Needle Felter in Ohio (USA)

[sarahbeth]

Hello! Just found this forum and was excited to see others interested in felting. I've been needle-felting for over twelve years and absolutely love it. My passion is definitely for wool, and I like sculpting human figures (non-poseable dolls) ranging from 6-11" in height. I've completed thirty-five serious figures and numerous small ones, also some birds and the occasional animal (usually sheep).

While I have to admit that Merino is one of my favorites for felting (have more than 125 colors of roving), I also love collecting all types of wool (up to more than 70 breeds so far) and using the fiber from different breeds in various projects. I particularly like the British breeds and am only a couple fibers away from having wool from all breeds on the RBST watchlist. 

I live in the country in Ohio (USA), still at home with my parents and my identical twin sister. We have two cats and two acres of trees, grass and flowers!

Looking forward to sharing some photos of my projects and also reading through to admire others!

[MTRuth]

Welcome Sarahbeth! I'm glad you found us and I look forward to seeing some photos of your figures. Feel free to join in the conversations, ask questions and share.

[charley]

Hello and welcome from me too.

[lyn]

Hello Sarahbeth and welcome to the forum! Looking forward to seeing some of your work.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Hi Sarabeth, glad you've found us.
can't wait to see some of your work, and also your cats and your view. I'm in the UK, so having no idea what the country looks like in Idaho I had a quick look on Google Earth. Looks like you've got lots of mountains, is that right?

[Shepherdess]

Welcome to the forum. I am looking forward to seeing some of your creations.

[sarahbeth]

Thanks for the welcome!

Jan 12, 2022 19:28:05 GMT Ann @ frabjous fabrica said:

Hi Sarabeth, glad you've found us.
can't wait to see some of your work, and also your cats and your view. I'm in the UK, so having no idea what the country looks like in Idaho I had a quick look on Google Earth. Looks like you've got lots of mountains, is that right?

We're in Ohio, actually, which is a bit East of Idaho (similar names, though). This is what is considered part of the "Mid-West" of the country. We don't have mountains here, but we do have rolling hills which are quite beautiful. Ohio is quite a populated state, though we live in a rural area. Sheep are not too popular here, so I have to buy a lot of my wool online.

Here's a photo of our house buried under a rare Christmas snow in 2020.


And the back of it in early June when things are starting to look beautiful!


Personally, I'm fascinated by the UK. Where are you in the UK? My other passion (aside from wool) is research, and I've done a lot about families in the UK.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Jan 13, 2022 15:55:21 GMT sarahbeth said:

Personally, I'm fascinated by the UK. Where are you in the UK? My other passion (aside from wool) is research, and I've done a lot about families in the UK.

Oops sorry about mixing up the States. 
I live in the north of Dorset in the south/south west of England.  The Town is a small quiet rural market town - Sturminster Newton - known locally as the capital of the Blackmore Vale.  This is the Town's website - still quite new having only been put together during the pandemic - sturminster-newton.org.uk/  It is quite a historic area, the town was originally the property of Glastonbury Abbey, despite the fact that we are actually nearer to Shaftesbury Abbey.  We have a medieval bridge and an old watermill.  There has actually been a mill on the same site for at least 1000 years.  I could go on but I don't want to bore everyone.

[sarahbeth]

How interesting! I'll definitely have a look at your village site. Sounds like a beautiful place. Do you have a lot of sheep in the local area?
The majority of my research has been in the North East Cornwall/North West Devon area, though my Mom's family came from Kendal to Ohio in 1832! One of the wooden trunks they brought their things in from England is actually in my bedroom -- along with their very early photo from c. 1848.

[Ann @ frabjous fabrica]

Jan 14, 2022 14:43:04 GMT sarahbeth said:

How interesting! I'll definitely have a look at your village site. Sounds like a beautiful place. Do you have a lot of sheep in the local area?
The majority of my research has been in the North East Cornwall/North West Devon area, though my Mom's family came from Kendal to Ohio in 1832! One of the wooden trunks they brought their things in from England is actually in my bedroom -- along with their very early photo from c. 1848.

Sorry Sarahbeth, I missed this.  Actually, the Blackmore Vale was described by author Thomas Hardy as The Vale of Dairies - he lived here for a while and actually wrote Tess of the Durbervilles here.  We do have a lot of sheep too, although not as many as we used to have.  Unfortunately it is not really cost effective for farmers to raise sheep now, at least for fleeces, it generally costs more to have then shorn than they can sell the fleeces for.  Similarly, although we do have a lot of cows too, a good number of the dairy cows are not allowed out into the fields.  It apparently costs more than having them inside and having to bring in food and take out muck.  We do not pay enough for our milk (thanks to supermarket undercutting each other) so the cows are just milk machines.  Sad.

[afiberartist]

Hello from neighbor state, Indiana 👋🏻. I’m not a needle felted but am a wool crochet-felter. I too have a passion for felting.

[caterina]

Aug 16, 2022 16:51:04 GMT afiberartist said:

Hello from neighbor state, Indiana 👋🏻. I’m not a needle felted but am a wool crochet-felter. I too have a passion for felting.

Welcome!
That technique seems very interesting, please show us some of your works!
Caterina