In search of felting advice

Hi, Myka. When I felt, I let the machine go through an entire cycle. It does shrink more in length. HTH Katherine

On 27 Dec 2005 07:40:03 -0800, "MykaKS" spewed forth :

You really ought to make a swatch using whatever method (flat, circular, yadda yadda) you'll use for the FO, and full the swatch using the washer.

For a top-loader the recommended setting is HOT wash, COLD rinse, HIGH agitation. A second and sometimes a third run through are required.

I stuck some towels in with the sample,

No surprise. It sometimes takes two and three complete cycles to accomplish the desired level of fulling. Five minutes isn't much time. Patience.

Since

It'll probably take more than 2-3 complete cycles.

Yes. Make a swatch, full it in the machine.

I also noticed that on the right side of the sample you could

Yes, possibly all of the above. Knit loosely, full with patience.

+++++++++++++

Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account...

I have personally had horrible luck with felting in my front loading washer. I head over to my DM's or DMIL's house and use the top loading machine. I throw in a few pairs of old jeans, put everything to be felted into a pillowcase that is tied shut, and put it through at least 2 full cycles of hot wash, cold rinse.

Also, the owner of the yarn shop that I go to has offered throw things into her washing machine when people in class have mentioned that they have had problems, or use laundromats. But I think that we just have an exceptionally nice shop owner here!

- Melinda. (in Rochester, NY, in case you're wondering!)

"deMoMo" wrote in news:7Clsf.57103$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com:

would that be the shop over by Big Lots? i'm not from Rochester (have relatives there, but moved away 40 years ago) so i don't remember which street. that shop was very nice when i visited. lee

This is a relatively new shop. It is now located at the corner of Hudson and Titus, but I know that it used to be somewhere else. And there are several Big Lots here now.....so the answer could be yes! :)

Myka big hug and welcome back, great to hear from you.

There is a great pattern for felting slippers from fiber trends in Bellingham in Washington state. They will also tell you what kind ofknitting wool to use for the best results. Indeed your observations about felting are correct, the felting happens more in one direction than the other. So it works best to make a small sample first. Fiber Trends are to be found on the internet. Click on Felted slippers

Good luck

Love

Els

"deMoMo" wrote in news:04Fsf.57400$ snipped-for-privacy@twister.nyroc.rr.com:

ok, let's see if i can get my brain to work... i think it was Spirit Works? and what my 5 year old calls Dan's Crappy Things for inexpensive yarns & toy fixes . Dan's is very close to grandma's. she buys him gift certificates there. nothing like

800 miles to use a gift certificate... but hey, he's knitting now, so maybe he'll buy yarn next time. lee

Hi Myka,

It's nice to see you back again. I've never felted anything, but the experts here have given you some good advice. Good look with the slippers.

Hugs,

Nora