Washing Kureyon

Aby · 08-03-2005, 08:16 PM

I've decided to knit a pretty scarf out of my 2 skeins of Kureyon. I saw a pattern where the person had done a scarf and then threw it in the washer and it turned out to be GORGEOUS... otherwise, I wouldn't waste such a wonderful yarn on a scarf. Question I have though is this. My washer is only hooked up for cold water. If I throw the scarf in there, will it felt? I know I've been told that the felting comes from the aggitation and not so much the temp of the water.. but I SOOOOO don't want to ruin this. Will it felt?

Ingrid · 08-04-2005, 01:23 AM

I've only felted one thing, but everything I've read recommends hot water. Can you just fill the tub of the washer with hot water from the sink? Don't let it spin out in case you have to run it longer.

kimmie · 08-04-2005, 01:30 AM

Agitation is important, but you also need the shock of different temperatures - first hot and then cold. I know that many people hand felt, so I'm just guessing you could do it with hot water in your sink and alot of elbow grease. OR...what if you filled up your washing machine with hot water from the tap and let the machine take over from that point? Somebody else probably has much better advice than I do.
kimmie

KellyK · 08-04-2005, 02:47 AM

Wait...do you WANT it to felt??

kemp · 08-04-2005, 12:58 PM

Also keep in mind that it will shrink...if you didn't alreay plan for that it could be a problem. Also when you felt on purpose, you usually have a very loose gauge.

koolbreeze · 08-04-2005, 03:02 PM

i thought felting only occured with hot water and aggitation. could you go to someone's house and do it there?

Aby · 08-04-2005, 08:17 PM

:thinking: POOP! okay I totally forgot about the shrinking part.. though which way will it shrink? Width wise or length wise? I don't want the scarf to end up being shorter.

I saw it here http://colorjoy.com/weblog/archives/000407.html

If you scroll down, you will see the scarf. The caption reads "This Noro Kureyon scarf was knit on the diagonal. The yarn just looks wonderful fluffed up after washing! He actually used two different colorways but you can't really tell, they were related enough to just look variegated in long repeats. I love this scarf. I don't love knitting with this yarn, but I must admit it feels a lot nicer after it has been washed a few times."

kemp · 08-04-2005, 08:19 PM

it seems like the stuff I have felted has shrunk more in height than width, but I've only done purses and clogs. Maybe someone can comment if they've felted something long like that. How long is it now?

Aby · 08-04-2005, 08:20 PM

I just started it last night, so about 5-6 inches. So, it wouldn't be a big deal to frog it at this point.

kemp · 08-04-2005, 09:30 PM

ok, well I would probably figure out how long and how wide you want it to end up and increase that by 1/3...and make sure to use bigger needles than you normally would so it is loose.