Results tagged “Felting” from Fabric.com Blog

Felted Flower Bowls: what a fun, quick felted knit. I love projects like this: quick and gorgeous. Not only is this an afternoon, naptime project but it also make a great gift. Give a cluster of 3-4 to a friend for catch-alls or jewelry in different colors. They make darling teacher presents (keeping erasers, paper clips, thumb tacks, etc) or for a little lady to keep all her treasures.

But... in order to make the bowl you must first come to peace with felting. It was hard for me (my first felt was a cell phone pouch) to knit an object only to 'ruin' it, in a way, by washing it against its washing instructions. It was also hard to fathom that it would be so different after than before. But felting is so fun, shrink-dinks fun! To an extent textures can play well but in general you want to stick with garter or stockinette stitch. There are no ends to weave in and colorwork takes on a whole new meaning. While felting is easier in a top loader washing machine, it can be done in a front loader. I felted the flower bowl in a front loading machine. I choose the shortest wash cycle and checked on it after each cycle to see when it had felted enough.

Felting makes a fabric so knitting the item in its finished shape is not a necessary step. You can knit pieces or just on big piece and sew it together once dried (try Knitty's pumpkin). Felted knitting gets thicker as well as denser in the process. Felted items that work well are bags, appliqués, hats, slippers, and decorative items (agina with the felt pumpkins- I love 'em). Felt is great for shaping, cutting and is much more manipulative than non-felted knitting. Felting is only possible with coat fibers like wool, alpaca and llama. You must also be very careful of blends. I used Berocco's Lustra, a wool & tencel blend, and I will admit I had some concerns on whether or not it would felt. With a 50/50 blend my fears were pretty small but there was still a small sigh of relief when I pulled it out and saw how fine the bowl looked. I have a special place in my knitting heart for felting and I certainly cannot wait pass it on!

Here is a great article from Knitty.com on felting, ins and outs and how-tos.

Here is my project page on Ravelry.

Well- this topic even put me through the ringer. I mean, I know there are some weird knitting tools out there (I rely on a bobby pin so I should know) but I guess I just took all my tools for granted. Or given the whole bobby pin relationship, my perspective was off. So I attempted to think about knitting from the outside as a newbie or, dare I say it, someone who doesn't knit. Which tools would I totally not expect a knitter to use. Most of the tools I thought of are not really that weird but put into the context of knitting and you might just hear "You use that with knitting, WHAT"!

First up, Glow in the Dark Knitting Needles...seriously. Now you really can knit anywhere. These are great for those boring movies that your sister makes you sit through, knitting while cuddling with your hubby even though he insists on watching TruckTV. You can also knit at that uber-romantic restaurant during a pretty boring blind date that you mother swears is "Mr Right" (He will probably get the hint from your knitting at the table, but if he doesn't you can use these babies as defense). The Knit Lite is made by Clover and come in a wide variety of sizes and colors. I plan on getting a pair for porch and movies on the green knitting this summer!

Next up are knitting needles that measure your knitting for you. The Knit Stix are plastic or wooden needles and rulers in one. These are great for those times you forgot your notions pouch or, like me, your child has run off with it again. The Knit Stix are laser imprinted so no need to worry about rubbing off the numbers.

Graph paper is a office staple but this is no ordinary graph paper. Knitting graph paper is crafted to reflect the knit stitch which is wider than it is tall. There are several sites to help you print your own, which is very handy if you are designing knitted projects. Regular graph paper will skew the finished look due to its square nature (in this case it is not hip to be...). Knitting graph paper is used for lace designs, cable pattern, intarsia and any other design aspect that is best explained in chart form rather then written out. Print out a few extra pieces to keep in your knitting bag should inspiration hit away from your computer.

Last, and my favorite, is your washing machine. This is one of the greatest tools a knitter can have when the bug for felting hits. Washing machine felting can take any oversize wool project and turn it into an amazing piece of fabric art. A knitter can felt bags, toys, pillows, hats and bath mats to name just a very few. Top loading machines are the easiest to use for felting but any washing machine will get the job done if you familiarize yourself with its settings and keep an eye on your project. It is so much fun, especially for kids. 

Let me know what your favorite weird knitting tools are for next time

Tara Miller