Spiderfelt spins whimsical, one-of-a-kind creations from knickknacks to supersoft scarves

Leah Adams, a Greenwood-based crafter, has found her place in the national spotlight. After her felt pebbles were featured in the New York Times' Sunday Styles Holiday Gift Guide, Adams put in overtime to fill orders at her online store, Spiderfelt. She even roped in her husband and mother as assistants.

Adams pulls and presses supersoft, multicolored felted wool into scarves, pincushions, balls (for toddler or dog), treasure boxes, geodes and even felt-wrapped soaps. Her variegated work is often playful and flamboyant; one scarf was aptly named for a jester.

"There is a certain element of whimsy in felting," Adams says. "Lay down the wool, roll it up, rock it back and forth, then unwrap it to see what emerges."

She makes it sound so simple. Felting is the perfect craft for the impatient artist, as many projects can be completed in under an hour. Adams shapes and presses layers of colored wool with a felting needle, water or both. Water binds the layers together permanently.

"Felting gives me the satisfaction of seeing something complete in a short amount of time," Adams says. "You get an idea, pull out the supplies and before long you've executed some variation on your original idea."

Adams keeps a notebook with running ideas and sketches for future pieces, but customers also provide inspiration. Special orders she's worked on include scarves, monogrammed balls, stroller blankets and doll sleeping bags.

Want to try your hand at felting? Adams's do-it-yourself kits are popular, and allow you to make felted soaps, geode pincushions or leaf mobiles. "People appreciate the economy and the opportunity to make something themselves," she says. And with Adams's kits of pre-selected colors, even the artistically challenged can create a functional mini-masterpiece.

"There are no charts to follow in felting," she says. "Just get soapy."

Several of Adams's kits and products are sold on her Etsy site, at Ballard boutique Venue and Greenwood's kid shop Rising Stars.

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