Monday, December 31, 2007

Felting Party DISASTER

We had the felting party Saturday night...the food was delicious (stuffed shells, salad and homemade rolls) but the felting went terribly wrong! I must say I have learned from my mistakes. The first thing that I did wrong was to put all four pairs of clogs in one zippered pillow case. The second thing that was very bad was adding my son's comforter to the mix. Usually I felt with sheets in the washer and everything so far has turned out well, except this time...when it counted the most :( I now know the items to be felted need lots of room to move around in the washer. Sorry no photos of the felting process as I was very disgusted!! After the first ten minutes I checked on the clogs. Some were felted. Some were not at all! One of J's was felted and the top of the slipper was felted to the bottom. I had to pull them apart. Same thing happened with one of N's slippers. I then tried 10 more minutes. Still not right. Finally, I removed the comforter and things went better. Only two pairs to the bag though. In the end they are ok, but I'm not at all happy with the finished results, not perfect...but they should be wearable. Lesson learned: Only felt one pair at a time and make sure the item has lots of room to move around. Now I'm waiting for them to dry so I can sew on the non-skid soles.

Here's another DW dishcloth...I love this pattern; I don't think I'll ever tire knitting these!
Then, I finished another corner to corner cloth using leftovers of two color ways that I had previously made DW cloths with.
Now this in my latest project:
A DW dishtowel!....which is actually six DW cloths knitted together. I really think I'm going to love this towel. The yarn is 100% cotton millend (one pound) from AC Moore. It looks like the striped yarn (Sugar 'n Cream stripes) that I've been dying to try.

Next on my list...I need to wind my beautiful sock yarn from Jeanne into a ball...then I going start knitting my socks. Can't wait!

I certainly hope everyone will have a very happy New Year!
Lots of happy knitting in 2008 :)

22 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm sorry your felting didn't turn out the way you wanted. I'm sure they'll be fine in the end though.
    I love the DW towel...what a great idea. I need some more towels around here. The handknit ones are so much better than any store bought.
    I hear a lot about AC Moore, I so wish we had one here.
    Hope you have a wonderful New Year!
    Hugs!

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  2. oh no! sorry about that felting gone bad. they were still knitted with much love and that they still can be worn..PHEW! your dishcloths are beautiful -- the stripes for the towel worked out great. happy knitting back at ya and very very happy new year!!

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  3. Oh I'm so sorry you weren't happy with the felting! : ( They do look nice in the picture.

    That's a neat dishtowel! I have yet to come across any of that striping cotton yarn live and in person : (

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  4. I'm sorry that your felting party didn't go as planned. I love the new dishcloths and the towel is looking awesome!!!

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  5. sorry about the sad felting.
    I love your cloths and the towel is awesome.... can you give me more details about how you did it? (DW is my fav dishcloth pattern)

    The stripes are cool. I bought 1 small skein I have yet to try.

    Happy Knitting and Knew year ;-)

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  6. The slippers all look great in the photo! You'd never know there was a problem during the felting process. I'm still highly impressed.

    I love the cloths but especially the towel! It's gorgeous!

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  7. Sorry the felting didn't go well - but the slippers look like they ultimately turned out well. Love the dishclothes and the towel! Happy New Year!

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  8. oh no... that stinks about the felting party! you are probably the only one that would notice any problems, though.

    your dishtowel is looking great! those stripes are so pretty. : )

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  9. Oh! I'm sorry your felting party was less than perfect. They look good in the photo though. :) I especially like the top black/blue ones. And I'll take some notes from your book on the felting process, if I ever decide to make some clogs. :)

    Happy 2008!

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  10. oh no. :( so sorry to hear the felting party didn't go as planned. you did get something out of it though-you learned how to felt correctly. it's unfortunate the clogs didn't turn out as well as you had hoped but at least they're wearable.
    ooh, the latest dw cloth is pretty! I also love the dw dishtowel! nice striping. :)

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  11. I'm so sorry about your felting party! :( I love the DW cloth, and towel too!

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  12. i hate to hear that about your felting party! :( it is so frustraing to know you have gone to that much trouble and then have the washing/felting process give you trouble! you can't tell in the pciture...they look great! i am so glad they are still wearable - that part is great! your discloths look great as usual!

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  13. Sorry that the felting was more trying than usual. I've never tried to felt more than one or two things at a time, so I wouldn't have been ready for that either. Glad the items turned out okay, anyway. Happy New Year To You:)

    Ang

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  14. Felting is a science. It surprises me all the time. Some yarns felt just by a touch of moisture, and others will need to get through the w.m. several times.
    Your towel looks real nice, will be nice to know how it holds up. Have fun knitting your socks!

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  15. Ahhh thanks for those priceless felting tips, lol, it's one of my goals for 2008 to learn to felt something. I have need too scared to try.

    I love the DW towel too...we have an AC Moore and I think i will send someone to see if they sell that yarn there. I love the striped look alot.

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  16. The wonderful thing about those felted clogs is that you can have disaster with them and they still turn out wearable. I am in the process of making me a new pair, the old pair I have worn holes in the bottom.

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  17. wow, bummer about the felting mishap, but felting seems to be such a 'fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants' kind of thing, I guess you can expect problems. I had a less than satisfactory experience with it too!

    However, your DW towel is looking really marvelous!!! Where did you get that cool yarn?! Love the colors!

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  18. I'm sorry about your felting. I just made my first pair of clogs, but like you said I only did one pair at a time.
    Oh I love the DW pattern, and what a great idea for the towel. I would never have known that was two different yarns. I found another cloth I love knitting and it is very fast, the waffle knit cloth from Homespun Living.

    Hugs!!!!

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  19. Ooooo....I've had felting disasters too. I felted a purse and the insides felted together. I guess the mesh bag I put it in to felt it was too small and it couldn't move around enough. Next time I think I'll try a pillow case?? Live and learn!

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  20. Oooh, bummer about the felting disaster. I always felt with 5-6 tennis balls and it works great. Looks like everything came out well in the end. I'm going to have to give the DW pattern a try!

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  21. Love the clogs. Terrific job. I probably would of got tired after the first pair.
    I also love the dishcloths. The corner to corner one, what pattern is that? It looks like Grandma's favorite but without the holds on the sides.

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  22. Sorry about the felting difficulties :( The clogs look great, though! Hope you are having fun with your new notebook!

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