Dryer Balls - or gnome bait?

This batch of dryer balls is made from HCF Kachina's fleece.

Off and on over many years, my family has made wool felt balls. When the kids were little, they were toys (medieval nerf balls we called'm). Then we made them for kitties with catnip centers and for dogs to try to teach them to play that game called "fetch." Lena's Gibbs dog loves to fetch the harder ones that bounce.

A couple years ago I read an article in Mary Jane's Farm magazine about using wool felt balls as dryer balls. You just pop a few of the wool felt balls that we always have around the house into the dryer and they cut down on the time it takes to dry clothes and take the static out. We tried it, and they do work that way. We also found they have a far more important function in the dryer.

Dryer gnomes love felt balls! They will happily trade a felt ball for one, or even two of your socks that they have been hording. And if you give them dryer balls, they will quit taking your favorite wash cloths. They sometimes even trade an especially nice dryer ball for one of my tie-dyed tea towels that they do so love to steal.

I have no idea where they take them, any more than I have any idea where missing pens go. But I do think the parallel universe must be a pretty, fun place. And I bet dryer gnomes never have cold feet.

All the dryer balls I make now are from our sheep's fleeces. This latest batch is from Kachina's wool. Some of them come out firm like a tennis ball, others are more squishy. We make them in the natural colors of our jacob sheep's wool. They are 100% Jacob Sheep wool. No fillers or inserts.