Felting with the knitted bouquet

This is a quick guide to the delights of felting. Many of the flower patterns from the knitted bouquet can be left knitted however you can transform them time and again if you have a go at felting. Felting is purposefully washing a knit item to shrink it.

Felting can seem a little daunting at first but with a little know how you will discover it doesn’t have to be. The following are some important considerations.

YARN
You have to use a yarn that is 100% animal fiber such as wool, alpaca, mohair. You have to follow a pattern that has been designed for felting due to the amount of shrinking involved. It will shrink about a third so the pattern has to allow for this!!

Before felting always make sure the knitted piece is finished securely and all loose ends are weaved in several times so they won’t come undone.
Felting can be done by hand or machine. Basically what causes the shrinkage is the combination of the wool, heat and friction. If doing this by hand you need to use a pot of hot water and something like a wooden spoon to agitate the knitted piece and rub it together to cause it to felt. This can be a long process so I prefer the machine method!

It needs to be a hot wash low water setting with a lot of agitation. Place them in a laundry bag to stop the excess lint getting in your washer. Add a very small amount of detergent to aid the process and add a pair of jeans or similar to help the items rub against whilst washing. Don’t use towels as the lint can embed itself in the felt and ruin the piece.

You may need to repeat the process to get the desired effect. Check it regularly to prevent over felting. The more felted it becomes the better it will look – the sts should have disappeared when felting is sufficient. When you are happy with the overall look, rinse with cold water. Spin gently or wring out gently by hand until the piece is damp and then it will be ready to shape.

The look of the finished felted item very much depends on the shaping. This can be done whilst the piece is damp and you will notice it can be manipulated really well to create the right look. Use your fingers to pull and mould the piece in to the desired shape. Petals of flowers work particularly well if you use your thumb to curve them upwards and inwards. It is very satisfying to see it take shape in this way and transform totally from the knitted piece.

Now, here comes my TOP TIP for felters that love to felt a lot…
A lot of the felting information you find refers to top loading washing machines as it is mainly from the US where these are common place. These allow you to have much more control over the felting process as you can stop and start and check in between.

Here in the UK front loading washing machines are common place and after a couple of long winded attempts at felting my knits I decided to think of an alternative. In order for me to have more control on what I was felting and not waste so much water (!) I have found that a travel washing machine does the job perfectly. I use a twin tub portable washing machine that can be used for camping. It is top loading, runs on a max 15 minute cycle and can be stopped and started however many times you like so you can check how your felted items are doing whenever you like. Not only is it portable, economical and convenient it doesn’t cost a huge amount to invest in if you are going to be felting all the time like me!! (Cost approx £55-60 from camping outlets). All I do with this is pop in the items I want to felt, add a laundry bag to provide friction, a small amount of washing powder, HOT water just enough to cover the items so they can swim about a bit and set it to go. I check it regularly and usually find two to three 15 minute cycles is sufficient and if the water goes warm I drain a bit off and add a bit more hot.

Finally I rinse it under a cold tap and then pop it in the spinner for 3 mins. It is very gentle so they are nicely wrung out but not mis-shapen and I can mould them however I like as they are still damp.

Easy peasy! I am extremely enthusiastic about this as it has transformed the way I can make up my flowers in no time. If you love felting and are in the UK then you really should get one of these.

If you would like any further information or would like to ask a question please feel free to get in touch and I will do my best to help. I hope this has helped get you started on felting, as soon as you get the hang of it you won’t want to stop!

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