Let’s Have a Gnomey Party!
It’s been a heckuva year, yeah? Whether you’re excited to say Goodbye to 2022, thrilled to say Hello to 2023, or have mixed feelings about what’s ahead… let’s get together and celebrate each other’s victories and join together in empathy for one another’s tough times.
You have all created a loving, supportive, kind, and encouraging community and I’d like to invite you to a Zoom Gnomey New Year celebration, followed by a “Here are the Basics” gnome-making tutorial. Here are the deets:
Saturday, January 14, 2023, from 7 pm (eastern standard time) to 9 pm (or until everyone gets bored with me.) I’ll post the Zoom link on Friday, the 13th (yikes!) on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. If you have questions about Zoom, send me a message! Below you’ll find a list of supplies for the tutorial and some links for purchasing.
These little doohickeys are felting needles. They’re different from regular needles in that they’ve got itty bitty barbs on them to help blend your wool fibers together. They come in several sizes and shapes, depending on what you need them to do.
With needles, the larger the number descriptor, the smaller (and finer) the needle. So a 32 needle is going to be larger and thicker than a 42. For beginners, medium needles are perfectly sufficient. A 36 or 38 needle will work great. Sometimes, if you purchase needles at Big Box craft stores, the needles will only be designated by Small/Medium/Large. Medium needles will be fine for a beginner.
Let’s talk about the pretty part!
I’ll be honest here- I am a wool… well, addict is too strong a word. Aficionado, maybe? There are so many delicious colors and textures and combinations and I honestly can’t help myself when it comes to ordering new wool.
For the gnomes, I use almost exclusively wool bats. I use roving as well, but roving takes a LOT more stabbing to get a firm, smooth effect, so I always recommend starting with batting. We’ll get into the differences during the tutorial.
Now, this is important: you can purchase felting wool from the Big Box stores and the wool will be sufficient for beginning projects. However, the quality of wool you get from Michael’s or Joann Fabrics is far inferior to that you’ll find from local mills or online suppliers. The cost difference isn’t much, so if you’re able, I’d recommend ordering wool from folks who specialize in fibers.
The only other thing you need is something to stab into!
Felting pads can run the gamut from a huge car-washing sponge to a super expensive, special, really pretty pad. You seriously don’t need to break the bank here. You can even use a square of upholstery padding from JoAnn Fabrics. It just needs to be an inch or two thick- to allow you to stab your project without jabbing your needle into the table underneath and snapping it.
Sorry, I lied. there’s one more thing you need: a wooden skewer.
It doesn’t have to be a skewer. It could be a chopstick or a small pen or pencil, or even a pipe cleaner. You’ll be wrapping wool around whatever you use to create the base of your gnome.
Now, let’s get an easy-to-read list of what you’ll need for the tutorial on January 14th.
Felting needles, size Medium or 36-38 I recommend buying a few because they’re kind of fragile and easy to break.
Wool in whatever colors strike your fancy. It’s sold by weight and you'll want a body color, a hat color, and whatever colors you’d like to decorate the hat. I recommend a half ounce for each main color and a quarter ounce for the fancy stuff.
A felting pad, upholstery padding, giant sponge, or what have you for stabbing.
A skewer, chopstick, or other long, skinny item you can wrap wool around and then slide off.
That’s it!
Now where the heck do you find this stuff?
These are my favorite felting suppliers:
www.livingfelt.com This is a woman-owned, high-quality, dare I say Badass company in Texas. Their wool is gorgeous and hand-dyed, and their customer service is the best I’ve encountered. Also, they pack and ship your order the same day. I LOVE them.
www.penfelt.com Oh. My. Word. The wool from this supplier can be slightly more expensive than others, but friends… THE COLORS. It’s such beautiful wool and the woman who runs this company is such a gifted artist. You can find her on Instagram at PenfeltStudio. Honestly. I’m intimidated by her genius.
www.zwool.com Zeilinger Wool Company is a mill I recently found that’s only about 45 minutes from my home. Their wool roving felts like a dream and is priced at about half what I buy at other shops. Their color selection is a bit limited, but I always like to shop local and support a woman-owned, family business. You can’t go wrong with their wool. Truly.
Michael’s and JoAnn Fabrics near me have stopped selling felting supplies but you can still find them on their websites. Anything they carry will be sufficient for those just starting out, but as you progress, you’ll probably want to find a more specialized supplier.
Whew! I think that’s it! But if I’ve forgotten anything, please send me a message or an email. I’m so excited about our party on January 14th. We’ll have games and a giveaway and mostly, we’ll remind one another that we each matter and are loved and valued, and are powerful beyond belief. Let’s change the world through kindness, Besties!