Adventures in Felting

I'm not at all certain how I've managed to avoid purposefully felting a knitted item. I've felted plenty of stuff unintentionally. I once took a beautiful, overpriced Pendleton sweater, much like this one and washed it in the machine. Sometimes, I'm not too bright. It felted to the point it could have fit Paddington bear. I have a few pair of felted socks that really shouldn't have felted, but did. Never, never believe those washing instructions for superwash wool. Hand wash those socks. I pass my felted socks along to people in this house that are blessed with smaller feet than me. Sometimes, it's a sad thing when it happens to a favorite pair of socks, but it does. I've felted without intent too many times. Subsequently, I thought I'd earned an honorary degree in felting. Enough anyways to have at it.

Step No. 1: Knit the blob.

Over the weekend, I went diving into the stash and came up with four skeins of Wisdom Yarns' Poems in many shades of brown. It's color 572. I knit Black Sheep Bag's Booga Bag Pattern (free) in no time. I used US size 10 needles and really only used 2 1/2 skeins of the 4. There is an icord strap included in the total of yarn used. I think the strap took me more time than the bag. This yarn is self striping and wonderful to work with. I knew it'd be a disaster in the making should I have used it for anything other than a felted project. One way, or another, this yarn was going to be felt.

Step 2 (you can start with step 3 if you'd prefer but you will have to do this): Introducing your woolen item to hot water, agitation and soap.

Today, I enclosed the bag and strap in a pillow case (I wasn't this careful when unintentionally felting items) and threw it in the machine with a pair of jeans that are pretty much just sitting in the closet awaiting a 10 pound weight loss. In other words, waiting for donation to Goodwill or for hell to freeze over. Whichever comes first. I put a cap of Woolite in to the scorching hot water.

Step 3: The art of unwinding at the end of a long week.

I popped the top of a bottle of red and made sure the wash was set to small load. The beer was to celebrate the end of the week. Thanks, Sam.

Step 4: Do not overdo step 3 during the agitation process or you'll be sorry.

Once agitation began, I kept an eye on the time. Five minutes. I stopped at four and I'm so glad I did.

Step 5: Admire the art and science of felting. Vow here and now to protect your wool from the elements.

Once out of the wash with my shrunken blob, I rinsed in cold water and rolled it in a towel to squeeze out excess. I stepped on the rolled towel to finesse the last bits of water out. I utilized my extra 10 pounds I'm lugging around to help in this step.

Step 6: Shaping.  Make sure you hide the evidence that you stole everyone's breakfast by covering it in plastic.

I took a box of Raisin Bran Crunch and covered it with a trash bag. I gently placed the blob on the box and am now waiting a day or two for it to dry. Ta-da.

Step 7: Repeat step 3. Just the bottle of red part. It's all done now. Perhaps, watch Paddington Bear eat a Marmite sammy.