I used up all of my green bulky handspun yarn to make these leaves:

Hand felting over sixty leaves is no easy task! I didn’t realize one of my gloves had a small hole. In addition to sore arms I also got a blister on my finger. See, I’m suffering for my art! hehe

When I laid out the leaves to dry I blocked them in various ways. Some curl inwards; others have their tips curling up. I think that makes them look more realistic.

Next up is my interpretation of rhododendron leaves. Thebes and I saw rhododendrons many times when we were hiking the Appalachian Trail and they were by far our favorite flower. Since this is acrylic yarn these won’t be blocked. I went with garter stitch to hold the shape.

I have over twenty of these.

Now I’m working on Juniper leaves. I’m making small lengths of I-cord and them sewing them together randomly. This yarn came from the yarn sale at the Harwood Museum. Abbey blogged about that here. It’s wool of some sort.

When bunched up together they look more like Juniper leaves to me. After they’re done I’ll be making Pinon leaves.