Felting

Tovning/filtning

Description:

Felting is a technique of joining fibers together. It can be done dry or wet, and Carina Haglund uses wet felting. In Swedish there are two different words usually used for felting: “tovning” which is most used, or “filtning”. “Tovning” can also be translated to roughly “tangling [of fibers]”, whereas “filtning” has the same etymology root as “felt” in English. Filtning (or felting in English) is done wet, and Haglund expresses that she rather presents what she makes in her studio as filtning, rather than tovning.

Knowledge and skills:

Knowledge of wool, and how to handle and process wool - from carding to felting to finished product.

Transmission:

It's possible to learn from courses, during textile educations, but also from doing not-on site courses, through video online and litterature - provided that you try it and practice.

Practitioners:

It's a female dominated crafting technique. It's connected to the rural areas where the sheep and wool have been naturally more accessible. Felting is quite popular, and there's also carded wool and coloured wool in hobby stores in Sweden to purchase.

Function:

Haglund has taugh felting for all children in year 4 (ages 10) in the town of Kil. What the children have made will be shown at the Fårfest event in Kil. Felting is a quite common activity at preschools and primary schools, usually the "tovning".

Origins and change:

Haglund explaines that the type of wool carpets that she produces are manufactured and used in Kyrgystan, where the wool mats are used in jurts. Haglund first used her woodenrod jalousie when wet felting which she has now replaced with bubble wrap. She thinks that bubble wrap gives a smoother texture. It's also to be said that Haglund's husband has made her a machine that felts larger objects such as carpets, and is powered by human labour.

Organisations:

FÅReningen, the sheep association (a non-profit association involved in all fields associated with sheep - crafts, husbandry, food) is a given organisation which gathers members who are involved with wool production and interests in quality. In Värmland there's also a folk high school (vocational adult education) with a course called "Ullakademin", the wool academy, which is a local, but of interest nationally, school in the art of felting.

Places:

Fårfesten in Kil: farfestikil.com

Artefacts:

Commonly clothes such as mittens, slippers, hats. Also items for the house such as seating, cushions, carpets. Artefacts of arts and crafts, and applied arts.

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Intangible Type:

Intangible

Context:

The technique similarly uses the qualities of wool as in fulling woven fabric (in Sweden usually vadmal/wadmal) in mills or manually with or without chemical agents.

Environmental sustainability:

Haglund produces her products fully in wool. The sheep keeping and wool production of Sweden have been greatly diminished, which has led to a lot of wool that could have been used have been wasted or burnt. To produce in wool nationally and use Swedish wool is a great use of a ethical, non-hazardous, traditional and culturally important fiber that is accessible.

Economic sustainability:

Like written above about the enviormental goals.