Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Mistake or Miracle Fulling Your Knitted Garments

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felt

I enjoyed and learned from this article on Knitter’s Review and I hope you find it informative too. Remember when your favorite sweater got lost in a load of laundry, and the next time you saw it, it had shrunk into a miniature, blanket-textured doggy sweater?
The Felt Phenomenon
There’s a name for this phenomenon: felting. And if you plan ahead, you can use the very same disastrous process as a design tool to create extraordinary results. The process of felting raw fibers has been used for centuries. But felting knitwear (which is called “fulling”) didn’t hit the mainstream Western knitting community until the mid 1980s. Felting expands and tightens fiber at the same time, essentially transforming the look and feel of most knitted garments. Today, several talented designers — especially Nancy Lindberg and Suzanne Pufpaff — specialize in creating patterns for this medium. If you don’t believe it’s possible to turn a huge, floppy, washcloth-like knitted item into a strong, structured hat or pair of weather-resistant mittens, you must try felting.

Read all about felting your knits and crochets.

More About Felting

The Physics of Felting

How to Felt in Six Easy Steps

Tips and Tricks

Felting with Brown Sheep Yarns

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Have you read?

Knit and Felt Some Tabi Style Slippers

The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical. 

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique. 

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead. 

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit. 

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern. 

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like. 

[Photo: Maymade Knits]