Felting Experiments
I've been wanting to felt for a while. Except for the roll-neck sweater of mine that my mother threw in the washer and dryer, I haven't knitted for felting. So I got together some feltable yarn and big needles, and started knitting. My first try was for this felted bowl. I love how it came out! Pre-felting it measured about 5 inches high with a 5 inch diameter. After one wash on hot, it measures about 3.5 inches high with a 4 inch diameter. I love how the colors blend, especiallly where I used on strand of each color. I love the fuzziness of the felted fabric.
I didn't use a pattern, just started with 4 stitches on 4 dpn's, increased one stitch at end of every needle until it was big enough (12 stitches per needle), purled one row, knit until it was big enough with one or two rows of decreasing to make the top a little narrower than the bottom. Then I threw it in the washer and hoped for the best. I'm very pleased with the results. I think these will make great gifts and they're quick to knit (about 1-2 hours).
My second attempt didn't work out so well. It didn't felt great, the stitches were still visible, and it's not much smaller than it started out. So it's in the dryer to see if that helps. If not, it'll go in the washer for one more round. Like I said, it's all an experiment.
