Monday, December 5, 2011

an uncertain attempt

looks a bit big

It's not my first felting project - I made felted mitts several weeks ago - but I'm definitely a felting rookie. And as a result I'm completely lacking in confidence about how to predict sizing. I'm knitting this bottle cozy based loosely on a pattern from Patons using Briggs & Little Heritage from my stash in Midnight Blue and Sheep's Grey. Briggs is a very rustic, unprocessed wool and should felt beautifully. But I can't help but compare the size of the cozy I'm knitting to the bottle itself and wonder ... will it really felt small enough to fit? I guess we'll know the answer to that in a few days!

I decided to add a colourwork pattern to the cozy. I've opted for a kind of chunky border - after all, it should look a bit finer when it felts down to half it's size, right? For the main motif I've decided on a poinsettia. With this colour scheme a snowflake pattern probably would be more suitable, but the poinsettia jumped out at me, so a poinsettia it is.

The plan is to plough ahead with this, finish it, felt it and then decide whether I need to make another to adjusted dimensions. It doesn't take long to knit and I have enough yarn in my stash to knit several more if need be. The next one might be Sheep's Grey for the main colour and red for the contrast colour. That'd be more suitable for a Poinsettia, wouldn't it!

5 comments:

Alittlebitsheepish said...

I like the pattern, can't be much help size wise as like you I have not done much felting. If it is too big you can always felt it a bit more, or wrap the bottle in some tissue paper and brazen it out like that was the plan all along :D

Wanderingcatstudio said...

I like the unconventionally-coloured poinsettias!

Unknown said...

I seem to remember that felting shrinks lengthwise up to 60% and width wise 40%. But don't quote me on that. And, all felted varies due to PH, wool, hot/cold, and other factors. Good luck!

One pair of Hands said...

I've never had the courage to felt but I'm guessing you may have to knit another piece and seam the two pieces together. I'm interested to see your results.

WildflowerWool said...

Good luck!