Suzie pondered this while she poured cool soapy water off her tray and replaced it with hot. A puzzled look crossed her face. "How did they ever figure out how to make it?"

Mother smiled. "No one knows for sure. Legend has it that a shepherd took a long journey, and got sore feet. He plucked some wool off a briar bush where the sheep had passed, and tucked it in his boots. By nightfall, the wool had felted."

"Does anyone still make felt?"

"Oh, yes," said Mother. "People all over the world today make useful and beautiful things out of felt. People in Mongolia live in felt houses."

"Wool houses!" exclaimed Suzie. "Why not wood?"

"They are Nomads. They live by following herds of sheep and goats to new grazing lands all year round. So, their villages have to be portable. The gers, or felt huts, are wooden frames with felt sides and a roof. When it's time to move, everyone packs up their belongings and their houses."

Suzie looked skeptically at the small creation in front of her. "How do they make the felt big enough?" she wondered. By now, she was rubbing hard. The felt had tightened and shrunk into a flat circle.

"The whole village works together to make a new ger. They start with a big piece of felt, called mother felt. They cover it with layers of wool, and give it a good soaking. Then they roll it up and drag it behind a horse until it felts."

"I could use a horse about now," joked Suzie, shaking her hand. "But I think it's ready!"

She took the felt to the sink, rinsed out the soap, and patted it dry in a towel. She then yanked it in every direction and was surprised to find it really had transformed into solid fabric.

Using a cookie cutter and chalk, Suzie traced the outline of a Christmas tree onto the felt. She cut it easily with scissors, because the edges did not fray or unravel. The final touch was decorating. While she glued on ribbons and sequins, Suzie remembered something that had aroused her curiosity during yesterday's shopping trip. "Is this the same as the felt we saw in the craft store?"

continue to page 3...

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