1st rice hull cores made

Last week when our group met we all tried making our balls from rice hull. Having never used anything other than styrofoam it was hard to believe that we could make a cup of loose husks into anything resembling a round ball. We used freezer bags to hold the hull and loosely twisted the bag closed then wrapped the remaining bag around its contents. Next we began wrapping with wool using a thicker than normal wool wrap so that when we pin the core stays intact. Lastly the thread wrap went on and to our amazement the lumpy bags had somehow turned into perfectly rounded balls. We all now realise why some people are so passionate about making their own mari, and while we will probably still use foam cores from time to time - we are now rice hull devotees too! I headed back to T.W.O.C. on Saturday for 5 more kilos of hull and spent the better part of the afternoon dividing it up for our group.