Tips for Felted Wool Yarn

Posted by Mords1944 on September 26th, 2019

If there's one thing I've been able to do when it comes to washing clothes over the years, it's to shrink clothes so it's fun to feel because you're intentionally diminishing things. Natural wool fibers are felt when exposed to heat, moisture, and pressure. Can you imagine what would happen to our domestic sheep if we didn't cut them? Eventually, their wool would feel so lucky over time that they would cut them regularly. Fields have been around for many years; In fact, archaeological excavations have produced clothing, tents, and even shoes in Europe that have survived, demonstrating the durability of felt fabrics.

Here are some tips if you want to try felt for the first time.

When you initially knit your project, be sure to use knitting needles that are at least two sizes larger than the pattern requires, because the felt will certainly reduce the original size. The best way to make sure you're done with the right size is to do a small test and see how much it reduces first so you don't end up spending a lot of time on a project where the size doesn't work.

After knitting your item, be sure to finish all ends securely, including any stitches you may have before starting the felting process. You can end up with a disaster if you do not take the time to finish your project properly.

If you have one available, a zippered pillowcase works very well for washing your items. If you do not have a zipper, simply close the opening before placing it on the machine.

Adding a pair of jeans to the load to help with the agitation or even an old towel will help in the felting process. You can do it without adding anything, but you may need to do it more than once to achieve the look and size you want.

You only need to add a small amount of detergent with wool wash, so a full teaspoon will usually suffice.

Just run a short cycle with your hot water machine and rinse with cold water, and if your machine does not allow you to stop and drain the water before the spin cycle, use the gentle spin cycle

Gently roll the item into a towel to remove as much moisture as possible, then place it as desired on a dry towel for drying. Once you reach this step and find that your article is not feeling sufficient, you can re-execute it, but be careful because once it is too small you will not be able to feel it. Wetting the article and stretching it increases the size, but may not be enough for what you need.

If you use wool that has been bleached to a light color, it will sometimes affect the way the wool reacts to the Felted Wool. Always make a small sample and try to felt it first to know how the fabric will react.

Hopefully, these tips will help make your felting process more enjoyable. Fields are a fun way to take an article that can look huge and out of shape and leave a completely different fabric after washing it. To save some frustration, you can start with some simple squares and make a set of roller coasters first.