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My felting disaster


Eggnog

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I spent three days crocheting a lovely ripple bag in lemon and pink jaegar 100% wool and finished it off with a fun fur edging - it was a thing of beauty!

 

Put it in the machine and it came out practically grey boo hoo! All the lemon had disappeared and even the pink looked very sorry for itself...worst of all it hadn't even felted! So the whole things gone in the bin.

 

Don't really know where I went wrong and a bit scared to try again so any suggestions would be gratefully accepted!

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What a shame! What were the washing instructions on the label? It sounds like it was not colorfast, which is not cool for yarn. I would dig it out of the bin and take it back where you bought the yarn and see if they can offer an explanation, (and maybe even a refund for the yarn?)

 

Don't be discouraged about felting. I've been using Paton's Classic Wool, which is pretty reasonable and felts wonderfully.

 

Joan

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I spent three days crocheting a lovely ripple bag in lemon and pink jaegar 100% wool and finished it off with a fun fur edging - it was a thing of beauty!

 

Put it in the machine and it came out practically grey boo hoo! All the lemon had disappeared and even the pink looked very sorry for itself...worst of all it hadn't even felted! So the whole things gone in the bin.

 

Don't really know where I went wrong and a bit scared to try again so any suggestions would be gratefully accepted!

hmm I dont know about the non felting part sounds like they labeled it wrong.

but as for color. What of you were to set it wil vinegar before washing?

I dont know if I would buy their yarn if the rest are like that. I really want mine to be color fast, MOSTLy when felting.

I would be real upset.

Is there a phone number on the packageing? Alot of companies will provide on or at least an email address where you can explain your sitituation and complaint.

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That's a bummer. How frustrating. I've yet to try felting... used to be that's what happened when you washed gramma's old afghan wrong:eek and boy were you in trouble! Finally someone realized, hey, if you can't beat it, join it.... and "felting" was invented!

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My first attempt at felting was my last. I did not care for how the yellow fibers seemed to get muddied by the brown. I used Lamb's Pride which is supposed to be awesome for felting. And the shedding during the process! I would never be able to use that pillowcase for any other felting job, because there was a ton of fiber that came out of the item. My project was to be a tote bag, but it didn't shrink as much as I wanted, so I turned it into a kitty bed. $60 of Lamb's Pride for a cat bed!

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A link here to jaeger yarn. Several of their merino wools are machine washable. So it's likely a superwash wool designed so you can wash it w/o it felting. Not sure about the colorfastness though.

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Oh no.:( I am so sorry for that. I love the sound of the bag and the colors. I want to try it ; haven't yet. Give it another try. It could be not color fast like was suggested. pinkroses.

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Oh, so frustrating! I hope you WILL try again--it really sounds lovely.

 

I recently tried felting for the first time, too, and was really glad I made a swatch, as when I tried to felt the swatch it came out faded and unfelted. I changed my process for the whole bag (should have made another swatch, don't I ever learn my lesson?) and it came out fine. Good luck!

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My first attempt at felting was my last. I did not care for how the yellow fibers seemed to get muddied by the brown. I used Lamb's Pride which is supposed to be awesome for felting. And the shedding during the process! I would never be able to use that pillowcase for any other felting job, because there was a ton of fiber that came out of the item. My project was to be a tote bag, but it didn't shrink as much as I wanted, so I turned it into a kitty bed. $60 of Lamb's Pride for a cat bed!

Lambs Pride is a shedder! I love Galway and Cascade...no major shedding, no need to shave it after felting, no muddying... great stuff...shrinks between 25-30%

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I spent three days crocheting a lovely ripple bag in lemon and pink jaegar 100% wool and finished it off with a fun fur edging - it was a thing of beauty!

 

Put it in the machine and it came out practically grey boo hoo! All the lemon had disappeared and even the pink looked very sorry for itself...worst of all it hadn't even felted! So the whole things gone in the bin.

 

Don't really know where I went wrong and a bit scared to try again so any suggestions would be gratefully accepted!

