Ok… I placed my first yarn order through KnitPicks last weekend, I am just now waiting for it to get to my door… which is really exciting!! :o
Well, I ordered about 6 skeins of WOTA so I can work on a Booga Bag… so far I have “attempted” to felt a couple of times and I dont think it worked that good…
Can anyone give me tips and tricks that I “must” follow in order to get a good felt? Id hate to work in the bag and ruin it during the felting process… :S
Well, I don’t know what you did the other times, but the general rules are to have the washer on the lowest water setting, very hot, put the project in a laundry bag or a pillow case and throw in a pair of old jeans. Some wools take longer than others to felt. WOTA has always felted very quickly for me… within 20 minutes, usually less.
Thanks Jan… I have only felted twice, the first one was ok but not great and the second one, it was anything buy felting… :S might be because I didnt use the lowest level of water or maybe it wasnt hot enough… I hope it turns out good…
Cant wait to have the yarn here!!!
Oh and I forgot to add that you are supposed to put in a little detergent. I just use a capful of Woolite.
That could have made a difference too… in the second one I used none…
The TINIEST amount of detergent! Like…a TEASPOON! I put in 1/4 cup the first time I felted and had suds ALL OVER the place! It was like one of those crazy RAVE parties in the laundry room! :shock:
Also, err on the side of bigger needles rather than smaller. They fibers need to have friction to felt together. So if it calls for size 10 needles, and you don’t have, and you have a choice of 9’s or 11’s, I’d go with the 11’s.
I have a booga, that I made, and I am SERIOUSLY thinking after using it for a year to give it another goround with the felting. Plus I’m sure it could be washed. It’s still kinda big (which is odd, cuz I hear that the boogas end up being smaller that what people expect.) so I was thinking…but other fish to fry…like a Baptismal gown at present time!!!
When felting the yarn needs the shock of hot and cold water. I use a 1/4 cup of baking soda [ change the ph]and teaspoon of soap.
I have a front loader and I run the wash cycle, stop the machine before it drains, take out the bag with the felted items, take out the things,straighten them out and put in ice water. Then back in the bag into the washer for another wash cycle. I keep doing this until I like the way it’s felted, run the washer all the way though it’s cycles…One of my Day Bags was stubborn had to put it though the hot and cold 4 times before I ran it all the way though.
And I also add 3 pairs of jeans and some tennis ball to the load…
I’ve never seen where felting needs the shock of cold water and I’ve never used it in the process and it’s always felted fine. I think it’s personal preference and what works for you.
Using a tiny amount of detergent in hot water, lowest water level and jeans will work fine. If you are still having problems give the cold water a try, too.
I have had a helluva time felting. I made the lcogs and they felted but didn’t shrink much. So I think those two things are something to think about. SO the cold water shock thing is all about he felting andnot the shrinking. I think.
I SO want to try felting. Why must I have so many projects in the hopper? OY!
Read it on a crochet forum… that’s the way they said to do it!!
I’ve felted a total of 4 things - 2 lambs and 2 pairs of clogs and everything felted very quickly for me, some less than one agitation cycle. Maybe our apt. rental washer is just really good at felting? LOL All I know is that if I check for size and it’s still a little big, I can’t leave it in 5 minutes; more like 2 minutes! Our water gets REALLY REALLY hot here, so maybe that has something to do with it.
My process for felting is this:
Stick the felted item in a pillowcase (since I don’t have any zippered ones, I just use a big old rubber band to close it. LOL). Set the washer on “small” load, hot water, and “heavy” agitation. Throw the pillowcase in there, add a bit of detergent (like Kelly said, not too much or you’ll have a rave scene on your hands!) and check in 10 minutes. I threw in a pair of jeans with the first lamb I did, but I never need it. My felting is ultra fast!
I’m going to hate giving up this washer when we move from this apt. The dryer is slow and I could do with a different one, but the washer is GREAT!