Sweet Milly is poking her nose above the ground to see what the weather is like!
10g dark brown merino roving
2 × size 40 triangular needles, for shaping
1–2 × size 42 triangular needles, for surface finishing
Small amount of black merino roving
Small amount of pink merino roving
2 × 3mm black glass eyes or seed beads
Variety of seed beads, for the stones and pebbles on the hummock
Finished size: 9cm tall
1 Take a length of dark brown roving measuring 30 × 4cm. Fluff it up to pull the fibres apart so that you have a messy ball. With two size 40 needles, shape it into a small hummock measuring 9 × 5cm.
2 Don’t overwork the wool, as it needs to be quite soft. For the mole’s head, take a length of black roving measuring 10 × 4cm and another 5 × 4cm. Lay the shorter piece on top of the longer and fold them in half widthways so that you have a fat end tapering to a point, which will be the nose. Pull the sides around and shape the mole on your felting mat. When it holds together and is still very soft, fix it to the centre of the hummock.
3 Carry on working to create the little head and shoulders (in the black wool). You will need to go down to one needle to achieve the pointy snout.
4 Firm up the brown hummock, and finish the surfaces with thin layers of wool using one size 42 needle. Where possible, make sure the covering fibres follow the same direction as the body fibres.
5 Using pink roving, form the paws directly on to the hummock, one on either side of the head.
6 Sew in the eyes using the sideways method and add a tiny pink nose (see here). You will need the tiniest wisp of pink for this and one size 42 needle. Sew a scattering of seed beads to the earthy hummock to indicate stones and soil bits (see here).