Antique Shop Bargain!

Ridged rolling pin "for oats", perfect for felting!

Today we popped into Fanny’s Antiques (in a side road near TGI Friday’s, Reading), and picked up a couple of lovely things.

The first lovely thing I can’t show you, and I have to forget about immediately, because it’s going to be my Christmas present. Suffice it to say that it’s a small piece of furniture, and sewing is involved. I’ll show you in December, once I’ve remembered to be surprised by it!

The second lovely thing is the rolling pin pictured above. Labelled as being “for oats”, it’s going to be absolutely perfect for working with felt! Half the price of buying one from Wingham Wool Work, too.

It turns out I’ve also saved myself the grand sum of £9.50 by not buying a fulling block – I discovered that a grooved wooden soap dish does the same job! One felting gadget that I do want to buy though is a bulb spray. That will allow me to use water that’s hotter than my hands are able to tolerate through the plastic bottle I’m using at the moment. It should also hopefully be a bit more controlled.

Once we’ve moved house, there’s a convenient-looking work surface next to the sink in the new kitchen, so I’m hoping I can get the felting stuff out while the sewing machines and fabric are still packed away. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do with my new rolling pin!

Lithuanian Felted Slippers

Aren’t these felted slippers absolutely magical? If I accidentally found my way through the back of a wardrobe and ended up in a mythical land where it was always winter and never Christmas, these are exactly what I’d want to keep my feet warm while I was there.

They’re hand made in Lithunania by ing00te, who sells them on Etsy.

She also has a blog (which is partially translated into English for those of us who can’t read Lithuanian!), and you can see her beautiful pictures on Flickr.

Some of ing00te’s slippers have cork soles, so that you can wear them outside. I love the detail of the little heel on this pair, the way it echoes the felted swirls on top. Just gorgeous!

Now I have to fight the urge to learn how to make felt slippers, because I need another hobby like a hole in the head. But if you don’t want to fight that urge, you can buy polystyrene lasts and all the wool you’ll need from Wingham Wool Work. There are lots of tutorials online to get you started, but this video from Ray Reynolds seems pretty comprehensive.

I’m just going to look through ing00te’s photostream again. So pretty…