I just got a fantabulous knitting book as an early Christmas present, and it has everything a semi-beginning knitter such as myself would need to know... except: How much do things shrink when you felt them? I'm thinking of making wristbands to sell but I don't know how big to make them.
Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2007 6:44 pm
It really depends on how much you beat them up when felting. I don't know if there are specific formulas for that kind of stuff, since I've only done a handful of felting projects, and those were based on patterns. I think if I were to mess around with felting without a pattern, I'd probably make the knitted object about twice as large. It's easy to felt something down smaller if it doesn't come out small enough the first time, but if it's not large enough to begin with there's not much you can do when it comes out tiny. That second part I've learned from experience. sweatdrop
What the wool content is of the yarn you use. What brand of yarn. How the yarn is spun. What color the yarn is. (bleached yarns, including light colors, felt way less) What stitch you use. (garter shrinks more in height than stockinette) Your method of felting. The temperature of your water. Your washing machine. How long you leave it in/How many times you cycle it through.
The only safe way to figure out how much something will felt, you need to make a swatch and then measure it pre-felting and post-felting and blocking. Then you can figure out how small something will get.
I've only felted bags, personally, because I'm terrified of how horrid a hat or slipper could turn out. Thus, I wish you tons of luck!!
Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 5:19 pm
Thanks. Me and washing machines don't mix. Oh, dear... sweatdrop I guess I'll get my mom to help me. Oh, another question. If I make different colors, should I put them in the same load or not?
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YourAzureGoddess
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 9:46 pm
if they are wristbands and pretty small I would make a test wristband and check it every 5 minutes while it is in the machine.
Put different colors in different loads. You'll want to add towels or underwear or something sturdy and easy to wash to the felting load so you can get more agitation. I usually put the felted piece in with the same color load.
Posted: Sun Dec 23, 2007 6:56 pm
YourAzureGoddess
if they are wristbands and pretty small I would make a test wristband and check it every 5 minutes while it is in the machine.
Put different colors in different loads. You'll want to add towels or underwear or something sturdy and easy to wash to the felting load so you can get more agitation. I usually put the felted piece in with the same color load.
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