Taste of the Wind: Felting Workshop Recap with BJ Edwards

On August 30th I had the privilege of hosting an in-person wet felting workshop for 11 Wyoming women, using wool from my very own flock of icelandic sheep. This, along with developing an online version of a wet felting course, has been a goal of mine for several years. Thanks to Women in Ranching and their Re-Grant program, I finally had the resources to develop and facilitate both of these courses! 

Through my business, Taste of the Wind LLC, I am able to share my passion of producing nutrient dense food in a sustainable way. Teaching classes is something I have always wanted to integrate into my work to share the beauty and versatility of sheep (particularly Icelandic sheep), and to demonstrate how natural fibers can be so fun and functional to craft with. 

It filled my heart to share my passion for minimizing waste and for creating functional wares from raw wool with these women. My favorite part was witnessing the sense of accomplishment each participant had as she experienced the magic of her own hard work transforming the raw wool into her own unique seat cover. The willingness of everyone in the workshop to jump right in, and to persevere with a little encouragement when they had hesitation was truly inspiring to me. Each participant successfully navigated their own specific challenges, including troubleshooting variation in the felting process, and conquering uncertainty in their own ability to create felt, to yield beautiful and functional wool seat covers that honored the sheep and the land from which they came. 

This project not only supported my business, but those of 4 other local Wyoming women-entrepreneurs. Jackrabbit Workshop- the venue I rented for the in-person workshop, Arcane Aesthetics (for video editing), a local photographer/videographer in Centennial, WY, for the filming and editing of the online version of this workshop, and another local photographer in Laramie WY for photographing and videoing the in-person session. The photographers/videographers I was able to hire both captured moments of connection and learning that I will be able to use to help others learn this ancient craft and skill and the video and photo assets will also be useful for future workshop promotion and marketing I plan to do.

Personally this experience helped me build my confidence and develop some tools for managing some of the additional logistics I will need to consider when planning future workshops. I also developed a materials list and outreach procedure that will become more robust with each session I conduct in the future. I have been riding a natural high after this workshop. Connecting with other women of various ages and walks of life, and coming together to learn these skills, gave me a sense of accomplishment like no other and brings a smile to my face every time I think about the experience. I can’t wait to host more of these classes. Thanks to Women in Ranching for helping me get this concept off the ground!