Handspun Yarn - Articles - Zimbio

How to Make Felt Hats

Mon, 1 Jan 2008 14:49:48 GMT

posted by scribbit
If you're like me you know what felt is, have used felt plenty of times and could reliably pick it out of a line-up but haven't a clue on earth how felt is made.

Well today is your lucky day because I'm going to show one way it's done (and it's soooooo easy!) I found a book at our library: Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron which has terrific patterns for all kinds of knit hats--some felted, some not--and I spent a couple weeks knitting like a madwoman, making hat after hat in the middle of a flaming obsession. Carron's patterns are quick and easy so I could make one or two in a day and she has instructions for casting on with the "wrap" method that is perfect for making hats because it leaves no hole in the top which you would have with a traditional cast on.

Making a felted hat is extra fun too because the felting process covers a multitude of knitting mistakes. Even if your stitches are slightly uneven felting will be the great equalizer and the hat will come out looking remarkably professional and spiffy--no one will believe you've made it yourself. Unless of course they too read Scribbit, then they might believe you. Maybe. I guess.

At any rate, felt is made when natural fibers--either knitted or woven--shrink and tangle through heat and agitation to produce a denser, thicker texture and material. Have you ever accidentally thrown your favorite pink wool sweater into the washer only to find it big enough to fit your doll? That's felting. You can felt things in your washing machine or your can felt them with needles, pricking and tangling them by hand. Sounds easy, right? It is!

To felt a knitted hat by machine, the first step is to choose your fibers carefully. You need something that shrinks and tangles well so you'll need a yarn that is as close to 100% wool, or mohair, as possible. The patterns in Carron's book call for using a strand of wool and a strand of mohair together which makes a lovely, soft hat but I had a hard time finding 100% mohair. The closest I could find was 20% which just wouldn't be enough to felt properly--especially when matched with a 100% wool strand.

So make sure you're starting out with the right stuff. I bought a lovely sea green yarn from JoAnn's from their Sensations brand that claimed to be 100% wool but when I went to felt it it was immediately apparent I'd been scammed because not only did it not felt or shrink, it stretched into this enormous blobby mass that earned me quite a few mockings. You could cut holes for legs and turn that into a toasty set of granny panties it was so gigantic.

But I digress . . . once you've knitted your hat making sure all the yarn ends are woven back into the hat properly--and I warn you it will be big to allow for shrinking--you simply wash it. Here's what you do:

1. Set your machine to the hottest, longest, most agitating cycle.
2. Use detergent--even though the new hat isn't dirty the detergent helps to shrink the fibers.
3. Place the hat in a pillowcase secured with a rubber band to prevent the sloughed-off fibers from clogging your machine. One item per case to keep items from cross-dying.
4. Throw the bag into the machine and press "start."
5. When it's finished, shape the hat then let it dry (it'll take a couple days).

That's all there is to it. If you can wash a hat, you can felt a hat.

Now if, when your hat comes out of the washer, it's too big or hasn't been felted enough (assuming you've done it properly, not like my green disaster up top) you can throw it back in for another cycle which will shrink it more. Some machines just aren't as aggressive as others, mine requires double cycles to felt properly. If, on the other hand, your hat is a little on the small side you can stretch it and pull it to get a bit of extra room.

When you shape it, it's best to use the head that will be wearing the hat but if you don't happen to have that head around and don't own a hat form (who does??) you can shape it on your own head or as best you can, shaping it bit by bit, evenly all the way around. Here's what my favorite charcoal gray hat looked like before and after it came out of the washer.

Once it's dry you can embellish it in so many ways. The top hat in blue that Lillian is wearing was embroidered with pink and white wool flowers, I have a cream colored bucket-style hat that I use to showcase my great grandmother's vintage pins that she gave me and I sewed pearls and glass beads to this gray pillbox hat Grace is wearing.

Oh the possibilities are endless. And if you don't knit I bet you could achieve interesting results with a crocheted item--has anyone had experience with felting crocheted things? If you're still too chicken to try this (I "call you out!") you can always go to my ever-present Etsy shop where I have a few hats left for sale but you really should give this a try. They make lovely presents and are fun to make--you'll feel so proud of yourself I promise.

***

Congratulations to Janet who won the Redwood Forest Date book from Blissen in last week's Saturday Giveaway.

Technorati tags: hats, crafts, felt, knitting

Sock it to Me

Sun, 28 Apr 2008 14:42:00 GMT

posted by connierose
The other day after rereading my last post, I remembered that I knit a pair of socks with handspun yarn a few years ago, the yarn with similar colors to the shibori I finished last week. Here it is:

This pair is 100% wool, dyed with acid dyes. And while I was shooting these, I decided to include these other handspun, handknit socks as well for your viewing pleasure...

