Good morning. Loving this July weather. Be-U-tea-ful! Hope you are having a good morning.
Project #1:
“Fly curtain”. The fly curtain is ten strands of yarn with 10 felted balls on each strand. The balls are staggered on the strands and then hung from a dowel, then hung in a doorway. (There is one on your way into Knitterly.) The idea is flies won’t go through it, so the stay outside. Believe it or not it works. Besides it’s cute and everyone likes them. Kids think it’s a toy and it will stop anyone who tries to make a quick get away. ( it can tangle you up – for sure. Pottery Barn Kids has even borrowed it for a photo shoot!)
This project is for a friend who has wanted one but really does NOT want to hand felt 100 balls. Ha ha she doesn’t know I am making it for her (; Hoping I finish it before her birthday… It’s in two weeks.
Tip #1 : HOT water. Our water heater is crazy hot, so I use the tap. It seems hotter the better.
(not boiling… You’ll get hit with the sprinkles flying off when you shake the Futte Futte)
Tip #2 : A little extra soap (dish soap is fine). On my second try I put quite a bit of soap, Oops. My first ball, from that batch, seemed to only take seconds.
Tip #3 : Try not to use too much roving at once. The balls can get lots of cracks and look messy.. oh and it takes forever to felt one that’s too big. (I tried to make a baseball size guy and ended up letting it soak in the water a while before attempting to felt it again. It’s still a little sad looking)
J’ adore the Futte Futte. Fun, fun, fun. With a boom box, some old cassettes, the materials; 5 colors of roving [ $8.00 for 2 oz, which is actually a LOT], bowl of hot water,the futte futte, [ for $17.00 at Knitterly, and is worth every penny] and my shaking hands I headed outside to boogie while I felted. I danced to Jerry Jeff , the Stones, and Waylon Jennings, while I shook with all my might. I had a little help from the Fam too. My Hubby, Leon, my Grandma, Eva and my Dad, Jeff, all took turns shaking out balls;)
It put a smile on everyones face when they had the chance to play. It’s a silly tool! It’s pink, and not often does a person shake something like that. I was so excited that no one had the heart to tell me no… When I had a good amount I set up the finished balls in rows by color. Pink, yellow, green, purple, blue. Awesome. The first ten were inspiration to make the next ten and so on and so on. I now have forty-four! Yahoo! Almost half way there.
Starting the project I was dreading all the pieces there needed to be. I thought “Ugh – 100 balls! This will take F-O-R-E-V-E-R”. Wrong. I am loving the process too. I recommend this project to everyone. Even little Waylon has fun. He thinks it’s silly and laughs watching me shake and dance and smile while I ogle my creations . It could be a great project for kids. (Not sure how long they would last though;).
If you get some wonky numbers, while making these balls, there is a fast fix. Toss them into a pillowcase and into the washer for a few minutes in warm water. However, they look good all different and imperfect.
Such fun. I am happy to have started with the fly curtain. I think it will be finished by Thursday…. Can’t wait to share the finished product:)
XX
Ash
5 comments
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July 8, 2010 at 4:20 pm
Brenda Staresnick
I live in Rockport TX and would love to make the felted balls. I love the idea of the “tool” for doing this. I would like to buy this. Should I call the shop? Do you ship items??
Brenda Staresnick
staresnickb@aol.com
July 8, 2010 at 4:29 pm
shellisw
Hi Brenda Those felted balls are pretty fun! Yes we do ship, call us after 10am Ca. time 707-762-9276 and we’ll send you a Futte Futte Thank you Shelli Knitterly
July 15, 2014 at 4:58 pm
Begona
I am interested in buying a Futte Futte
You sell this machine to do the felt balls ??
best regards
Ms. Begona from Basque Country (Spain)
August 12, 2014 at 7:19 pm
Johnf644
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October 22, 2016 at 3:29 pm
Sandra
Hello,
I NAPPING in France and participates in show.
I am looking for a wholesaler or a futte futte provider, you might just be information?
I thank you in advance,
Qty.
Sandra.