Ok - I used the booga pattern, but since it was going to be my first felting, I did not want to use the expensive Noro it called for. I used WOTA. And, I wanted a thicker fabric as my finished product, so I used 2 strands held together. I did up my needle size to a 13, which was probably not enough. I knitted the 64 rounds called for in the pattern, but it didn’t seem tall enough, so I did more - probably 100 in all.
Well, when I felted the bag, it shrunk down so short, it doesn’t look anything like a booga! It’s the right diameter, but probably half the height it ought to be. It doesn’t look bad, per se. Just not how it is supposed to. I kept taking it out of the washer during felting and stretching it, but that didn’t do any good. Any speculations as to why this happened? Was it because of the 2 strands held together? Should I have gone up to an even bigger needle size when I did this? Should I just follow the d@*& pattern and stop “experimenting”?!
I don’t particularly want to stop experimenting. I did winter night and mist held together for 3/4 of the bag and then 2 strands of winter night for the last 1/4 and I really like the way it came together. I just need to know why it shrunk wrong so that I can avoid that next time.
