's crazy because the sea star was pretty big when I started to shape it. I was afraid it would be too big, but with the jabbing you can condense it and it just seems to shrink.
I have enough wool to make another little otter and I believe that I will, but I think I'm going to get some more roving wool from one of my favorite yarn sites, knitpicks.com and see if I can come up with some of my own creations! I'll keep you posted!
Oh! If you ever decide to try needle felting, I highly recommend that you also purchase a thick piece of foam to work on. All of that jabbing and jabbing can be a little rough on your fingers!