 

Heartrending, and frustrating!! Some 100% wools simply will not felt. Often they've been "superwashed" or treated to prevent shrinkage...the label will often say "machine washable" on it, if that's the case.

At the LYS where I work, we had one yarn the rep said "yes" it would felt...we tested it...it didn't. At ALL! (we test all our stuff...make models for the store, mainly...but we're a smaller LYS, not an AC Moore or anything like that...those places can't do that.so depending where you got it, they should be able to help some.)

Definitely bring it back and see what you can find out...maybe a refund? who knows...worth a try!

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Put it in the machine and it came out practically grey boo hoo! All the lemon had disappeared and even the pink looked very sorry for itself...worst of all it hadn't even felted! So the whole things gone in the bin.

 

I am very sorry to here about your felting dissapointment. I agree with the other comments about taking back to where you bought the yarn and see if they can help you.

 

As to the felting of wool, sometimes it takes several times in the machine to get it to felt. Also you might need to shave the bag when done. The colors can get muted quite a bit in the process if it is "furry". Well, just a few thoughts. Good luck

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#1 Always always always do a test swatch if you've never felted with that yarn before.

 

#2 For most machines and yarns it takes more than one go in the washer to felt. On average it takes 5 rounds in the washer for me, for example.

 

Someone mentioned shedding. Cascade 220 is my favorite yarn to felt with because it doesn't shed a bit and it never needs "shaving" or trimming. It felts very neatly.

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worst of all it hadn't even felted! So the whole things gone in the bin.

 

I had some Patons in pumpkin that would not felt very well and then saw another post here at C'ville that had a Patons burg. color that would not felt very well for the other person. They contacted the company and found that there was a problem with their yarn; I did not call-used the design another way. I have since used Patons wool and it has worked out for me very well. So could just be a bad batch.

 

You did not say how many times you put the item through the machine. I normally have to do mine between bewteen 3 and 5 times.

 

As to the fuzzy or hairyness of the yarns; I do not mind the outcome. It sometimes adds to the effect I was working for and have no trouble shaving where I want the color to come out more. I also do shave Cascade and many other yarns that are not really fuzzy especially if it has dark and light colors in the piece. Brings back the purer color. I also use the shaving to get depth from my designs.

 

I hope you resolve your yarn/design troubles and try crochet felting again.

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Yup... Lambs Pride is part mohair and is very fuzzy when felted.

 

As to the fuzzy or hairyness of the yarns; I do not mind the outcome. It sometimes adds to the effect I was working for and have no trouble shaving where I want the color to come out more. I also do shave Cascade and many other yarns that are not really fuzzy especially if it has dark and light colors in the piece. Brings back the purer color. I also use the shaving to get depth from my designs.

 

CD... what do you use to shave your yarn? A regular razor? Electric razor?

 

Thanks!

 

Joan

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To Eggnog: I'm so sorry to hear about your felting disaster. What a bummer!! And I think the others are so right: take the yarn back to the store if you still have it around!

 

And to those who responded: thanks for all the suggestions for remedies and good felting yarn. I have a pattern I want to try and your suggestions will really help me and other felting wantabes.

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CD... what do you use to shave your yarn? A regular razor? Electric razor?

Thanks!

Joan

 

Joan,

I replied to you earlier but did not come through, so will try again.

 

I use two eletric razors, 1. is 1" blade 2. is a 2" blade. I also use from time to time a meduim sweater shaver but find the blade dulls too quickly. I also use a toothbrush (old- not a current one, hehe). A wire brush.

 

As you might know from looking at my site, I am very dimensional so need to have multi densional yarns so love the different end results of them as they felt.

Using so many different kinds, I now can place them in my pieces and not have to shave as much but I do use the shaver for giving depth to the designs.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have had this problem too with colors muddying during the felting process. I have found a simple solution though, Shout color catcher cloths. The product is available in the laundry aisle. Basically it looks like a dryer sheet type thing, you toss it into the washer and it soaks up any of the dye floating around in the washer so that it doesn't get redeposited onto the fabrics. I think they work great, I use them every time I felt something with multiple colors and it makes a BIG difference in keeping the colors sharp and distinct.

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