A few more projects in needle felting

Probably my least favorite result but very economical and may still have some function . I hate to waste anything and always am lured to a cheap buy, so I recently purchased a few pounds of merino "dye stoppers" . What are they ? Listed by the seller as just some extra roving bits used at the end of the dying process...why, I have no clue, not being a dyer, but they are mostly nice pastel colors and semi-felted so not as soft as the fluffy combed top I have been using . Being semi-prefelted, they are not as easy to separate into thin wisps of fiber and don't blend as well .

However, I still think that they will make some sturdy projects like dryer balls or organic "nerf like" balls for children and pets . For every fiber there is some use if we are willing to look for it .



Yummy...some of the 50% merino 50% tencel(natural fiber made from Eucalyptus wood that has the hand and shine of silk) . The yarn is a bit of hand-spun I bought on Etsy and has a lovely sparkle to it .

Tencel deserves it's own paragraph . A month ago, I had never heard of this stuff but now I want it in everything . It's a renewable resource...(no silk worms were traumatized in it's producation) but it gives the felting a beautiful texture and shine . It has it's own wave that really shows up better in person . It resists dye a bit more then the fiber it's dyed with, so it gives it a natural "high-light" when felted . I think it felts much easier then the some other non-wool fibers but I have no idea why since I assume it doesn't have scales ?
Just a bit of close up to show the wave of the tencel high lights .

Here is another larger clutch purse of the tencel and merino blend . I need to figure out how to capture the shine with my camara and hope that some out-side pctures tomorrow will do the trick . This is actually very soft and shimmery . One of the things that I don't know about wet felting...since I have seen very little of it it how soft it is, how thick or how shiney . It just dosn't show those features on the computer screen and I have seen very little in person . I know the needle felting has these qualities but am wondering if you can get the same effects in wet felting and if so, is it harder or easier .
Color is a bit washed out here but shows the thickness and extra pocket I needle felted into the bag .
Again, color is lighter then in person . I need to decide on what kind of handle and closure to use with this bag . That is always one of the hardest things for me because I hate having anything in my hands but I know some women do use clutch bags or wrist straps .
Just a quick fun project using some of the "dye sopping" wool . It's about the size of a traditional nerf ball and I thought it would make a nice gift for my parents or brothers dog . I am interested to see if the dogs try and chew it up or like the wool texture and smell . My cats love the smaller ones but I'm not sure how these will survive with dogs . I will get to find out next week at the family reunion . I also plan on sending a few to my sisters dogs and cats, along with some other needle felting as she has never heard of it before and I think it will be interesting to get a newbies perspective .