felted blanket class Archives - Page 2 of 2

Interested in making a felted wool sweater blanket, possibly with my new class? Sign up for free access to a video I’ve put together, Find and Choose Good Sweaters for Felting. It gives pointers on how to select great sweaters for making a blanket. This also adds your email to The Green Sheep newsletter list. (If you’re already on the newsletter list, your email won’t be duplicated.) Or learn more about the Felted Wool Blanket Master Class here!

Do you remember that little song? Love isn’t love until you give it away ♥. It’s true. And it happens with these shoe boxes.

For the past two years I’ve made a cozy wool blanket to pack into a shoe box with lots of other goodies for Operation Christmas Child. Last year, on the spur of the moment, I invited the folks on my email list to make one along with me and pack it for the same purpose.

Over twenty brave souls gave it a try!

I quickly learned to make videos and post them in a Facebook group, and we leapt into this project together. WOW. We had a really enjoyable time, we all learned a lot from each other, and the blankets turned out beautifully.

And since it’s fall + shoebox-packing time again, I am reminiscing by re-posting photos of some the blankets that came out of that venture. Check out these lovelies! You guys are so talented!

(Each blanket is made from thin felted wools
like cashmere or merino and measures about 40″x50″. This way
they roll up tightly and fit in a shoebox with other fun and useful items.)

Patti’s ready to ship

Ranae’s finished blanket

Linda’s finished blanket

Timary’s final blanket

Ana Maria’s blanket

My finished blanket

Annie’s ready to ship

Pocket finger puppets

Pat’s final blanket

Cris’ finished blanket

Stephanie’s blanket

Diane’s finished blanket

We were able to track where our boxes went, and of the ones I learned about we know 2 went to Honduras, 2 to Rwanda, 3 to Ghana, 1 to Madagascar, and 1 to “A Hard To Reach Area.” It’s delightful to know these blankets are out upon this planet, keeping children warm.

Guys, packing a shoe box is such a simple way to share all that love in your hearts. There certainly doesn’t need to be a handmade blanket in it! I’d love to encourage you to visit the Operation Christmas Child website and see what it would take. (Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, an international relief organization which also does a lot of work with refugees around the world.) The shoe box deadline isn’t until mid-November. I’m going to try to make a blanket (from scraps I already have cut, so it’ll go quicker), but even if that doesn’t happen, I’m packing a shoe box. Anybody with me?

This year—although NOT in conjunction with the shoe box project—I’m offering a full-fledged, not-on-the-fly class to learn to make blankets: the Felted Wool Blanket Master Class. Fall is the time we start thinking of keeping warm, making gifts, and bringing beauty inside our homes. Many of us are ready to hunker down with a project. If this is you, the class is open for enrollment through September 28. Class itself starts on September 29. Just a week away! Questions? Leave them here or click on “Contact” in this page’s header.

By the way, there’s significance to the term “master class.” In the musical world especially, it refers to a seminar where advanced students are given individual attention by the master musician. I am not exactly a master and you may or may not be advanced, but one real value (and joy!) of this class is the interaction, support and feedback from each other and from me. You are also completely welcome to do the class on your own and without interaction. But I hope you’d give it a try the other way first. I’d love to get to know you!

[I’m afraid it’s too late to join the class, but you are welcome to pack your own shoe box for a child in difficult circumstances. Follow this link and let a young person know someone cares. It means more than you can know.]

How could I have known how much fun I was about to have?

Two weeks ago, after brewing up the idea just days earlier, I launched a little online class. Well, I thought it would be little.

A still shot from my “Welcome” video, made in the guest bedroom. I accidentally got the bed in the frame.

I regularly receive questions from blog readers about making blankets: “How do you make your binding?” “Do you back your blankets?” “What kind of sweaters do you buy?” I do my best to answer these sewists, one at a time, generally through email. They are always enthusiastic and eager to learn, and are filled with questions. I love this interaction.

But each time I’ve been asked, “Do you teach a class somewhere?” I’ve simply said “No.” That limp answer started to bother me. What was stopping me? I knew: fear of the unknown.

The first frame of my third video. I’m still figuring out lighting.

Then I received a notice about Operation Christmas Child coming up and was reminded I wanted to make a child’s blanket again for a shoe box. It clicked. This could be the kick in the pants I needed! How fun would it be to create something beautiful for kids alongside a bunch of stitch-loving women?

I thought of other ventures in life I had waffled on because of fear of the unknown—going to grad school, starting a blog…having children :). Without a doubt, great outcomes, all. I certainly appreciate having my ducks in a row, but that can’t always be.

Two weekends ago, with me needing to master several things quickly, the unruly ducks waddled everywhere:

How do I use the format of a private Facebook group to teach a class?
How do I sequence MailChimp’s forms and confirmations to move people
into a virtual classroom?
How do I make videos, edit and post them?

The dining room set up with lights and camera for a session on laying out a blanket. I had to be careful not to trip on cords while taping.

Fortunately, I already had an outline of course content because Tara Swiger’s practical book Map Your Business recently propelled me to draw up action steps toward some goals (even though I was avoiding executing them!).

So I borrowed photography lights, watched YouTube videos about how to make a video, made two videos using my outline notes, and sent out an invitation to my email subscribers to join me in making a child’s blanket for an Operation Christmas Child shoe box.

I expected three people to join me, and I am not kidding. I was a bit off. Two dozen people signed up!

Scripts for the videos, often taped to the lower half of the camera.

Now there we are, over on Facebook, having a ball. A group of fascinating women teaching, learning, encouraging and spurring one another on. And doing our level best to hit the National Collection Week deadline of November 13-20 for our blanket-filled, lovingly packed shoe boxes.

I’m learning so much from these women! It’s spurring me on to make a plan for more teaching.