Felting Fun

As the weather turns cooler, I find myself picking up my knitting needles more often and drawn to soft, fuzzy yarns. As a novice knitter, I’ve been intrigued by felting and have desired to try it for quite awhile. Some time last winter I purchased the necessary 100% wool yarn after gleaning some tips from a gal at Michael’s about felting. She said items felt best when the yarn is mostly wool. Then I even knit some things specifically for felting. When I started looking into the felting process and how to do it in a front-loading washing machine, the advice online on this topic didn’t sound too promising (for front-loaders). So I was a bit discouraged and like many things, I just never got around to it, especially once the weather got warmer.

But last weekend I was working on a new project and I really wanted my little knit balls to be felted to use them in my project. So I threw caution to the wind and thought I’d just give it a go in my front-loader, with a pair of Hub’s work jeans (for friction), hot water, and a bit of detergent. I was amazed at how they came out. It was so fun to pull out my tiny knit pieces and see how they were transformed. It’s like magic! I understand the felting fascination now. And I can’t wait to try more!