TRAINER'S EYE #119 - "Alolan Raichu Glides The Needle" ft. I Do The Felting

In this Pokemon interview, we are joined by I Do The Felting, a Pokemon Trainer who creates Pokemon through needle felting.

I Do The Felting starts her journey with being introduced to Pokemon Red. However, she discovered she had little interest in the main series games and preferred the spin-off games such as Pokemon Snap and Pokemon Pokemon Dungeon. She also shares her interest in the anime and how she appreciated Rachel Lillis's voice for Jessie from Team Rocket.

I Do The Felting shares her introduction into Pokemon GO and her love for Shiny Pokemon. She gives insight into her love for Pokemon GO Raids and events that are hosted in the mobile game. Despite her not able to attend and live events, I Do The Felting appreciates feeling connected via remote events and able to engage with the event in her hometown.

Finally I Do The Felting indulges with my question, "what is needle felting?" Needle felting is a creative craft that involves sculpting shapes and figures using wool and special felting needles. She shares how she got involved in this unique craft and reflects on her journey both from starting to present day!

Sources
Opening Song: "Forget You" by Alex_MakeMusic from Pixabay

Connect with I Do The Felting: Website 

Transcript

idothefelting: 0:00

This is, I do the felting and this is my Pokemon story.

David Hernandez: 0:42

Welcome to As the Pokeball Turns, where we interview people about their experience with Pokemon. My name is David Hernandez, and today, I am joined by IDoTheFeltine. Welcome to the show!

idothefelting: 0:56

Thank you! I'm excited to be here.

David Hernandez: 0:58

You know, the feeling is mutual and you're a person of many talents because yes, we're going to talk about the felting, but not only did felting, but you also somebody who did bath products. You're also a lead singer of the alt folk band called golden dinosaurs. And you also did a podcast where you talked about how adulting is a myth. I agree with that sentiment. Clearly you're very creative, so do you always feel like you have some kind of creative bone or just something like you felt like you were in this kind of sphere to begin with?

idothefelting: 1:24

Yes, probably, I've always kind of a silly person. and certainly always very creative. Like, I was a theater kid. I kind of loved doing anything and everything absurd when I was younger. And that's carried into adulthood. Like, I haven't changed. So, creative, yes, for sure. Laughter.

David Hernandez: 1:47

that's not a bad thing, you know, sometimes we need just some people who would be willing to be silly because you can't be too serious all the time, right?

idothefelting: 1:54

Yep, I entirely agree.

David Hernandez: 1:56

Now I gotta ask, since you were a theater kid, like were you like somebody who just did improv or in plays or a bit of both?

idothefelting: 2:01

I was super into musical theater. so trained singer. Like you noted, I, did have a band. really wanted to do musicals. never was in a position where could do a lot of musicals because the, theater, classes in my high school just did straight plays. So I was in a lot of plays, but also just really loved musical theater. Ha ha.

David Hernandez: 2:22

Ooh. What was it about musical theater that you really enjoyed?

idothefelting: 2:24

I love every aspect like, music. I loved opera. I wanted an opera singer as a child. And, just, music itself and the way that music can tell a story. And so I really always loved taking, like, a character arc. To a song and just having this like emotional like channeling emotions through it From start to finish just having complete story through it. So yeah, I guess that's that's the thing

David Hernandez: 2:54

Well, it makes sense because I still feel like whenever I've watched some of your clips on Instagram, we'll talk more about felting later. You also add music for most of it, and some of the music that you pick. It was a scene where it was very serious for Pokemon. It was a Pokemon music song, but because of your personality, you made it very fun and added to the music and you kind of manipulated the music to change its meaning because you had a different way to interpret it, if that makes sense.

idothefelting: 3:19

Thank you. I appreciate that.

David Hernandez: 3:21

I could remember the song. It's going to drive me mad, but it's like one of them more, like it was like one of them intense scenes of a Pokemon, um, Something that happened within Pokemon, but you really made it more fun to actually listen to it.

idothefelting: 3:34

Thank you. you know, when you create a lot of content, you end up using a lot of different songs and like in the moment it makes sense, but I don't know. Later on thinking about it, I did a thing and that's. That's all I know is that I did a thing at some point.

David Hernandez: 3:51

Well, let me ask you this, because we're gonna dive into your history of Pokemon, but since we're on the topic of music, what songs from Pokemon really stick out to you?

idothefelting: 4:00

So I remember, being a kid and having like the, the CD of the soundtrack from the TV, I can't remember what it was called, but it was like basically the, the hit songs from the hit TV show. it

David Hernandez: 4:13

I call Pokemon music, volume one.

idothefelting: 4:15

yes, yep, probably,

David Hernandez: 4:17

I don't know, I was just joking, yeah. Ha ha

idothefelting: 4:19

like accurately, I guess, but it was like, The voice actors from English dub. And they written songs for the English dub. And some of them got inserted. So you know, We're on the road to Viridian

David Hernandez: 4:33

Leaving the city, I'm on the route.

idothefelting: 4:36

on there. Yeah, exactly. But also, there was this ridiculous one Misty was singing about her hidden feelings about Ash.

David Hernandez: 4:44

Oh my gosh. Yes, I remember this.

idothefelting: 4:47

And I think though, my favorite was the Team Rocket song. because I was always very proud of my ability to do a Jesse impression.

David Hernandez: 4:55

Ooh, okay.

idothefelting: 4:58

and I loved, I just loved Jesse. so, yeah, do you want, you want to hear my Jesse impression?

