Feb 9th, 2007
Lessen your environmental impact
Recycling, using fluorescent light bulbs, watering your lawn with gray water…there are lots of little things you can do to tread more lightly on the earth. Knitters can use recycled yarn or yarns made from materials that already have a low environmental impact and are quickly renewable (e.g., soy, corn). There’s yet another way fiber enthusiasts can be a little nicer to the planet: by using green cell foam for needle felting.
Needle felting (which I have yet to try, I admit–though I’ve read enough about it to get the gist of it) involves stabbing fabric with tiny needles in order to get wool or roving that’s on top of the fabric to stick to the fabric. Hmmm. That’s an explanation just off the top of my head, and it doesn’t seem very clear. Go here instead and read about how to do it.
The fabric to be stabbed is placed on a foam pad so you don’t damage any surfaces while jabbing it with a needle. Most foam pads are made of polyurethane foam, which is a byproduct of the petroleum industry. The folks at Sticky Wicket Crafts, however, have found a vegetable-based foam to use in their pads–and they aren’t more expensive than most conventional foam pads. No petroleum byproducts! Happy happy planet! Hooray!
P.S. If you want to make your own needle felting tool and like to play with power tools, check out this tutorial.