My first Felted project...

Mom told me about her felting experience several years ago.  Now that I've become 're"obsessed with knitting I was anxious to try it for myself.  Basically by using 100% wool yarn; knitting 2/3's (i think) bigger than you want the finished project to be, then putting through a hot wash with lots of agitation, you have a thick, strong felted piece. 

see the documentation of my first attempt...

MY FELTED TOTE

Materials:

100% Worsted Weight Wool- apx 250 yards (more if you want to make it larger)

US#11 Needles

Gauge:

Width - 3/st per inch

Length – 3/st per inch

HANDLES

·         Cast on 11 st

·         Knit two of the following in Stockinet stitch

o   22½ “ long

o   3 ½ “ wide

BAG

·         Cast on  72 st

·         Knit until long enough or you use all the 250 yards of yarn.

o   24” ( fold in half)

§  I ended up folding it sideways since it was wider than longer

o   Sew up sides

·         Attach handles by sewing 1” down on the inside and 1” from side seams.

·         Weave in all strings

BEFORE FELTING

·         For my first bag the measurements before felting was 17” wide & 12’ high.

FELTING

·         Place knitted work in a zippered pillow-case.

·         Use the hot setting on your washing machine

o   I added some boiling water to make it hotter

·         Measure a small amount of  detergent

·         You may also add another piece of laundry like a towel, or jeans to increase the agitation. 

o   Remember that colors may run, so don’t include anything that will be hurt by it.

·         Start washer and set timer for 5 mins.

o   After 5 mins, check your work.  You are looking for shrinkage and a solid piece of fabric where you no longer see your stitches.

o   I actually took my first one out just a little sooner and can still slightly see stiches and it still looks good.

o   I checked back every 5 minutes – six times and added more boiling water the first couple of times, and I could have left it in there another couple of times.

AFTER FELTING

·         You will want to block your work into the desired shape.    I used a Rubbermaid cereal container.

Placed a plastic shopping bag over the container, and then slid the felted tote bag over that and left it overnight to dry.
 
Measurements after felting and blocking are  9” x 11”

  
I had tested my felting technique with a little test swatch.  It was a perfect size and shape to sew inside for a little pocket... WahLa!!!