David Hernandez: 5:04

please do, I was about to you if you'd be willing to demonstrate it real quick.

idothefelting: 5:07

Alright,

David Hernandez: 5:08

Now real quick you do it. So is it the song to where team rocket is to the okay? making sure sure.

idothefelting: 5:14

Rockets Rocket. Rockets. Yes, exactly. That song. So I always loved that song. but yeah. So I would constantly do a Jessie impression. To protect the world from devastation.

David Hernandez: 5:27

to unite our peoples within our nation

idothefelting: 5:30

To denounce the evils of truth and love.

David Hernandez: 5:33

to protect our vision some oh my gosh, i'm just all nations. Oh my gosh, I can't remember right I can't work under pressure, man

idothefelting: 5:43

That's fair. I was worried that I would crumble under the pressure, too. So, it's better you than me, I guess.

David Hernandez: 5:50

Yeah.

idothefelting: 5:55

But yeah, I really loved, I really loved Jessie. Um, but also, did you know that there a Pokemon musical?

David Hernandez: 6:00

Yes. That's actually how I knew about the Misty song because I where debuted or something like

idothefelting: 6:05

Yeah! They took the songs from this flipping soundtrack and then they made a musical out of it and the puppets, they had amazing puppets. Some of them were carved out wood or I might be making that up, but like I worked in theater, like I worked for our local opera company. I've done a lot of different, like in the arts stuff. And so finding out about that just fascinated me because like the stage puppetry is amazing. I watched a bootleg version of it from somebody like in the audience

David Hernandez: 6:36

Yeah, they were Yes. Yep.

idothefelting: 6:40

but, yeah. I love that that is somehow a thing that happened.

David Hernandez: 6:46

What made you want to try to learn her impression? Because you said you're really, you know, fascinated with her as a character, I guess.

idothefelting: 6:53

It's, yeah, it, it's mostly that. again, back to the creative thing, I just was always doing voices as a child and I figured out that I could probably do that voice. it's funny because the same voice actor also played Misty and I don't have a Misty voice that I could share with you. But it's because of Jesse's, Voice and the way that it has to bounce in your like vocal register and like the resonance sort of in your face It's very musical and that's what drew me to it was just like the musical tones of how She would manipulate her voice and how she'd have to bounce it off like the of her Basically in your navel cavity is where that has to be projected into and so I just I was like I could do that

David Hernandez: 7:42

And then the best part is because, you know, Team Rocket, they would always have like either music and they would also change it up all the time, especially like, whenever they would make their entrance into the scene, you got to hear kind of different levels of how Jesse would portray the sound, I think.

idothefelting: 7:56

Yes, yep, and there was always a sing song, musical quality to the voice acting And as someone who, again, music and theater, and I think just my normal speaking voice has a bit of that musical quality to it as well that I just, yeah, it resonated with me quite a lot.

David Hernandez: 8:18

So, it sounds like you would watch the anime growing up. So is that kind of your first experience with Pokemon?

idothefelting: 8:23

so. Yes, probably. I was aware of the games. My younger brother had a Game Boy. he, uh, he bought Pokemon Red. He was so much, so much more fiscally responsible with his money I was. So he, at his young age, could afford a Game Boy, and I had already spent any money I had on smaller things. So,

David Hernandez: 8:45

This guy disciplined right from the get

idothefelting: 8:47

he really was, the contrast was so real between us. so he had a Game Boy, so I knew it existed, and then Sailor was like my introduction to anime. And so it was existing for like year or so before Pokemon came onto the scene. And I remember knowing that Pokemon anime was going to come out, and I was super excited. but for some reason, I had to miss the day that it debuted. I think it was like a Saturday morning. I live in Canada. was on YTV. so I was mad that I had to miss it. So the week later, I was like, I'm not missing this. I have to see it. So I remember the first episode that I watched was, Ash catching Caterpie. However, it was also at the same time that a hospital in my city, the hospital that I was born in, was being demolished. They were airing this demolition on the TV I was switching back and forth watching this Caterpie episode And the hospital fall to the ground. So, somehow this is a core memory.

David Hernandez: 9:56

Wow. This is before you could have two screens. If you had two screens, it was a luxury.

idothefelting: 10:00

Right? That have so much easier.

David Hernandez: 10:03

Reclifer, Reclifer,

idothefelting: 10:06

But yes, so then I watched, you know, the first few seasons of the anime, would watch it whenever I had the opportunity. and then, my, my, my dirty little secret is that the, the mainline games, I don't actually enjoy the gameplay of them. Which is, like, blasphemy, I know. but every other type game I have loved. So, I remember playing Stadium on the N64, and Clefairies, and the minigames being like, Clefairy! Clefairy! And so, that's burned into my brain. and then as far as, like, the games go, Pokemon Snap, I was in love with as a child, and even like later on, Pokemon Dungeon, I loved. It's just, I don't, I never really connected with the actual gameplay of the main series. Like, I did, I did really, really try with Let's Go Eevee, and then I just handed the controllers to my husband and was like, I think you gotta drive this,

David Hernandez: 11:07

wow, so you, more recent games you still can't do.

idothefelting: 11:10

Yeah, it's weird. cause I love everything about the franchise. Like I love, I love the characters. I design. Obviously I love Team Rocket. there's so much that speaks to me, but the actual lived out gameplay of the main series is just something I can't do. And it's ridiculous.

David Hernandez: 11:29

Wow, so you just never really figured out the reason why. It just seems like, just something about the game that the way it's presented just doesn't appeal to you compared even the, other games outside of the main series, like you said, Pokemon Snap, I'm assuming New Pokemon Snap, all those you love

idothefelting: 11:42

Yeah. I love those. I just, it is something about, And no, it's not an RPG. I think it's the battling, honestly. I just don't care. It's so I'm in it for cute shit.

