1ST Time Felter with a ???

[Crochet_Gram]

Ok I made a simple rectangular purse from Patons Wool. 2 strands sc throughout red. Per the instruction I had I put the body of the purse together but not the handle and then washed it in hot water for 6 minutes with some jeans and the parts of the purse were in a pillow case. Nothing happened, so I did it again for 6 minutes, still nothing, then I did it for 12 minutes and took the parts out of the pillow case and it shrank some, but still has a lot of stitch definition and give to it. Am I doing something wrong, or do I just need to throw it back in the washer again for a longer time?

[Natasha]

Hmmm...some of the other threads mention using something in the wash to change the pH, like a little bit of detergent. Also, and I think I'm going to have to do this when I try felting, you might consider raising the hot water temp on your heater. I just know DH keeps it lower than I'd like...our hot water is not very hot.

 

I'm interested in the responses, because I have a ton of Paton's wool that I bought just for felting, and I've heard that it felts really well.

[JCB]

I love Paton's wool and it felts beautifully. It usually takes no longer than about 15 mins. in my washer. First... are you sure it was not a superwash wool?? Do the laundering directions say hand wash, or do they say you can machine wash it. If the latter, it is not feltable wool.

 

OK, assuming you do have the correct wool, water temp will have an effect. Try boiling up a pot of water and throwing that into the washer. I always use a few tablespoons of Ivory Snow, which is soap. I've read that you need either soap (as opposed to detergent) or baking soda. The Ivory Snow is cheap enough, so that's what I always use.

 

You say you double stranded it, using the single crochet. I think that may be the problem. When crocheting stuff for felting, you need to use a larger hook that usual. The wool needs to have somewhere to shrink. In your purse, the crocheting may have been so tight (no 'holes' in the fabric) that it has no where to go. If you have any of the yarn left, try doing a swatch using a relatively large hook (my fav. size is L) and do half double crochets, instead of the SC. It will go much faster, and you can't see the stitches anyway.

 

I have never double stranded a project. Knitters often double strand when felting, but crochet yields a bulkier 'fabric' and IMHO doesn't need to be doubled up.

 

Good luck with it!

 

Joan

[Crochet_Gram]

I love Paton's wool and it felts beautifully. It usually takes no longer than about 15 mins. in my washer. First... are you sure it was not a superwash wool?? Do the laundering directions say hand wash, or do they say you can machine wash it. If the latter, it is not feltable wool.

 

OK, assuming you do have the correct wool, water temp will have an effect. Try boiling up a pot of water and throwing that into the washer. I always use a few tablespoons of Ivory Snow, which is soap. I've read that you need either soap (as opposed to detergent) or baking soda. The Ivory Snow is cheap enough, so that's what I always use.

 

You say you double stranded it, using the single crochet. I think that may be the problem. When crocheting stuff for felting, you need to use a larger hook that usual. The wool needs to have somewhere to shrink. In your purse, the crocheting may have been so tight (no 'holes' in the fabric) that it has no where to go. If you have any of the yarn left, try doing a swatch using a relatively large hook (my fav. size is L) and do half double crochets, instead of the SC. It will go much faster, and you can't see the stitches anyway.

 

I have never double stranded a project. Knitters often double strand when felting, but crochet yields a bulkier 'fabric' and IMHO doesn't need to be doubled up.

 

Good luck with it!

 

Joan

 

Joan thanks so much for your response. I will try to answer all your questions and will try your suggestions tonight when I get home.

 

1. I am sure I gor the correct woll and have double checked several times because I doubeted myself.

2. It may be the waater temp so I will try the voilingwater tonight. I was wondering about putting the purse in a pot of boiling water and letting it soak there for a few minutes.

3. As far as 2 strands of sc. I was using a Paton's flyer that I got when I bought the yarn at Michaels and that is what the pattern called for. As a matter of fact, the even had a sample made up of the yarn felted and not felted. I guess that is why I am confused. It really didn't seem like it would be difficult to do.

 

anyway, thank you for the suggestions, I will try them and let you all know how it goes.

[mamaoso]

I've used double strand of yarn a lot for felting....

You just need to wash it more.. I had a pair of slippers I thought were never going to felt..I turned off the machine and let them soak in the hot water for about 20 minutes..Then turned it back on.. Just keep checking it till you get it the way you want it...Sometime I take it out of the wash and put it in a bucket of cold water. Squeeze the water out and back in the hot water wash. It helps.

[Yearnin' for Yarn]

I've had great success with Paton's wool single-stranded; I made a felted purse last week with it double-stranded, and it did *not* felt as well or as quickly as my single-stranded projects. it took three or four times through the washer on its longest wash setting. So, I would suggest running it through on the longest wash setting, the hottest water with the highest agitation, the least amount of water, and with a bunch of other stuff (like old jeans) in it as well. I always put some dish detergent (just a little) and 1/4 cup baking soda in the wash. Rinse with cold water.

 

Good luck.

 

Nicole

[MullersLaneFarm]

If your item shrunk a bit, most likely it did FELT, but what you want it to do now is FULL.

 

FELTING is when the scales on the wool shafts open up and clamp down on other opened scales of other shafts of wool.

 

FULLING is when the item shrinks.

 

I crocheted an envelope clutch this weekend made from handspun wool of a DorsetXHampshire. (I was real excited about this because it was the first project to be finished from a raw fleece I bought last spring.) After a COUPLE HOURS in a top-load machine I looked up the attributes of the Dorset and the Hampshire breeds - great elasticity & memory, not so great felting/fulling, soo-o-o-o I decided to see if I could full it the old fashion way. Put on a big pot of water, brought it to a rolling boil and dropped in the clutch. A couple hours of boiling and it was fulled.

[V-Hooked]

I'm new to felting, but I heard that if you add baking soda to the wash it should felt faster.