Have Fun with Felting in Fall

September 27, 2011 - Guest

Saturday is the first day of October–I can’t believe it! You know what that means: the temperatures will be dropping and we won’t be too far away from winter (quietly sobs). With the cooler weather approaching, now is a good time to get started on some of those felted projects! For those of you who may be wondering, felting is a technique used with non-superwash wool to make the yarn fibers shrink and lock together. To get your knit or crochet piece to felt, you need soap, hot water and a bit of yarn agitation. Check out our Felt FAQ for more specific instructions. I’ve created a roundup of Lion Brand yarns that oughta do the job for your felted piece.

	Alpine Wool This soft, wool roving yarn is ideal for warm garments and accessories. Featuring an autumn/winter palette, this yarn works up so quickly, and it felts beautifully for gorgeous projects from purses to slippers.
	Fishermen’s Wool Our classic Fishermen’s Wool is made of undyed pure virgin wool with natural lanolin oil. Soft, warm, and naturally water resistant, it’s ideal for ski-wear and fisherman sweaters, hats, scarves, and more. Fishermen’s Wool also felts beautifully for dense slippers, strong bags, and textural home decor projects. Plus its generous size and natural shades make it perfect for dyeing!
	LB Collection 100% Organic Wool Part of our line of affordable, luxury fibers, this classic worsted-weight Organic Wool is perfect for sweaters, felted projects, and winter accessories. Available in 6 classic colors. It is 100% organically produced wool and dyed with low impact dyes, certified according to Global Organic Textile Standards by the Institute of Marketecology. *The LB Collection is exclusively available through LionBrand.com, the Lion Design catalog, and the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in New York City
	LB Collection 100% Pure Wool Part of our line of affordable, luxury fibers, this 100% undyed wool roving yarn, is spun in the USA, from fiber from American-raised sheep. This natural yarn with great texture is perfect for hand-dyeing, as well as felting. *The LB Collection is exclusively available through LionBrand.com, the Lion Design catalog, and the Lion Brand Yarn Studio in New York City
	Martha Stewart Crafts Lion Brand Roving Wool Soft, natural roving wool works up fast for warm, cozy sweaters, long scarves, and colorful hats. It’s also great for felting projects.
	Martha Stewart Crafts Lion Brand Merino Soft and luxurious, pure Merino wool is the knitter and crocheter’s choice for fine garments and accessories. Stitch patterns for sweaters, shawls, gloves, and hats work up beautifully in this worsted-weight, hand-washable yarn. Since it isn’t a superwash, this too, works well for felting.

Have you felted before? If so, what are some of your favorite items to felt?

20 Comments

Loraine

27 Sep 2011

I saw some great felted projects on Ravelry.com using Lionbrand Amazing. Â Â It doesn’t felt as much as a yarn with more wool content but was enough to make a bag that doesn’t need a lining and has the glorious colours of the Amazing yarn. Â I can’t wait to get mine and give it a try 🙂
LoraineÂ

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Anonymous
03 Oct 2011
Thanks for that bit of info Loraine, that’s good to know, I’ll be sure to keep my eye out for this on Ravelry.

Maryann

28 Sep 2011

I love to felt bags, both handbags and covers for items like iPods. I’ve also made felted oven mitts, which were lots of fun, and useful.

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OmaPappa
10 Oct 2011
Would you be willing to share the patterns.Â Have just started felting and love your ideas.Â Thanks.

Berta Gilholm

30 Sep 2011

Love felting, on my blog birdiecreates.blogspot.com I have original patterns (all free), scrarf, bags, kindle kaddy, nook pocketbook (see pic)Â etc. and on favecrafts I have several felted purses. I love fishermans wool! I also made the free pattern from LB for a felted bath rug and fun fur, Great project! I am working on a felted hat right now for my Grandson. Thanks for the info and ideas. Birdie Gee

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Anonymous
03 Oct 2011
Hi Berta, I will check out the rest of the patterns on your site, but I saw the duster handle post and thought, Oh man, I have fun yarn that s perfect for this!! Thanks for your link 🙂

Pat

07 Oct 2011

Hi Berta,Â A year ago last Christmas I made felted slippers for all the men on my Christmas list.Â In the end I had made seven (7) paid.Â When I finished I thought I would never do it again, but I’m ready to try some other items now.Â All of my Christmas gifts are always a knitted or crocheted item.Â This year I am doing sweaters, scarf and hat sets, two afghans, two pillows, kleenex and toilet paper covers, dish cloths and towels and pot holders.Â If I have time, I would like to do a couple pair of socks.Â Sounds like a lot but I work on them all year long.Â Â Pat

Sharon Howell

07 Oct 2011

I bought a new washer in May.Â It is a front loading machine.Â How can I felt in this machine.Â I can’t open it part way through without shutting off the machine and ending the cycle.

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Debra Jo Tily
08 Oct 2011
I put mine on normal wash, hot water and let it run the complete cycle.Â Usually with a load of towels, sheets, or jeans (color permitting).

Teacher7_8

08 Oct 2011

I am so thankful to see your info. Â I also have a front loading washer. Â I made this awesome purse that needs to be felted. Â I am going to try your info thanks. Diana ShermanÂ

nancy

08 Oct 2011

I have made scarves and “walker bags” to hang from a walker.Â The scarves were felted with a Japanese “Shaboori” (sorry about the spelling!) method where we took wood beads or nuts in the shell (almonds, hazelnuts, etc.) and placed them under the scarf, gathered the scarf around the nut or bead and used a tiny rubber band (like for braces) to hold the nut in place.Â Felt as usual and everything felts but the space where the nut is.Â You’ll end up with very interesting bumps in the finished product.

The walker bags are knitted with a bottom seam and 4 crocheted ties at the top so the bag can be attached to the frame of the walker.Â I felted as usual and used hand washed and dyed fleece to needlefelt a large flower on the front of the bag.Â The other ladies at the retirement community are clammoring for these bags!Â I may make more and sell them with the proceeds going to charity.

I also use a front loading washer and let the items go through the entire cycle (normal agitation with hot water).Â Don’t be afraid to send your item through another cycle if you don’t think it felted enough.Â Also, be careful to use large enough needles that you have a big loose stitch that has room to felt (for example, a size 13 needle for worsted weight Lambs Pride) – that was a real “duh” moment for me!Â Rather than clothes detergent, I have also used human shampoo, dog shampoo or horse shampoo (like “Main & Tail”) which makes your finished item a bit softer.Â The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to get kind of tough with the item as it takes heat and friction to get the felting to work.Â

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Anonymous
11 Oct 2011
Great information Nancy, I love your bottom line- don’t be afraid to get kind of tough.Â Agitation is the key!
-Happy Felting