David Hernandez: 11:56

Right.

idothefelting: 11:59

And like, I play tons Pokemon Like, I am so committed to Pokemon Go. and I'll raids. I enjoy raids. but, like, I don't, I don't know. There's something about mainline games for me. it's tragic. I wanna like them.

David Hernandez: 12:16

I mean, that's the thing though, is like everybody plays Pokemon for different reasons and Pokemon's primarily collecting. Battling's always been kind of the second, you know, part of the game, a lot of people really are very tied to it, but I think that's the best part about Pokemon as they've kind of progressed and they've gotten older, they've learned to kind of branch out outside of just, oh beat the eight gems and then beat the Elite Four. They've really branched out to like having different stories and having other ways for people to kind of enjoy the franchise. Like you said, Pokemon Go. I remember the early days Pokemon Snap. I loved Pokemon Puzzle League. I don't know if you

idothefelting: 12:49

Oh my God. Yes, actually. I,

David Hernandez: 12:50

good game. Yeah.

idothefelting: 12:52

100%.

David Hernandez: 12:53

And I'm still waiting for, I would love to see a remake of that one, more so than Pokemon Snap, but, you know, that would be such a fun game. So, but, I mean, that's a good thing, like, it's good that we all experience the franchise in different ways, and not everybody wants to battle, you know. Not everybody wants to battle the same, you know, it's basically the same plot, battle eight gym leaders, beat the bad guys, and go become champion. Like, it's just the same formula for the past 25 years, you know, and that doesn't appeal to everybody.

idothefelting: 13:16

It's true. that's another thing that I really love about the franchise is that there are so many ways to connect with this incredibly rich and expansive world. Right? So it's, yeah.

David Hernandez: 13:31

Yeah.

idothefelting: 13:31

I feel bad, but I also don't feel bad.

David Hernandez: 13:33

No, no, no. I mean, example, Pokemon stamp, what I loved about it is you could literally just watch how Pokemon interacted with the environment.

idothefelting: 13:41

Yes.

David Hernandez: 13:42

for example, I remember just when I was growing up, I would spend like 30 minutes on the volcano path where before you hit the egg for Moltres, I would purposely just camp there and feed Charmander apples.

idothefelting: 13:53

That, that's smart idea. I love that! But that's the appeal of it, right? It's, you get to see them in their environment, just doing things. that's, Something that, with Pokemon Go, I think about all the time. So, things like leaving Pokemon in gyms, I get in my head about I'm just like, Oh my god, what if you made friends while I left you there? And now, you've come home, you're never gonna see this friend again,

David Hernandez: 14:27

Right. I love this. This is great. Okay. But then also, what if I don't see you for a long time? Who's Who's gonna take care of you? Like, what happens if it rains?

idothefelting: 14:37

Totally! Like, I felt extremely guilty when some of my Pokemon have trapped in gyms for a while. And then, there was one time, I left a, um, I think it was an Azumarill oh, by the way, I'm probably gonna pronounce Pokemon names wrong, because I think Hooked on Phonics, betrayed me.

David Hernandez: 14:58

okay. I messed up the Pokemon motto,, so you're good.

idothefelting: 15:01

okay, that's fair. But, like, seriously, for years, I thought that Turtwig was Tur Turt Turt. And then I heard it on the anime, and I was like, Twig makes sense. Why have I been saying it the other way for so long? And then I was saying Pachirisu for years. It turns out it's Pachirisu. Come on. So I'm going to say Pokemon names weird. Please tell me what they are because I like knowing it.

David Hernandez: 15:32

I was growing up, I would say Suicune and Saisun.

idothefelting: 15:37

I see why.

David Hernandez: 15:39

I mean, I see why you would do it too. Yeah. I mean, we don't get pronunciations on how to say this. The Pokedex doesn't have like, you turd wig or anything like this. Like we still have debates on how to say requaza, requaza. Like we don't know.

idothefelting: 15:51

right.

David Hernandez: 15:52

Right. So you're not, yeah, you're not alone.

idothefelting: 15:54

Thank you. but I just wanted to say it out loud in case, and when I do that it's, it's already like, Hey, I'm gonna do this So anyway, I left an Azumarill. No, it was a Venonat with an Azumarill in the gym and they have the same swaying animation is what I So they kind of, yeah, they do that sway thing and it looked they were dancing together and I was like, oh no, oh no, you're going to come home and you're just going to be thinking about your buddy that you'll never see ever, ever again.

David Hernandez: 16:30

Oh,

idothefelting: 16:32

So, I think a lot about that kind of stuff when comes to Pokemon Go. And, with, you know, the buddy system. get to three star point and your buddy starts giving gifts. And so you get like a piece of chalk or a lone earring. I love that because it tells me what that Pokemon likes. And you see, like, glimpses of their personality. so, like, I have a really fancy Slurpuff that would always just bring me earrings. Or, my Alolan Raichu loves chalk. Like, just for some reason, it's fascinated by chalk and just keeps bringing me chalk. So, it's just, I love seeing what they're going to bring more of it says to me something about their imaginary personalities.

David Hernandez: 17:17

and I think that's kind of what we want as, you know, people who are passionate about the franchise as Pokemon trainers, because, you know, you think about the anime and you saw the different personalities, even with just the same Pokemon. I mean, for example, let's just do ashes team just for simplicity sake. You know, you got Pikachu who was a little bit of a brat at first. He didn't trust Ash for everything, but then learned to kind of trust him. You've got the whole arc with Charmander and especially when he evolved and, you know, Ash betrayed his trust. You kind of see the personalities, like they all get different motivations. They all have like different feelings. And we kind of want that with the Pokemon that we raise and we implement like our experiences. Cause I remember, you know, playing the games for myself, I would implement like, what if, for example, like I don't go and heal it. Like I would always go back to the Pokemon center. Cause I'm like, I don't want them to be hurting while I'm traveling in this journey. Granted, the game, but I'd still, you know, implement the feelings of like, what if I'm in the position in a way.

idothefelting: 18:06

Absolutely. Like, I, honestly, after a raid, I am always healing my Pokémon because I will feel awful if they're sitting there hurt.

