I am the proud creator of 35 felted wool ball cores.

Alright, so I did a mini practice with a small fluff of wool and made a tiny wool ball. That turned out pretty cool. So I decided to make a whole slew for Em's class using the quicker felting method involving knee high panty hose and the washing machine.

So I ripped open one of these rolls and this is what I was faced with; a large pile of super soft wool.

The next thing I did was pull off thin sections of the wool; like this.

I started rolling the loose wool into balls about the size of a softball.

As each ball was finished I stuffed it into a knee high panty hose.

Here is one knee high sock filled with 3 unfelted ball cores; they were made larger than needed due to the shrinking nature of the felting process.

Next I placed the panty hose caterpillars inside a pillow case and tied it shut.

Tossed all the pillow case bags in the washing machine with some laundry that needed washed, added detergent and started the load.

When the wash cycle was finished I removed the pillow cases and tossed the rest of the laundry (now covered in wool) into the dryer. Then I began the long grueling process of ripping the balls that were now felted to the panty hose stockings. Let me tell you from personal experience only a fool willingly felts and removes 35 balls in ONE sitting. The process of yanking the wools balls free took about 2 hours and left my hands very raw. BUT it was so worth it!

I can't wait to dye the rest of the wool and start making these toys pretty!