Needle Felting: Mouse

I find needle felting to be very cathartic – I'm not allowed to stab people, however infuriating they may be, but I am allowed to stab wool, and it releases a lot of tension. =P I started this little mouse for that very reason. I already had a teddybear well underway, but after some clients metaphorically pulled the rug out from under me and slapped my face, I was too grumpy to do fine-detail work, and started on a nice solid shape that I could basically attack without inhibitions. 

And I quite like the result (and I'm a lot calmer! =P):

I was using some mystery wool, probably merino. My mother grew up on a farm and sometime in the 80s her father gave her some unwashed wool straight off various sheep, so she could see which were good for spinning. That.... didn't happen, and most of it is still sitting there, still very much unwashed, but we've been washing and combing bits of it so I can use it for felting. 

The pink, however, is definitely merino. And it was probably bought in the 80s too... 

The whiskers are made of monofilament (invisible quilting thread) which I think works very well!

Here are some more shots:

I think it took about 10-12 hours, over about a week and a half (but I was doing it while watching tv and it's not actually possible to felt and watch tv at precisely the same time). A lot of that time was fiddly paws and tail; the photos don't really show it, but there are individual toes on all the feet. 

Merino wool, 'fine' and 'coarse' felting needles, black plastic beads and monofilament. No armature. 

For more needle felting, there's a label to your right >