David Hernandez: 18:17

It's like they're without health and they're just like just lying there.

idothefelting: 18:21

Right? It's tragic. Like, I can't handle that.

David Hernandez: 18:26

you know, since we're on the topic, since you are more experienced with like the games outside the main series games, what are some of your favorite ones?

idothefelting: 18:33

like I said, Dungeon. I loved, loved Dungeon, and especially the, recent remake that came out on the Switch. I sunk so many hours into that. And again, because it's about, it's about friendship. And that's kind of my favorite thing ever, is like, stories about friendship. This harkens back to my Sailor Moon days. I love the friendship aspect about stuff. And so, having Pokémon Dungeon, you have your friend buddy that is part of your team both wearing your little scarfs. And just, there's just this beautiful story that's woven around it while you also go, I'm surprised that the actual mechanics of the gameplay and going dungeons Was something that I could tolerate because obviously I have very specific needs when it comes to gaming it falls Outside of what I normally play but I felt like the story was just so compelling that I was like Oh my god, you son of a bitch. I'm in

David Hernandez: 19:28

The story kind of just sunk their teeth and was like, Oh, you're going to play this no matter what you'll see.

idothefelting: 19:33

yep.

David Hernandez: 19:33

What was it about the friendship that you learned from that game that you still remember? For maybe who may not be familiar with the game.

idothefelting: 19:39

my goodness, it's that is a hard question for me to answer because sometimes I don't remember specific things about the playthrough. but I seem to remember the Absol shows up there was some sort of plot point where you had to leave the village. And, I can't remember the reason why, but your buddy is like, I will come with you. And so both go on this journey to find particular Pokemon. I think it was Articuno. I can't remember but there's just this like fostering this friendship. And then the cut scenes are so bloody cute. I also really loved like the, the illustrations. aspect of that just how adorable it was to see, the cutscenes and just the drawings of Pokemon on this little team with their stupid little scarves around their necks. I just, I loved that so much.

David Hernandez: 20:32

because, you know, you come from a different place, you know, you don't play the main series games. How has that affected maybe your choice of Pokemon that you prefer and like, so maybe even your favorite?

idothefelting: 20:40

So I am very drawn to, adorable ones. And I also love the idea of misfits. so, my husband and I actually, we, decided We were going to come up with, like, our main teams, so we had to pick six, and his Pokemon, we went Kanto for this, his Pokemon were all, like, useful, so, like, team does stuff, and so he'd have, like, a Scyther on his team, because the Scyther can cut things, or he had, Growlithe, because he could heat stuff up.

David Hernandez: 21:11

hmm.

idothefelting: 21:12

It's just really practical. And I was like, I want the goofs. Minus team goofs. So, I went with like, I feel like Raichu just doesn't get enough love. And I really love Alolan Raichu. I think that's my favorite Pokemon. But, sticking strictly to Kanto, Raichu. Gloom, Weepinbell, Slowpoke, Clefairy. can't remember what my sixth one was. But just like, this like, ragtag gang of like, a little bit slow, a little bit goofy, a little bit dummy.

David Hernandez: 21:42

Mm hmm.

idothefelting: 21:43

It's just kind of, kind of the vibe.

David Hernandez: 21:47

What about Raichu? Because you said like, the misfits, you know, what is it about

idothefelting: 21:50

just, I feel like Raichu doesn't get enough love, because you have, the darling of the franchise, the middle evolution of this evolution line, and this Raichu gets overlooked all the time, or at least does in my head,

David Hernandez: 22:05

No, makes sense. I mean, Pikachu gets so much attention that people forget Raichu's kind of there. Just like, uh, yeah.

idothefelting: 22:12

Yeah, so I, just, have a lot of love for Raichu, overlooked stepchild.

David Hernandez: 22:18

What about Alolan Raichu? What do you think about that one?

idothefelting: 22:20

So, I love Alolan Raichu. It's probably my favorite, and the reason being, it somehow reminds cat. Especially the shiny version. like, I have this, brown tabby, and she has these paws. These very white, giant white tipped paws, and I just, whenever I see shiny Alolan just think my cat, and the big, big paws, the white tipped, shiny paws.

David Hernandez: 23:32

You've talked a lot about Pokemon Go when did you first start playing that game?

idothefelting: 23:36

So, uh, I unfortunately wasn't able to start playing in 2016. My husband's phone was capable of running it, but mine was not. So he had Pokemon Go, and I was like, I'm so jealous. But so, right? So I instead had Snapchat, and I actually started this account called SadPokemonGo. And I think on Instagram it's SaddestPokemon because couldn't have enough characters to make Sad Pokémon Go as the username at the time. They like, character But it was basically me taking pictures and, like, mimicking the AR function. So I take pictures out in the real world and then draw really sad, scribbled versions of Pokémon in Snapchat.

David Hernandez: 24:22

Awww.

idothefelting: 24:23

Put them on the internet!

David Hernandez: 24:27

Because you couldn't play the game.

idothefelting: 24:28

Yeah, so that's what I did instead. You know what? It was a lot of fun.

