Another felted tote

[jmccrochet]

I made this one out of Patons SWS (again, went through a lengthy process and I had read this felts fast, must be my crummy apartment washer)

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking

 

Joyce

[newthingcrochet]

WOW! Really pretty!

[losingmymind2]

Very nice, I love the colors. What do you add to the water? I had to experiment to find that a dribble of plain dishwashing liquid and some baking soda works best for me in the soft water here. But when I lived with very very hard well water, it took just a lot of baking soda.

[jmccrochet]

Very nice, I love the colors. What do you add to the water? I had to experiment to find that a dribble of plain dishwashing liquid and some baking soda works best for me in the soft water here. But when I lived with very very hard well water, it took just a lot of baking soda.

 

I used dishsoap, I used baking soda, I did some hand felting, I used vinegar, I used my dryer on high. I did everything. For whatever reason felting in my home takes FOREVER. I'm thinking it may be an overly abused washer that doesn't have real good agitation. I had a shoe and some jeans in with it. I just don't know what the problem was. I was really looking forward to this one not taking as long as the first one (I used hdc instead of dc which I used in my first bag). SIGH. Maybe my water's too hard? I just don't know. I'll keep experimenting though

 

Joyce

[angelfire]

love the colors. It looks like a strawberry swirl cheesecake...I must be hungry

[jmccrochet]

love the colors. It looks like a strawberry swirl cheesecake...I must be hungry

 

LOL. Funny thing is, when I took it with me today a girl at work had on, I kid you NOT, the EXACT same colors in a lovely see-through shirt with a tank top and khaki skirt. It matched her to perfection today and she tried to convince me it was a sign but I was like , not with what i went through to get it done

 

Joyce

[misssmaggie]

So pretty...great colors !!! Thanks for sharing!

[tobybob]

Very Pretty! What pattern did you use? I've never felted, but I wonder if your water is hot enough?

[jmccrochet]

Very Pretty! What pattern did you use? I've never felted, but I wonder if your water is hot enough?

 

I morphed the Lion Brand market tote pattern to make it. My water may not be hot enough but it sure feels hot enough

 

Joyce

[cherokee]

I had the same problem and my remedy was to put a pot of water on the stove and let it get hot as the washer filled up and when it started agitation I poured the hot water in. My bag felted in 15 minutes. The water did not reach boiling but it was very very hot.

Try re-felting it and add very hot water and do it on a small cylce. All I added to my water was about 1 cup baking soda and regular clothes detergent. See if it felts with the hot water and let us know how it worked. Good Luck..... I will be posting my purse I felted yesterday, later on today so you can see how well it felted by adding the hot water. The yarn I used was Lions Wool I bought at Walmart.

[JCB]

I used dishsoap, I used baking soda, I did some hand felting, I used vinegar, I used my dryer on high. I did everything. For whatever reason felting in my home takes FOREVER. I'm thinking it may be an overly abused washer that doesn't have real good agitation. I had a shoe and some jeans in with it. I just don't know what the problem was. I was really looking forward to this one not taking as long as the first one (I used hdc instead of dc which I used in my first bag). SIGH. Maybe my water's too hard? I just don't know. I'll keep experimenting though

 

Joyce

Hi Joyce..

 

Your bag turned out great!

 

With regard to your machine, I suspect that they may have the hot water turned down to save $$, which is why it takes your machine longer. In the case of the Paton's SWS, that's probably a good thing. Would you be able to carry a large pot of boiling water to your machine?

 

I love the Paton's SWS but I just don't like the way it felts up for me. It gets all those little bumps, which I've decided I don't like. Maybe if I turned my hot water heater down low before I felted with it I might like it better.

 

Joan

[alibra]

Oh I really like that, it came out beautifully!

[baxjul]

That is gorgeous! My favoite colors too!

[jmccrochet]

Hi Joyce..

 

Your bag turned out great!

 

With regard to your machine, I suspect that they may have the hot water turned down to save $$, which is why it takes your machine longer. In the case of the Paton's SWS, that's probably a good thing. Would you be able to carry a large pot of boiling water to your machine?

 

I love the Paton's SWS but I just don't like the way it felts up for me. It gets all those little bumps, which I've decided I don't like. Maybe if I turned my hot water heater down low before I felted with it I might like it better.

 

Joan

 

Thanks Joan. I don't know that I'm in love with the SWS either as I think you can see too much stitch definition still. It may be the hot water isn't up hot enough, but I did pour boiling water in the machine a few times and let it soak in a large bowl in boiling water for a while. I really just can't figure out what I'm doing wrong, or what is wrong with my process but I will definitely keep trying. I'm making a friend a bag and we'll use her washer to see how it goes. I wouldn't know how to turn the hot water to my washer up, I typically don't use it and I've never turned it down. Thanks for the suggestion too. I promise I'll keep trying 'til I figure it out.

 

Thanks all for the nice comments.

 

Joyce