Friday, December 9, 2011

Finished Object Friday

to refelt or not to refelt?

Is it finished? In the sense that I followed the instructions from start to end, it is. But the finished result leaves something to be desired - after three trips through the hot, heavily soiled cycle of my top loading washing machine the blue is only a smidge smaller -  and now I'm pondering my options. To refelt or not to refelt, that is the question.

Problem 1: The Sheep's Grey yarn has felted faster than the Midnight Blue yarn. Can this be fixed?

"Always test felt a swatch when using multiple colors, even within the same line of yarn. Different shades felt at different rates, as do different brands of yarns." advises Rob Matyska of Knitty. "If you notice, during the felting process, that a certain area isn't felting quite as fast as the rest of the surfaces, you can spot-felt by hand by rubbing and abusing that specific area."

Problem 2: The entire bag is massively wide. Unfelted the diameter was 19", after felting my diameter is 16-3/4" and my target finished diameter is 11-1/2 to 12". Is it possible to felt it that small? Please give me your two cents on this matter. I'm currently under the impression that felting at least 30% smaller should be do-able; thirty percent would put me at 13-1/4" diameter, which is a lot better than what I've got now!

"There is no "formula" for how a certain wool will felt." advise Kiki and Steve of LG Stitched. "It is impossible to determine the percentage of felting that will occur, but you can take careful notes to guide you in the future." 

For the next couple of days this project is going to sit in "time out" while I clear my head and get over my disappointment and frustration. And maybe on the weekend, I'll fill the sink with scalding hot water and tennis balls to see if I can hand felt it to the right proportions. As for today, I think I'll knit some more on my sock; at least it's behaving nicely.

Be sure to have a look at what's happening over at Tami's Amis. I'm going there now to get inspiration from some happy finishes!

15 comments:

pinkundine said...

Hmmmm, sorry the felting hasn't gone to plan :| If it's any consolation, I think it looks really good :)

Anonymous said...

I agree --- it may not be as small as you wanted, but it looks very nice.

However, if you REALLY want to felt it smaller, could you put the scalding water in the washer and let the washer do it's thing -- maybe even with the tennis balls?

Isaida said...

I think it looks great. I've never felted anything...kinda scared to...

Unknown said...

It's cute regardless of size. Do you have any felting needles? It would be long and tedious, but save on scalding your hands.

erin said...

I think it looks great, even though it didn't felt to plan. but maybe refelting could get it closer to how you want it?

heather said...

I do think it looks really great even though it is not what you intended. However, I also know how tough it is to look past your intentions and see it as nice!

Felting scares me a bit...

Andria said...

Oh it looks so very pretty. I would try to hand felt it rather than in the machine again, that might make it work better, even if it is a lot of hard work. Good luck!

One pair of Hands said...

Your bag looks really nice but good quality knitting yarn is designed not to felt. I once washed an old cardigan over and over to try to felt it and gave up. Out here we can buy yarn specially for felting. Can you get it there? (Patons I think).
Your bag would make a pretty gift for a trendy young thing to use as a tote bag.

Abbie said...

Beautiful bag! It may be too wide for a bottle of wine, but it may be perfect for a pound of coffee...

Alittlebitsheepish said...

The pattern looks really great, the contrast is super. Could you use it for something else if you can't felt it smaller?

Liz said...

I think it looks great, the pattern is gorgeous and shows really well. I hope you find a solution to your felting problems!

Wanderingcatstudio said...

Instead of felting more - what about buying a large bottle of wine?

Liz said...

I would go for hand-felting - with a bowl of super-hot water, one of icy water, & a thick pair of rubber gloves! Good luck

Unknown said...

I think it's really pretty and maybe you could just fill it with a bigger bottle?! It does look good but I understand it's not what you were expecting... let us know what you decide to do with it!

Danielle said...

It looks fab!..love the pattern! very festive! would be great for holding my diet coke bottles :)xx