The black pair is also wool, natural black merino and hand dyed romney.

The orange pair is wool and silk, also hand dyed.

The last pair is alpaca and silk, and these I enjoyed making the most. And I like them the best. But I don't particularly like to wear handknit socks, they feel strange on the bottoms of my feet.

A friend suggested that I make a 4-ply sock yarn, rather than the 2-ply that I've used in the past, that the extra two plies would round out the yarn and it wouldn't feel so odd on the bottoms of my feet. I haven't tried that yet but I hope to someday.

Mostly I've enjoyed knitting socks, but not wearing them. They're a blast to knit!

Making Felt

Thu, 16 Nov 2007 14:59:00 GMT

posted by nikkim
My research about felting led me to a website call All Fiber Arts, where I found the following step-by-step instructions for making felt.

You can make your own felt easily, in your bath tub. To make a 20" square piece of felt, you will need :

1. A flat surface to work on that you don't mind getting wet.
2. Access to hot water. An electric kettle will work fine or a hose attached to your hot water tap.
3. Approx. 5 - 6 oz. of pure wool roving (For this project I used dyed merino wool top.)
4. Laundry detergent (dry or liquid)
5. Several towels
6. Straw beach mat

Felting Instructions:

1. Place some towels onto the flat surface or floor and place the straw beach mat over the towels.
2. Pull the clean wool roving into small sections, about 4 - 6 inches in length, depending on the wool staple.

3. Place these wool pieces onto the beach mat, spreading the wool evenly across the mat.

4. Lay the wool pieces all in the same direction - vertically, and overlap each piece slightly, until the beach mat is covered, creating a 24" square.

5. Sprinkle on a thin layer of laundry detergent.

6. Lay another layer of wool roving over the first layer, but in the opposite direction (horizontally).

7. Sprinkle the layer lightly with a bit more laundry soap.

8. Repeat the above steps, until the wool batt measures about 1.5 - 2 inches in height.You should have about 4 - 6 layers of wool, each alternating in direction.

9. The top layer can be decorative. Use different coloured wool roving and even bits of yarn for your design.

10. Add a bit more laundry soap.

11. Fold the remaining length of beach mat over the fleece batt and roll up the beach mat.

12. Fill the bathtub with 1 - 2 inches of hot water.

13. Immerse the rolled up beach mat in the hot water, and turn it, to wet the wool thoroughly.

14. Roll the beach mat back and forth, working your hands evenly across the mat.

15. Keep the mat rolling in the hot water, turning it over, for about 3 - 4 minutes.It is heat and friction that causes wool to felt, not pressure, so you don't need to press really hard.

16. Remove the mat from the bathtub, and unroll it gently onto the towel.The felt is quite fragile at this point, so gently lift it from the beach mat, and turn it 1/4 turn.

17. Re-roll the beach mat and place it back into the hot bathtub water. If the water has cooled, drain the tub, and refill with hot water. Roll and turn the beach mat for another 3 -4 minutes.

18. Repeat steps 13 - 17 approximately 3 or 4 times. Test the felt by rubbing it with your finger. The fibres shouldn't move and the felt should be quite thick. If it is still soft, Repeat steps 13 - 17 again.

19. Remove the felt from the beach mat and rinse in cool water.

20. Roll the felt in a bath towel, place it on the floor and stomp on it (barefoot) to remove the excess water. Lay flat to dry.

For more information about felting visit All Fiber Arts. Remember, this is the process of making felt for use in other projects. There are actual felting project that begin with already created knit products like the purse and pin in my previous post To Felt or Not To Felt. Stay tuned for actual felt projects...

Handspun Wool Yarn

Thu, 27 Jul 2007 16:30:12 GMT

posted by fiberfrinzi

Finally getting around to taking some pictures of the handspun yarns. Truthfully, I had to figure out the digital camera first. Capturing the color is not easy, but really I want to show the spinning right now. This is a sample of the uncarded wool I have been telling everyone about. This yarn and others will be for sale on my website: http://summerlandfibers.etsy.com, so visit to see more yarns even if you just want to see the dye colors or spinning samples.

Spinsanity's got new Stock!!! New Stock!!!

Tue, 21 May 2008 15:42:00 GMT

posted by HollyB
Please, save me from myself. Check out the new spindles Spinsanity put up at her etsy shop:
Tribal, love, harmony...

Floral, electric blue...hypnotic
Square!!
She's even got a radioactive one! It's RADIOACTIVE!!! Science and fiber?? Be still my heart.

I wonder if Marie Curie will order it?google_ad_client = "pub-9350820269899602"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; google_ad_format = "728x90_as"; google_ad_type = "text_image"; google_ad_channel =""; //-->