OK, so I know you’re sposed to use wool… but what’s your favorite brand? Have you had any you’ve tried that haven’t felted? I ask because I made an iPod case with 100% wool that I thought would automatically felt… but it didn’t, it just got fuzzy, and that was after running it thru the washer (but not the spin - I have read the tutes!) probably 4 or 5 times. I really don’t want to put in the effort if something isn’t going to work, on the other hand the case was a good learning project because it got me on dpn’s for the first time. I would love any & all advice!
Question hun, Was the yarn by chance white or off white? Those have a tendency not to felt because of the bleaching process.
I have used lamb’s pride but the only drawback with that is that you have to shave the item after you’ve felted it (the mohair I suspect) but other than that it works great. In fact you have to keep n eye on it or it’ll get like really really small.:whistle: Personal experience speaking.
Someone else on this forum wrote a while ago that WOTA felts really well. I haven’t tried it; Ive just used Lambs Pride, but didn’t shave the items. I used it for Fuzzy Feet and a small bag to hang inside my purse to hold my cell phone.
I have used WOTA, Patons Merino and Patons SWS. All felted very well. The Merino has good yardage, so is quite economical. Even better when you buy it 40% off at Michaels.
Make sure you don’t choose superwash wool as it won’t felt.
Could I just jump in here because this subject quite interest me as well. Does that mean that any 100% wool can be used for felting as long as it is stated on the label hand wash only. Except for the whites as mentioned above. Thanks
My favorite yarn to felt with is Noro Kureyon. It felts great and its self stripping with some great color choices! Right now I am making felted clogs and using Lopi Reynolds, I have never used it before but, it’s what everyone at my LYS has used for the clogs.
Karina - Yes, in theory and 100% wool product will felt when agitated in hot soapy water. The soap needs to be something that creates lots of scrubbing bubbles. I have found that clothing detergent does not work and dish detergent is wonderful.
As for brands - I find Lambs Pride to be too fuzzy. Love the yarn for scarfs and hats. Cascade 220 - most likely my favorite for felting. Goes quickly, but not so quickly that I have ever supershrunk something. I have also used Patons SWS - that felted too quickly and my booga bag ended up barely being a purse - seriously. I have also used no brand hand spun, hand painted yarn that I picked up at a local festival. The Lion Brand wool also felts well, but I really don’t like knitting with it at all - it is rough on the hands and seems to split alot.
personally I use Dawn…just because that’s what I have in the kitchen. How much … enough to make lots of bubbles. I know that’s a bad answer, but I give it a good squeeze and make sure there’s lots of suds. I tend to be a trial and error type of girl…I don’t follow recipes well when cooking either : )
I have used Cascade 220, Patons SWS, Merino and Lion Brand - they all felt nicely, some more quickly than others. I have also used other brands that are not 100% wool, but mostly wool - 70%-75%. Moda Dea Cache for example. I stocked up on it when Michael’s had it on clearance not having any idea what I was going to do with it. When I noticed it was 75% wool, I decided to do a swatch to see what happened. It felted beautifully and I have made lots of purses and totes with it since. I have also combined it with Lion and Patons for striping and it felted nicely in the combined projects too. Here’s an example of one of my purses:
Just remember to always to a swatch to make sure the different wools will felt nicely together. It would be awful to do an entire project and discover too late they don’t work well together.
Yeah, some wools just don’t like to felt, it may be that they’re spun too tight or mishandled or have been bleached are a plethora of other silly little reasons.
The soap to detergent question is one I’ve heard so many different opinions on - but in the end the one the comes up on tops is a dish soap like dawn usually works best (though I’ve used laundry detergent and natural laundry soaps and they’ve done fine as well)
The hot-to-cold temperature change can be extremely helpful in the felting process. If you wash your item in hot water and go in every 10 minutes or so and swish your item in a basin of (really cold) water before placing it back in the washer, it can really help.
How hot your water is (hotter the better) makes a big difference too.
As far as what yarns felt well - I like how tight Patons Merino felts, but it tends to felt REALLY FAST and have a sort of boucle texture to it. Knitting the item-to-be-felted loosely will also help. I like knitting felted items with wool reclaimed from wool sweaters but there’s always a bit of ‘wait and see’ when i do that if I don’t swatch first.
I’ve generally found that the looser the twist of the yarn the tighter it tends to felt. But this may not always be the case.
