First Completed Felting Project

Ok, so have you ever put a sweater made of 100% into the washer and it comes out about 1/4th the size it had originally been? Not to mention it is all fuzzy and, well, felt-like? THAT is what "felting" is. There are a lot of crochet (and knit) projects where you do this INTENTIONALLY, by making an item bigger than it needs to be and then throwing it into the washing machine (with very HOT water) and then squeezing the excess water out and laying flat to dry. I've always wanted to try this technique but was worried I wouldn't do it right.

We went to our local AC Moore store last Saturday (it is like a Joann's or Michaels) to see what was on sale for the liquidation "going out of business" sale. I found these little felting kits by One Stitch Two Stitch (they have a website on the box, but it doesn't seem to work, but it looks like a Coats & Clark product because the Coats logo is on the bottom of the box. I bought three kits, one to make little change purses, one to make bracelets and one to make hats. The great thing about these kits is that there is enough materials in each to make more than one project! The yarn used is a bamboo/wool blend.

I started off with the change purses. The first thing you do is crochet the pieces normally (no new technique here). Here is what the first change purse looked like before I sewed it in half:




I then finished crocheting the other two purses and seamed them up, as well as the embellishments.




Then, they went into a pillowcase that was tied off at the end (so the pieces didn't get stuck under the agitator of the washing machine:




Here are the pieces after they came out of the washing machine, "felted":




Close-up of one of the purses... this is what the "felted" stitches look like... quite fuzzy (note, the picture is actually in FOCUS, it is the material that is fuzzy!):




Close-up of the felted embellishments:








Change purse #1 all felted and put together:




Change purse #2 all felted and put together:




Change purse #3 all felted and put together:




Inside one of the change purses:

I'm, like, totally felting!

I've made my first few felting projects. I'm so proud! Well, they aren't 100% completed just yet. The first few have been felted and are still drying. Once they are dry I'll be able to put them together. At that point, I'll take pictures and post. I've got before and after photos of the felting... it is just too cool!

A few scarves...

After finishing the very large afghan, I wanted to make some quick projects before really getting into Chris' blanket (which will be another large project).

I had sonme yummy yarn that I've been dying to use, so here are two scarves I made that used up all that yarn.

The first one was made with two balls of Plymouth Yarn's #9 Royal Bamboo. As you can see, it made up beautifully and is quite perfect for fall! The scarf is quite long, so I can probably wear it "scooped" around my neck. The yarn is VERY soft, and the weave is quite dainty, enough so that I could wear it IN the office at work when it gets a little colder.





Details:




The next scarf I made out of yarn by Filatura Di Crosa. Since the company website isn't in English, I'm linking to Yarnmarket to show the type of yarn, Dusk, in #4 Tropical Paradise. I love how this yarn self-striped. It also has some "shimmer" to it. So yummy!





Detail:

Presenting... my brother's afghan! (FINALLY)

I've now finished my brother's afghan. I'm so proud! It is HUGE! Probably the biggest one I've ever made. I made it using Red Heart Super Saver yarn in Soft Navy, Gold and Soft White in honor of Pitt's school colors (my brother's college alma mater). It was made to look like "pinwheels" (see the white and blue pinwheels? Kinda looks like an optical illusion). It was super easy to make, 9" squares of three colors, made with half double crochet stitches. The squares were all made the same, and I just turned them as I went to make the "pinwheel" shape.

Full afghan (Chris had to hold it up for me because it is too big for me to hold). As you can see, Chris, as tall as he is, cannot see over the top of the afghan, and it is almost to the floor as he is holding it!





A more "artsy" pic of the blanket:




The blanket folded, closeup of the boarder and one square.

Honest!! I swear!!

Ok, so since I've now given the big project as a(n almost complete) gift, I can tell you what it was. My brother has been bugging me for almost 10 years now for an afghan made of his college (Pitt) colors. So, for his 30th birthday, I bit the bullet and knocked that bugger out (the afghan, I mean)! Well, with the exception of the boarder. It is made of squares that I sewed together to give it to my bro, but I didn't put on the boarder until I got some input from him. He left FL to go back to PA before I was able to finish the border completely, but he didn't have room in his suitcase anyway. So, I don't feel so bad about not being complete yet.

But, honest, I swear, I'm close! I have 2 and 1/2 rounds of the boarder to go, and to give you an idea, at my crochet group tonight, I was able to finish almost that much just in this evening. The goal is to have it in the mail by early next week at the latest, maybe by Saturday...? Once it is complete, I'll be SURE to post some pictures!