David Hernandez: 24:34

That was probably therapeutic, I'd imagine. mean, that's gotta be torture.

idothefelting: 24:38

It was ridiculous, and then my husband kind of stopped playing and eventually I got a phone that was capable of running it and then was worried about having my GPS on all the time because it got paranoid so I didn't start playing. Actually, until 2019 when a friend of mine in a different city was heavily playing and I wanted to over a thing and so I started playing Pokemon Go and I haven't looked back since.

David Hernandez: 25:06

what do you like about playing Pokemon Go?

idothefelting: 25:08

Um, I am for sure a shiny hunter. the novelty of just finding the rare version of Pokemon. So I'm constantly like checking. Shiny checks all the time, it's a little obsessive, and then I feel like they've done a really good job of bigger events since the pandemic, like GoFest, Global GoFest, the first time, so I, I love those things, when they happen. I have never been to an in person GoFest yet, but, one day hopefully.

David Hernandez: 25:36

I don't know if your husband returned the game But do you go out and play like with friends or do you go with your husband? When it to shiny hunting

idothefelting: 25:44

he did, return to the game. it was about a month after I started playing. for my birthday I was like, I am so afraid of raiding. It's so intimidating, help me. And he was like, raids are not that hard. we can go do them. So on my birthday, he took the day off and we just like, drove around the city looking for raids to do that were like, they weren't five star, but they were just approachable for what level I at the time. so he has picked it up and so the two of us will go out and do shiny thing together. He's much less invested than me.

David Hernandez: 26:17

you're the more hardcore between the two of you it sounds

idothefelting: 26:21

Yes. I am for sure much more hardcore. But like, he has fun. We'll both pay for the ticketed events because we get lot out of it. We'll, like, take the whole day. We'll go the eight hours or whatever. And make an event out of it.

David Hernandez: 26:35

Yeah, let's make a full outing of it basically.

idothefelting: 26:38

Yeah, and then there are local meetups. We're not super connected to those, but we will attend to them sometimes, especially with Gigantamax. Because you cannot do that without tons of people.

David Hernandez: 26:51

What was it about the raids initially that you were kind of hesitant to do? Like, what you afraid of?

idothefelting: 26:56

I was just so new. To the game, and I was often like shiny checking on the bus into work, accidentally like click on a gym, and it would give me a raid pass, and I'd be like, what is this? What do I do with it? Oh no, have I done something wrong?

David Hernandez: 27:14

What sin have I done by clicking this gem?

idothefelting: 27:18

So it's just the mechanics of it. I was like, I don't understand. I guess I could read something on the Internet, but for some reason I didn't. It's like, what are these? I probably want do them help.

David Hernandez: 27:32

My gosh.

idothefelting: 27:35

So, yeah. But now, I raid all the time, so. have a good, good raiding team of, as many types as possible so that I just punch out raids.

David Hernandez: 27:45

You know, it's interesting that, you know, you got drawn into Pokemon Go, even more so than the main series. Is it because there's also less battling and it's just catching? Is that kind of why you prefer it,

idothefelting: 27:53

I, probably, and I think Because it's so integrated with, like, the idea of the real world, and it's on my phone, and God knows I'm chronically online, so I can just, right? So I can just, like, switch to a different app, and check what's spawning right now. I, like, I think it's the convenience factor as well. And then he'll be driving, and I will then just be on my phone, and shiny checking, and getting kilometers in. When we're going slow enough so I can play while we're on the way to groceries.

David Hernandez: 28:27

Hey, but you're a passenger and that's what's most important.

idothefelting: 28:30

Exactly!

David Hernandez: 28:33

And then you can play while getting groceries as well because I do that well. Yeah.

idothefelting: 28:36

Yeah, exactly.

David Hernandez: 28:38

that's what I always enjoyed about Pokemon Go is it allowed me to kind of mix the two worlds because you know beforehand you actually had to kind of dedicate time to actually Play Pokemon and now with Pokemon Go came out I was able to kind of just play even passively like go and get groceries When I used to ride the bus I do the same thing I would catch Pokemon try to spin stops and stuff like that I get that's the best the best part about Pokemon Go I love is that I can play it on the go While I'm doing my daily task and still feel like I'm having my own journey in a way

idothefelting: 29:05

Yep, exactly. the accessibility there is great

David Hernandez: 29:09

Now, I want to go ahead and dive into, felting because it, like I said, it's something that was unique for me because I'd never heard of it before, even, you know, having me on the show, what is felting for maybe those who don't know? Let's start there.

idothefelting: 29:22

So felting, I do a very specific type of felting because there's two different types. the, thing that I do is needle felting. that's basically you take a bunch wool you poke it with this very specialized needle. it has tiny little barbs in it, and with every poke it, tangles wool so that eventually the wool becomes so tangled that it starts to hold shape and becomes Basically a soft sculpture, but you have to poke a ridiculous for it actually take form like that. So it's, it's a very, it's a very intense time consuming wise process. but my goodness, if you poke for long enough, The results can be wild, like you can create some cool stuff. The other type of felting is wet felting. So that's tangle the fibers with water and soap by like agitating and rubbing with the water and soap. I don't like having to touch. soap and water all the time. So, the needle felting works for me. And it's less about sculpture with wet felting. It's more about like, create bowls and hats and things. Whereas, interested sculptures.

