Felting

I've been looking at all the beautiful wet felting on Textile Arts.  Got a  little curious:  did you know???

Felting  was another prehistoric method of making textiles  w/out spinning or weaving.  It  is  a mechanical process in which scaly-surfaced wool (and some other hair fibres)  can be adhered together in shaped or moulded sheets by a combination of moisture, heat and pressure: 

Wool provides:  excellent insulation, cloth, felt or padding”   Felting was found in Turkey as early as  6000 BC.

Herding nomads on the  treeless steppes (Siberia and Kurdish tribes)  were the first to domesticate sheep.  They used the wool  felted animal fibres for clothing and tents:

Sheep were domesticated in Iraq  9000BC but it took another 4,000 years for them to become:  woolly coats:

   I wish I had more time to experiment w/ wool.  thank goodness I;m not allergic.  It's a one step process to dye.  Pro-Chemical my favorite place to shop for dyes.  Customer Service is wonderful:  ask the same question 8 times and they respond:  8 times on the phone w/ a smile.