Felted Mittens

So what did your groundhog say? We've had mostly cloudy weather today, but the clouds may be breaking up a little. Maybe it depends on what time the groundhog looks outside.

Wow, this post is actually about yarn and knitting! Can you believe it? I finally finished some felted mittens I'd started some time ago.I used some KnitPicks "Wool of the Andes," holding two strands together and knit them in kind of a combination of two patterns. (And although it doesn't look that way in the picture, they really are both pretty close to the same size.)

I was in a hurry, of course, to get them felted and forgot to take a picture before throwing them in the washer. I used warm water and a little dishwashing soap, and ran them one time through the heavy duty wash cycle. It agitates faster and longer than the regular cycle on our machine.

It took them two or three days to get completely dry. They're really thick (which makes them a little stiff), and seem like they'll be really warm. You can find lots of patterns for felted mittens on Ravelry if you think you want to give some a try. :)

The Felting Obsession Continues

I'm still in my wet felting craze. Recently I ordered some Optim Merino wool fiber. I can't describe how soft this is!! Optim is Merino that has been stretched to make the fibers even finer. It's really silky and even shiny. I've been working on doing a wet felted scarf with it. The first try didn't turn out like I had planned.



See?

Then the folks at the Felting Forum encouraged me to do something with it anyway, so I took a piece of the "scarf" and used it in a needle felted picture.

I called it a "Great White Octosquid" since it had too many arms to be a regular octopus.

But the Optim was so soft I couldn't give up on it, so I gave it another try yesterday. This time it looks like an actual scarf:



If you have any kind of interest in felting, you might want to check out the Felting Forum. There's lots of great information and felters from around the world that are really helpful and encouraging. But be careful...you might develop a felting obsession! :)

Wet Felting

I really hadn't forgotten that I have a blog. I've just been really busy with something new...wet felting. I've seen examples of wet felting before, and had even tried making a sample, but hadn't really gotten into it that much. After seeing some pieces on Etsy and other places, I thought it looked so interesting that I'd try it again. I've dabbled in several different kinds...some nuno felting onto fabric (lots of work), felted soaps, felting using a resist, and cobweb felting. It's so exciting to watch just plain roving become fabric as you pat and rub and throw. Yes, I said throw. I learned that slamming the felt object down on the counter over and over again helps to shrink and strengthen the fabric. It also helps give it that puckered texture that looks so neat, besides helping you take out your frustrations. Most of what I've learned so far has been from reading things online, but I did order the book Uniquely Felt by Christine White. It's supposed to be a good reference book for several different kinds of felting.

Here are some of my projects so far:

First, there are some felted soaps, and then a mitten done over a foam resist.


Next are some cobweb felted scarflettes. They're actually listed in my Etsy shop.




There's also a miniature purse or coin purse that's waiting for a handle and maybe some needle felted decorations. Isn't it amazing how versatile fiber can be?