David Hernandez: 30:36

And, you know, you're very good at it for those who, if you check out her Instagram, definitely should, because she does some amazing artwork. A lot of it is Pokemon, but also other stuff. But I want to ask, like, how did you discover it? And what made you want to kind of dive into do needle felting?

idothefelting: 30:50

So, it was um, I, I knew that it existed, for quite some time, but it I was working as a hypnotherapist, and it was, the clinic I was working at had just opened up in February of 2020. And, clients,

David Hernandez: 31:08

A bit.

idothefelting: 31:12

I had wanted to do something that I could, like, just to have something small that I could be with. Doing in between clients while I was clinic, so I had found online a needle felting kit I started with a Totoro the Studio Ghibli character from My Neighbor Totoro I picked it up knowing that eventually I was gonna be making Pokemon So I started with this kit Got it To bring to the clinic, but then the pandemic happened a month after the clinic opened. And so the clinic shut down and in person sessions weren't happening. And I then, ended up not cracking open kit until July that But once I started it, I was like, Oh, I immediately took to and knew that I wanted to continue. So my second piece was actually a gloom. it's not. The most attractive Gloom in existence. And I mean, I guess Gloom is kind of not the most attractive Pokémon. But, that's right. But, at that point I was like, Alright, I think that I can, make Pokémon. and picked up a couple more kits. Because I did. wanted to get some basics down, but then I opened up commissions to, my what's in my bath audience. And as an aside, that is another thing that I do on the internet. mentioned at the beginning. It's basically me. I've made career feral on the internet. it's essentially me reacting to bath bombs on Tik TOK, I've got 300, 000. Followers, like, it's, it's, it blew up to very large extent. so I opened it up to my followers there was like, Do you want me to Pokemon for I'll do it at really low price while I'm learning. And first commission was Bulbasaur, which was fantastic. so, yeah, and from there, I just kind of continued to gain steam. And, a lot of my Ghibli works tend get a lot of eyes on I had a Calcifer video go super viral on all platforms. And that allowed to start this full time.

David Hernandez: 33:17

Wow, that's crazy.

idothefelting: 33:18

Right?!

David Hernandez: 33:21

So you went into doing Needlefell team with the intention of eventually making Pokemon?

idothefelting: 33:26

Yeah! that was awesome. I just, I loved the design. I was like, I could make Pokemon and that would be a joyful me. And I just that I'd love it. And yeah, I started with the Totoro kit because it was, I mean, I do get me wrong. but I went that way because it was more prominent. and that's the other thing is that what I love about making Pokemon is a lot of the times I'll get commissioned to make Pokemon like, is not the most popular, for some reason that's somebody's favorite. so there's all these Pokemon that we don't normally see a lot of merch that I can sculpt out of wool. And that's so super cool to me. And so, yeah, that's why I wanted to do Pokemon.

David Hernandez: 34:12

I feel the same way because I started doing bracelets for my community days here in Pokemon Go. and we do the highlight of Pokemon. So whatever it is, you know, I do a bracelet for it. But then as I've done more of them, I'm like, I get to do Pokemon that there is nothing out there. For example, so I'm doing one where I did one where it's for Crystal Onyx back from the anime.

idothefelting: 34:32

oh my goodness.

David Hernandez: 34:33

Exactly. Like how much stuff do you see from Crystal Onyx for

idothefelting: 34:36

Never, Nothing.

David Hernandez: 34:39

it though. And I'm like, I can do more stuff to where, you know, yes, of course I get the popular stuff, like Bulbasaur, Charmander, any popular Pokemon you think of I'll have, I get to also highlight some of the ones that are lesser known, like the Crystonix is a good example. I got to do the ghost from Lavender Town. I don't know if you know that that's from the gen one games,

idothefelting: 34:56

Yeah.

David Hernandez: 34:57

but stuff like that, and I get to do the Shadow Lugia from XD. I get to do, It's so much fun. Like I have this opportunity to kind of highlight Pokemon that maybe people don't realize are very niche. And I understand that, you know, I'm a slump, but you know, that's what it's all about. I like to be able to highlight things that maybe don't get that exposure or the ones that they deserve.

idothefelting: 35:17

Absolutely. Oh, that's so fun. Okay. You need to make sure that, like, you send me picture these bracelets. I want to see them.

David Hernandez: 35:25

Oh yeah, definitely for sure. And then the best part about watching your content is that. You remind me of Miss Frizzle from the Magic School Bus with how passionate how deep you get into doing because you also not only because you laugh and you know, you're enjoying yourself, like I said, it's very evident you do enjoy making this content, but you also include the why of why you do things like why you're puncturing a needle this way or what you're trying to hope to achieve by doing something, and it's almost like both a how to as well as entertainment. It's a very good blend.

idothefelting: 36:18

thank you, I, I, I think it's so funny that you mentioned Mrs. Frizzle because the way that I dress, I, I wear really like bright dresses that have Patterns on them, they're usually floral because that's what find, but like, if I could find regular, like, space dresses like that, I would, and I just feel, I've described myself, my sense of style is Ms. Frizzlecore, so the fact that you say that is, that delights me, thank you.

David Hernandez: 36:52

you check out your reels and just, you really, it feels like I was like, you would be Ms. Frizzle. That's the first thing came to mind. I, I can't help it. I couldn't think Pokemon reference. had to go back to the magic school bus days. And

idothefelting: 37:05

I love that so much. Um, thank you. Um, yeah, but like that's, that's, it's important to me to, um, I, I know that like half of my audience is just there for, you know, the entertainment piece, but then half of my audience is also, Needle felters themselves, right? And so I get a lot of questions about, you know, how do you get it to look this way? Like, what did you do to make it look so polished at the end or whatever? So, I do like to include, like little pieces of insight that I have cobbled together along the way on my felting journey, and be able to share that with other folks.

