I often get asked if I boil all my knitting to felt it. I don't as I find that its the agitation of the items in the washing machine that cause it to felt and not the temperature. It has been trial and error, and some colours of yarn seem to felt more severely than others. I don't use any detergent either as I have found that it makes no difference other than give my products a more pleasing smell (and it also makes me slightly more environmentally responsible)
When I was designing my knitting kits a friend was the guinea pig for knitting up the patterns and felting the items she had made. I quickly realised that there is no real exact science on felting your work and I decided to alter the patterns so that they are not felted. I would hate for somebody to waste all of their good work by putting it in the machine resulting in a gnarled little knot of wool that is supposed to be a bunny, heart or bag.
I will keep on felting my bunnies as I know exactly how long to wash them for to get the finish I want. They look comical when they come out of the machine as their little arms are raised in horror after being spun at 2000rpm! A quick stretch and they soon take shape, just a bit of trimming to do and the faces to sew on and they will be finished.
If only they would breed like rabbits to save me some time!
When I was designing my knitting kits a friend was the guinea pig for knitting up the patterns and felting the items she had made. I quickly realised that there is no real exact science on felting your work and I decided to alter the patterns so that they are not felted. I would hate for somebody to waste all of their good work by putting it in the machine resulting in a gnarled little knot of wool that is supposed to be a bunny, heart or bag.
I will keep on felting my bunnies as I know exactly how long to wash them for to get the finish I want. They look comical when they come out of the machine as their little arms are raised in horror after being spun at 2000rpm! A quick stretch and they soon take shape, just a bit of trimming to do and the faces to sew on and they will be finished.
If only they would breed like rabbits to save me some time!
