Felting

pug · 06-22-2006, 09:32 PM

Just finished my first two projects a toddler sweater (first sweater ever!) and a pair of socks. I am now thinking about trying to do a booga bag. Is the felting process difficult? All of the bags I have seen on this website are beautiful. I know you have to use wool yarn, but is there one better than the other.
I don't know too much about different yarns. I mainly have only done things with worsted weight.
I just love looking at this website seeing all the neat projects and reading all the posts.

Hildegard_von_Knittin · 06-23-2006, 02:42 AM

Felting is great! It hides a multitude of sins :-) Here's a sum of my felting experiences:

Noro: felts smoothly, but is very flimsy
Lamb's Pride: sturdy, VERY fuzzy
Wool of the Andes (from knitpicks): Sturdy, fuzzy, takes a long time to felt.
Cascade 220: sturd-ish, smooth, felts fast
Merino style: very soft and pliable, flexible, felts faster than WOTA, not as fast as cascade.

Jan in CA · 06-23-2006, 02:44 AM

Felting is very easy. After your bag is made you toss it in a pillow case and put a rubber band around it or you can use a zippered laundry bag (my choice). You use HOT water, a little detergent, and a pair of jeans. I usually have the water at about medium level. Set the washer for 10 min and then stop it and check. If it's not done reset the washer and do it again. Don't let it run through a cycle till it's the way you want. Depending on the wool it can felt in 10 min or it might take 30 or more.

Oh and I have a top loader. If you have a front loader you'll have to wait for another response because it works a little differently.

I've used Knitpicks WOTA and Cascade 220. Both worked just fine.

Jax3303 · 06-23-2006, 12:37 PM

Felting is very simple and easy. I've felted with a bunch of yarns, Noro, lambs pride, WOTA, cascade 220. and the one that felted the easiest and fastest was the WOTA. It felted in only 2 cycles in my washer, all the others took at least 3, and the noro took 4 (plus some cold water shocking). the only good thing about noro kuyeyon is the pretty colorways. it's rough and a bitch to felt (and I've used it on 3 felting projects, i'll never waste my money on it again. it's had it's chance with me). Lambs pride felts really well, but it is really fuzzy too. I suggest using either WOTA or Cascade 220. Using WOTA will keep your project cost really down, so you can afford to make several boogas with WOTA for the cost of one booga made with kureyon.

Andrea · 06-23-2006, 12:40 PM

And although some might not ever felt Malabrigo, I have and it is the fastest felting and sturdiest wool I've ever seen!!! And it's still gorgeous felted!!

becjo · 06-23-2006, 06:51 PM

I'm glad to see this topic - I'm getting ready to felt my first bag - a Booga bag. I'm kinda nervous though because I used the Noro and the comment about how bad it was

Oh, well - it's worth the try.

But, let me understand - I dont let it drain and go through the whole process - I have to stop the washing machine each time? I'm not sure how to do this (How lame does that sound - I'm not domestic at all!) - once I stop it and restart it - will it let the first load of water out and refill? how does this work?

CarmenIbanez · 06-23-2006, 08:06 PM

Originally Posted by becjo

I'm glad to see this topic - I'm getting ready to felt my first bag - a Booga bag. I'm kinda nervous though because I used the Noro and the comment about how bad it was

Oh, well - it's worth the try.

But, let me understand - I dont let it drain and go through the whole process - I have to stop the washing machine each time? I'm not sure how to do this (How lame does that sound - I'm not domestic at all!) - once I stop it and restart it - will it let the first load of water out and refill? how does this work?

I'm glad you asked that because I do laundry all the time and was also confused! Jan, can you clarify for us newbie felters?

Ingrid · 06-23-2006, 08:10 PM

What I do is just open the top and check. If it's not felted enough, then I reset the dial back to the beginning of the cycle. It shouldn't fill any more, but just start agitating from the beginning.

CarmenIbanez · 06-23-2006, 08:37 PM

Okay, that makes sense!

Julie · 06-23-2006, 11:55 PM

That's what I do too :D

And I have to add that I never would have felted Malabrigo, unti I saw Andrea's Lucy bag...I had the same colorway at home, and it was sooo

that I had to make the same bag. I agree that it felts beautifully, and is sooo gorgeous....

My favorite felting wool texture-wise is Araucania Nature Wool. It felts very quickly and gets the neatest nubby texture.