David Hernandez: 37:42

then also the one thing I really love that you mentioned, and you'll probably remember this. You mentioned how important it was to have facial expressions. Yeah. And I see that a lot whenever I go to art galleries, and I think that's what separates those who are like, still learning and those who've kind of gone the next level for lack of a better words. Because when I go to watch art, sometimes I'll see stuff and it's just like a copy of something which is okay. But when you really want to dive into like the personality into what the artist, if you really want to implement who you are into any kind of art piece, whether it be for me podcasting, you know, I had to implement my own personality into this show for you, you implement your own, you know, take on it with your felting. You got to learn how to kind of develop that personality of what that Pokemon is. I think that's what separates those who are very good and those who are still learning, in my opinion.

idothefelting: 38:34

Yeah, I agree with you. The thing about, The expressions is very early on when I started to transition into like the full time work, I really set out like intention that every piece that I made would have a spark of personality Like it's, it's just such a sacred thing me to create something that feels alive, like feels like it's imbued with sort of a magic and, a pure personality. So that is such an important goal of mine, not goal, like a tenant, in what I do with felting. I want to ensure there's just the spark of life in each piece.

David Hernandez: 39:15

And I think the best way this captured it, and we can go examples for days, unfortunately, this is a podcast. I mean, I could have a hours upon an hour to podcast if the audience wanted to, but the one was actually one where you did something for the Pokemon art guild and you were commissioned to you. I think it was a lowland secretary you were assigned to,

idothefelting: 39:33

Yes.

David Hernandez: 39:33

and way you brought out the personality, Is you had an image of like somebody going up to like, give it an ice cream cone, basically. That was kind of your initial thought process, I think. But then you added your own take to it and said, well, what about if we actually did a real Pokemon, which is of course, I think you did Vanilluxe.

idothefelting: 39:51

yes, yes.

David Hernandez: 39:51

And you had such good, It's expressions to where you have Exeggutor trying to lick the Vanilluxe while the Vanilluxe is like wondering what the hell are you doing to me? It is so perfect and that's what I'm talking Those personalities is what, if you're an artist of any type, that's what you want to try to catch.

idothefelting: 40:10

Thank you.

David Hernandez: 40:11

Did I, did I share, I couldn't remember if that was, uh, did I actually show how

idothefelting: 40:14

yes. So basically it there's a little group of creators, that mostly Pokemon art, it was gathered together by Katsur, who is a crochet artist. focuses mostly on, life size, creating life size Pokemon. So she brought together a little group of, artists who all have different modalities. So Cupcake Dex is in there. Katser, there's an artist that does, pipe cleaner work. He makes sculptures out of pipe cleaners. and then there's a, traditional illustrator. And so we've done two projects so far. we're averaging like once a year. Um, where we, we all submit something according to a theme. So we'll submit this, this one that you referred to was our summer project. So it was submit a Pokemon and submit a, summer activity. And then we just randomly get assigned from that pool of submissions. And so the one I was given was, Alolan Exeggutor eating ice cream on the boardwalk. And so, I was like, oh my goodness, this is going to be a challenge.

David Hernandez: 41:16

interesting one. Yeah.

idothefelting: 41:18

Right? So, I think that the activities that I submitted was like gardening. But, whoever submitted eating ice cream on the boardwalk got super specific

David Hernandez: 41:28

Yeah.

idothefelting: 41:31

So, I, figured, why not? At first I was envisioning, because I needed to get the ice cream to Alolan Executor's mouth somehow. So, He was gonna have to be sitting down and kinda hunched over, so I had to use wire for his neck. so I knew that much, but at first I was like, do I have different Pokémon just an ice cream cone up to him? I was considering like, Teddiursa holding an ice cream above its head. But then I was like, you know what? There's Pokemon that are ice cream. So I went with Vanilluxe and I, the reason I chose that is I was already making three faces for the Alolan Executor, but I love detailed face That's my favorite thing about felting. And so I was like, why not add two more faces the mix? So I went Vanilluxe, because I knew that I could get crazy expressions. So, like, the one Vanilluxe that is connecting with the Executor's tongue, it's got its, like, eye closed right where the tongue touches it. And then the one beside it is, like, looking In a horror, and they, it, just, I wanted to convey this feeling of, like, Vanilluxe trying to get the hell away. And then, with, like, the Executor's faces, like, the, the one in the middle, of course, is, like, trying to lick Vanilluxe, but then, on the side is, like, very interested in kind of peeking over at what it's doing and then the one that's like closest to Vanilluxe but doesn't have its tongue out, I wanted that to look like he was jealous and upset that it wasn't getting any the action.

David Hernandez: 43:09

like, it's my turn. Let me lick some Vanilluxe. gosh. That's great. How long did it take you to make that one? Out of curiosity.

idothefelting: 43:21

oh my god. So I, I very deliberately Do not time how long takes me because if I know, then I feel like I'll get up in my head about it. It takes a long time.

David Hernandez: 43:32

Fair

idothefelting: 43:32

Felting is not, for, faint of heart in that, like it just takes, you've got to be committed. so I have a machine, it's a felting machine, that's like a little power tool and that does cut down on the time. I would probably Double the time, at the very least, if doing everything manually at this point. I full time. Full time is scrolling the internet

David Hernandez: 43:58

You

idothefelting: 43:59

day. So, yeah, that's I just, I don't work as, consistent. Like, I'm maybe not felting eight hours a day, but felting least half that. so I think it took me about two a half weeks to get squared

David Hernandez: 44:15

I was gonna say, it takes a while. Yeah.

idothefelting: 44:17

I had to, like, block off time in between commissions to ensure that I'd be able to like, focus on that. And we have very loose deadlines because everybody has going on. all artists you know, sometimes you're working on it, but you're not quite ready to post that yet. So the deadlines shifted a bit. So I had a bit more time to play with it, but yeah, it definitely took a long time.

