Felt Balls From Knitting Wool for a Chunky Bead Necklace

Boil the kettle and fill a small bowl with water that is just cooler than boiling. Cover your table with old newspaper to soak up any splashes of soapy water.

Scoop up the strands in the palm of your left hand (assuming you're right handed) and squirt on a small amount of washing up liquid. Work it though the pile of strands with the fingers of your right hand.

Now pick up the little heap of soapy yarn with your right hand and dip it partially in the hot water. Remove it and let it cool a little so you don't scald yourself. As soon as you can handle it, put it back in your left palm and work the water through the fibres with the fingertips of your right hand.

Form the bundle of strands into a ball shape and rest it on the closed fingers of your left hand. Use the closed fingers of your right hand to roll it, moving your hands in circles in opposite directions one above the other. You need to try and exert a little pressure with your hands, as it is the combination of moisture, heat and pressure that causes the fibres to felt together. At first it will be impossible to press on the ball at all without it squashing, so just keep rolling lightly. Using the closed fingers of each hand to start with, rather than the palms, will help because the ridges between your fingers provide traction. Don't let the ball of fibres slide between your hands or it will deform and will not felt. If your hands get too slippery and covered in foam, give them a wipe on a cloth.

Dip the ball in hot water again from time to time. I found that 4 dips in total were enough for a ball of 18mm diameter. If it gets too wet it will be very squashy and hard to roll, so roll it on a few sheets of kitchen paper if necessary to absorb excess moisture. Don't be tempted to squeeze the water out of it and then try and reform it into a ball shape, that is likely to result in a ball with a join that hasn't felted together properly.

Keep rolling and applying as much pressure as you can. The ball will get smaller (see photos) and firmer so that you can press harder and harder on it with your hands. The entire process might take 15 minutes for your first attempt, but probably no more than 5 minutes per bead when you know what you are doing. Towards the end of the process, move the ball into the palms of your hands so you can push them together harder - this is easier if you turn your hands vertically rather than one above the other. Alternatively, you may prefer to roll it on the table instead (move the newspaper first) using just one hand, as you can exert more pressure like this. However you do it, keep checking to see that the bead is spherical and coax it gently back into shape if it isn't.

How do you know when you are finished? When the ball feels really quite hard, it's not getting smaller any more, and when you give it a squeeze between thumb and forefinger, it springs back into shape. Rinse it thoroughly under the cold tap and then put it down on the newspaper until it has stopped dripping. Leave it on a sunny windowcill or on a radiator to dry for 24 hours or so.