As I complete the final steps of the publishing process for my fourth illustrated children’s book, Flock of Rock, several activities have been falling into place for 2025. One upcoming event I am very excited about is a group felting lesson at the Wendell Gilley Museum in Southwest Harbor, Maine.

“The Wendell Gilley Museum inspires artistic creativity and engagement with the natural world on Mount Desert Island and Downeast Maine for current and future generations through education, exhibitions, and programs, while honoring the legacy of noted bird carver Wendell Gilley. It is our goal to bring People closer to Nature through Art.” wendellgilleymuseum.org

Needle Felting Octopus Class

In keeping with the spirit of the museum, we settled on an octopus for my first of two felting classes to be held there in 2025. Having made several felt octopuses over the past couple of years, I’ve learned that they are always a huge hit. Plus, the repetitive nature of felting eight tentacles is a wonderful way to hone a new skill while practicing the same steps several times.  My first step to prepare for a class of twelve was to stock up on colored wool that we will transform into a consortium of felt octopuses. Before we do, I spend time in my studio transforming dyed wool into blended batts.

Sourcing My Wool

If you’re in Bangor, Maine, I highly recommend stopping by One Lupine Fiber Arts/Maine Yarn & Fiber Supply. You won’t be disappointed! The talented ladies of Maine Yarn & Fiber Supply dyed these beautiful braids of roving in the workspace under the main shop. For this project, I chose three color combinations to blend on my Brother Drum Carder into wool blended batts for dynamic color combinations.

These three braids are titled: Risk, Tapped Maple, and Veronica. They are so beautiful!

In the video below I slowly feed sections of wool into the bottom drum of the carder. I often see videos where the wool is laid onto the top drum directly. I’ve tried this approach but seem to always fall back on the way I originally learned how to blend a wool batt. Either method works great! You can also view dozens of other felting videos in my felting master class.

Creating a Variety of Tones

The dying process used to create the roving I am using results in a wide variety of variegated colors that continuously transition along the length of the roving. By sectioning the colors into groups and blending them by color group I’m able to create various tones within the blended batts. Alternatively, when wool is dyed in one large pot of a singular dye color, you only have one flat color to work with. I find that both techniques offer important color options in your wool palette, especially as your felting evolves and you find yourself working on more dynamic pieces. Plus, it’s really fun to mix and create new colors! 

Where This is Going…

I’ve worked through all the steps we’ll go over in class, capturing still images and video clips throughout the process. Everyone works at their own pace, so I find it helpful to include additional tools for guidance during a live lesson. Here is a shot of the octopus head sitting on top of the spiral of tentacles, just before attaching all the components together. Like other projects, as I practice this subject matter I am thinking up stories through the eyes of an octopus. An upcoming family road trip to Virginia may be the perfect time to felt a giant stack of tentacles─enough to build out my main character from one illustration to the next…