David Hernandez: 44:44

I do want to ask this question. So, you know, you said Raichu is your favorite. if you were going to do a felting project for, let's just do Kanto Raichu.

idothefelting: 44:51

Okay.

David Hernandez: 44:52

How would you do it? What kind of personality do you, would you implement on a Raichu?

idothefelting: 44:57

I feel like sometimes Raichu is forgotten stepchild.

David Hernandez: 45:01

hmm.

idothefelting: 45:01

So I feel like there'd be sort of some goofiness. I know that Raichu is often depicted as really like competitive

David Hernandez: 45:10

serious.

idothefelting: 45:11

Surge is Raichu. but, I don't know, I think Raichu's goof. The one I make, Raichu's gonna just kind of be, kind of goofy, might be holding on to his tail,

David Hernandez: 45:24

Mm hmm.

idothefelting: 45:25

and maybe even a little bashful. I do have an idea specifically for an Alolan Raichu that I have sort of envisioned sort of sitting down and clutching their tail, really intently, so like holding the tail out in front of him, and kind of hiding behind it, is what I want to do with it, eventually, in between commissions.

David Hernandez: 45:45

I see Raichu also as a jokester. Cause you know, he's going trying to get any, he's going to be trying to get attention. So he's going to try to think of some like being like almost like a class clown to where. It tries to can get from Pikachu away from it, you know?

idothefelting: 45:58

Yes. Yes. Absolutely.

David Hernandez: 46:01

Well, I want to leave it on this last question So one post that I did not mention is you got to do both a compare contrast between when you first started in 2020, you Bulbasaur to 2024, where you did, we did it to now.

idothefelting: 46:15

Yes.

David Hernandez: 46:16

What was it like to kind of go through that process and see the difference between the four years of doing just a Bulbasaur and the progress you've made?

idothefelting: 46:26

It's, it's crazy. it is baffling. Like, I felt back then, my work was, know, my work was good. I was getting, I was, I was capturing the characters quite But along the way, I can point to specific pieces that felt like step changes, like leveling up in my work throughout. So like I, there's, there's several little points throughout where that was a moment for me. And then all of a sudden, four projects later, this other moment comes, including I did an incredible commission. Like I said, folks will commission me to make favorite Pokemon. And I was asked to do the three main Pokemon from someone's beloved team. like, he shared with me how important These three were to him. And I was like, Oh my God, this is amazing. I love that I get to do this. So I was making Torterra, Luxray, and Arcanine. And with the Torterra, I was really intimidated because that's a lot detail and that's big, right? Like you gotta felt an entire tree on his back. So I, I started with that one because I wanted that to sort of like the size. but then somehow when I moved on to the Luxray the Luxray was like an inch or two taller than the Torterra. So this commission, nobody is really in scale with each other, but it was just such a moment to create these very, I wanted them to be so playful. So like Torterra has his leg up in the air. And he's, has joyful smile. Luxray's got his head kind cocked, and he's got his paw up in the air as well, but like in sort of a, curled under him, like, he's like, not prancing, I wish I could describe this better, but it's like, almost regal, but in playful And then Arcanine is in like, a crouched down, know how dogs go down with their butts in the air, and that's like play stance, that's what I have Arcanine And it's these three that are like, massive. I was shocked at how big that entire, those three pieces ended up being, and Tortero was somehow the smallest.

David Hernandez: 48:35

Of all the Pokemon.

idothefelting: 48:36

Right? Um, but it was like that moment. was probably a game changer moment me. So then, like, moving forward towards this revisiting Bulbasaur, the way that the detail came together on this Bulbasaur, wasn't as big as, like, Arcanine and Luxray ended up being. But it's, I, I, Even through the process of making this Bulbasaur, I could see that like when the bulb, I was making the bulb, I was like, Oh, that's just not plump enough. So I know where to add wool in ways to just make the sculpture fuller and more proportion. And so it was just this like, able to look at them, like, my original Bulbasaur, very, very cute. And I think there's something special about that too. But this is like, oh, this is so much more very distinct way. And detail, the details are there in a way that they weren't back in 2020.

David Hernandez: 49:31

And I think that's kind of anybody who does art, some people think it's like a big moment that defines you. And I love psych and there was an episode from the father said, life's not about big moments. It's a series of moments put together. And even when I think about my podcast journey, and I've been doing this for a couple, about three years now. there's some episodes to where I go back and I'm like, That changed something. like I could do something different and I've seen the progression and just in your way with felting, you know, those projects, you think about them, on Instagram, I'm sure you probably reflect on some of the stuff you've done in the past. You see the ones to where, like, I remember that changed me and how I could have improved over time. You know, it sticks in your mind, if that makes sense.

idothefelting: 50:10

Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. It's, it's really, I don't want to say awe inspiring, because it's not quite that, but it's, it is profound. It's profound to be able to look back and see where those moments happened.

David Hernandez: 50:27

I do the felting. Thank you for coming on the show before you go. If people want to check out your stuff, if they want to check out your shop, where can they all means, please plug away.

idothefelting: 50:35

Thank you. So I am, I do the felting on, at least most major platforms. So that's Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube. I'm also on the Tumblr. and my website is idothefelting. com. And so that's where you can look at. A gallery, it's not completely up to date, but there is a gallery there. Go to Instagram if you really to see like most recent detailed works, because that's that all is living and breathing. but, idothefelting. com and if have anything general catalog available, it will be listed on the website there. There is a spiel right now. She has cute little, Beads, she's a springtime spiel, and she hasn't found her forever home, if you're into spiel, that might be a good thing for you.

David Hernandez: 51:21

you to be skills forever home, this is your chance.

idothefelting: 51:25

But yes, so I do the felting, that is how you find me on the interwebs.