What is needle felting? Needle felting equipment?

Basic information for beginners. You use carded wool and a needle with barbs to get the wool felted together, the more you stab the tighter the wool felted.  It's a bit like building with building blocks, but with wool and a super-pointed felting needle.

What you need is:

1. Carded wool

2. Felting needles, preferably in different qualities

3. Felt base

4. Patience, caution (the needles are thin, sharp and can break)

5. Imagination

Wool

There are several types of wool, the most common for needle felting is carded wool. We only use and sell wool from Hillesvåg ullvarefabrikk, they have great Norwegian carded wool that filters well and is available in many nice colours. You can also use carded bands and merino tops. Wool from Alpakka filter also good, but stay away from carded merino - it is not suitable for needle felting. More about wool in a separate blog post later.

Felting needles 

Needle felting needles are not like ordinary needles. They have small, sharp notches, barbs that grab the wool fibers and felt the wool together. When it comes to needle felting, the needles are the heart of the process. Although they look quite similar at first glance, they have different properties depending on their thickness and shape. Here is a brief overview of the different types of needles:

The thickness is measured in Gauge (G), where a needle with 42 G is thinner than a 38 G. 

Triangle needle -  This is the most common form, with three edges with 1-3 barbs on each edge. 

Spiral needle - This needle has a spiral shape, which means that it pulls more wool with it when you insert it. This is great for attaching parts together, attaching wool to wool.

Star Needle - This needle has four (or more) edges instead of three, which means more felt points per stitch. 

Reversal needle - This is a needle that pulls wool out instead of pushing it in.  It is often used to create a "furry" surface, as it pulls out small fibers from the inside and creates a fluffy texture on the outside.

Puncher - This is a holder for 7 needles, this is great if you are going to flat felt (clothes, ears etc) or needle felting on seat mats, mittens etc Needle felting is time-consuming anyway, and then it is great to be able to use 7 needles at the same time instead of 1.

Remember: The needle should always be inserted straight in and straight out - never bend - then it will break. If you feel like you have to use a lot of force to get the needle through the wool, it's time to change to a finer needle. It is important to know that needles break from time to time. It's completely normal, and it happens to all of us, regardless of experience. The needles are thin and fragile, and can break especially when used at the wrong angle, twisted, bent or subjected to too much pressure. Make sure you have needles in reserve!

If the needle breaks inside a figure, and you are unable to get the needle tip stuck inside the wool, it is best to throw it away. While it may be tempting to just continue with the project, you should definitely discard the figure if you can't get the broken needle out. You never know what might happen later, and no one wants to risk children or animals injuring themselves on a hidden, sharp needle point.

Felt base 

You need a felt pad (felt pad or foam pad) to avoid ruining your table and your needles, and of course to avoid sticking yourself.

Patience

Needle felting is a slow process, needle felting takes time. If you want recipes or complete packages with everything you need, you will get it here with us in Ullnåla. We also have some weekend courses , so stay tuned. During the process, the work often does not look good, so do not criticize half-finished work. Have fun, remember needle felting is an art! If you make a small, weird cat instead of a great tiger, so what?

There is no right or wrong here, just tons of opportunities to create something amazing. Good luck and have fun delving into the world of felting.

Imagination

Only your imagination sets limits to what you can create. Although here in Ullnåla we make mostly cute little decorative figures that may resemble mice and rabbits, we also believe that it is possible to felt everything from spaceships to our entire globe. We are looking forward to seeing many beautiful needle felted masterpieces from all corners and nooks and crannies throughout Norway and the rest of the world!

Feel free to leave a comment about what you want us to write about or your own thoughts about this blog post.