Felted wool ball

[Ember]

Does anyone have a link to a freebie wool ball pattern?
Anyone make one of these?
I'm thinking my ds would absolutely love one.

[Lou]

felted balls are pretty simple and real fun to make!

just get a large bowl of hot water with some dish soap.... and a smaller bowl of cold water on the side. have wool batting, plain for the body of the ball, and the colors you like for the outside. feather the batting so it's thin and loose. gather together a good firm thick ball to start with, and cup it in your hands as you stick it in the hot water and agitate. felt it with your hands and the hot water, adding layers of wool as you go. stick the ball in cold water to shock the fibers as needed. felt the final layer well, let dry, and you're done!

you can also add a little jingle bell in the middle of the ball at the beginning.

OR were you wanting a knitted wool ball pattern?

[Ember]

Thanks!
I think it's what you just described. I had though you needed to knit it up first then felt it.
Please excuse my ignorance but what is and where do I get wool batting?
Is it that stuff you would put between fabric for quilting? I think I remember my sister using cotton batting. Would I get wool batting at a fabric store like Joann's?

[ma2maya]

Here is a great link about making felt balls (check out the rest of the site too, cool stuff )
http://gfwsheep.com/feltballs/feltballs1.html

As far as getting wool batting or roving...I have gotten undyed batting from sites that sell waldorf dolls and doll making kits.

Another great source is ebay. Lots of options, even roving that is already dyed so you can make some colorful balls.

Kathy

[Lou]

i HAVE seen knitted felted balls felted up also. i make knitted balls from simple rectangles of knitted rainbow colored stripes- gather them up, then stuff with wool. you could probably throw them in the washing machine to felt them.
i usually buy wool batting off the net- but if you have a real great LYS with raw wool available for spinning, they'd probably have something. my local one has wool batting and roving in lovely colors. you'd only need a wee bit of the colors for the outside.
enjoy!

[lifetapestry]

Melanie Fallick's Knitting for Baby Book has a pattern for knitted wool balls that you can felt. You make 10 sections of whatever colors you want (the sections are knitted as one piece so you don't have to sew them together); the sections are shaped like those of a beach ball with short rows. You sew up one end; stuff; then sew up the other end (like a drawstring).

You can see the link in my sig (scroll down about half way) for examples.

Karla