Any way to predict how much shrinkage

[MaryPat]

I bought a cone of 100% wool at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and planned to make an afghan.

 

I began working with the wool and it's too rough and itchy to use as an afghan. I was thinking of just taking the afghan and felting it to turn it into a bathroom rug.

I'll probably do a swatch to test out, but I was wondering if there were any kind of "guidelines" to kind of guess how small it will become.

 

Does more agitation produce more shrinkage? If so, does a swatch give an accurate prediction of how much shrinkage there will be, since it seems like a larger afghan would undergo more agitation in a washer.

[MaryPat]

I felted the afghan and it turned so soft. It did not felt enough (that is, it's too thin)to be a rug, but I will be able to take the resulting rectangle and turn it into a satchel of some sort.

 

I've decided that the remaining yarn will be an afghan. Ill use a larger hook this time and a pattern with more "holes" so that when it felts, it turns into a soft drapy blanket.

 

My washer is one of those where the agitator moves up and down, so I was wondering if that produces a lower felting ability.

[natalie058]

If you continue agitating, the afghan/rug might full up more and become thicker.

 

That said, the more agitation you create, the more meshing/fulling of fibers you'll have... so if you use a big hook to make an open fabric it's possible it may just make it easier to full... and you might end up with something thicker than you'd bargained for.

[threeolivemartini]

every thing does different but if you want an idea.. then swatching is the best bet.. make a swatch measure before and then after.. also this gives and idea of how much agitation is needed for the desired resutl..

[MaryPat]

I've seen some more Board ideas about how to create more agitation. One person bought old rough jeans to toss in with her project. Someone else saved up caps from Tide and throws them in.

I just bought this unspun yarn and am eager to try again with your suggestion of a huge hook with an open fabric. The first attempt was not an open fabric.

http://secure.elann.com/productdisp.asp?NAME=White+Buffalo+Unspun&Season=&Company=&Cat=Bargains&ProductType=5&OrderBy=+Order+By+Bargain+Desc&Count=8

 

 

 

 

If you continue agitating, the afghan/rug might full up more and become thicker.

 

That said, the more agitation you create, the more meshing/fulling of fibers you'll have... so if you use a big hook to make an open fabric it's possible it may just make it easier to full... and you might end up with something thicker than you'd bargained for.