feeling the felt

Hmmm, after waiting wayyyy too long for my camera battery to recharge, I have to say that Carrie is right...felting is fabulously freeing!  You pop the knitted item into the wash (I put mine into a Woolite laundry bag, it has smaller holes than my Nordstrom lingerie bags)...wished I had a spare zipped pillowcase though) into the hottest water setting and let it go.  la la la, it agitates away while you're doing other things like sipping your tea.  I did check every 15 min just to see what it was up to b/c I had read other people had to check a LOT.  I have decided with my washing machine, I don't need to check much...no micromanaging needed here.

Anyone who knows me know that I do NOT like knitting swatches.  I know they're an integral part to knitting, but I really don't like doing it.  With felting, you just never know how much the yarn will change, there are so many factors...the yarn, your tension, the needle size...on and on.  Fine.  I knitted one.  Then I figured while I was at it, I'd knit another in a different yarn just to see what the different outcomes would be.  (I was complaining the entire way, wondering why I was torturing myself further.)  Oh, and size 11 needles were used for both swatches.

Here are the specs pre-felting:

A close up Cascade 220 swatch which was held double...interesting that it's almost the same as a single-stranded LP-bulky yarn.

Cascade 220unknown color darnit3sts/in L x 4sts/in H9.25" L x 5.5" H Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride - BulkyM-124 Persian Peacock2.75sts/in L x 3.75sts/in H9" L x 5.25" H

Now for the after...sooooooooooooo curious to me for some reason!

Cascade 220: 8.25" L x 4" H, 7mm thickBrown Sheep: 7.5" L x 4" H, 9mm thick

I had read that the purl side of your knit will felt better than the knit side. I was very interested to see this for my own eyes. I mean it makes sense, but it's cool to view actuality.

This is the knit side felted.(Hover over the pic to see the purl side felted.)

See?  It DOES look different.  At least for Cascade 220.   The Lamb's Pride bulky looked basically the same on both sides and was much more "hairy."  For my next project I will definitely use the purled side if using Cascade 220.

Let the felting begin!  Well, after I take my allergy med that is.  My eyes are really itchy at the moment.

Comments

[Carrie]

Wow, I've NEVER noticed that. The purl side looks loads better! Duly noted.

BTW I have to check my stuff every 5 minutes after an initial 10-15 minutes.. Dunno if it's my machine or what, but i've had it go from not hardly felted at all to over-felted in 5 minutes!