I really enjoyed felting my hand knitted pieces when I first tried it… here’s my tutorial.Firstly create a test piece…
I always recommend testing your length of hand knit before you start a larger piece as shrinkage can be so unpredictable. I usually start by knitting a square length of around 10cm x 10cm as this gives me a round number to work out the shrinkage on my final project.
Put your square into the washing machine on a 60 degree cycle, adding washing detergent only. Once your square has been washed you can set it aside to dry overnight. You will notice that the surface has become quite fluffy already.
When the square is dry measure it again to see how much it has shrunk. For example if the square is now 5cm x 5cm (apart from having good shrinkage stability) you now know that the shrinkage of your yarn at that gauge is 50% and should therefore knit your final project 50% larger than the required dimensions.
TIP: The smaller the gauge (closer the stitches) the more felting will occur on the surface due to fibre tangling.
Once your testing has finished you are now ready to work on your project… I tried simple rectangles at first and embellished onto them… check out ‘Bubble Knit’ in my photo gallery, or at my website http://www.sarastexturecrafts.fusiveweb.co.uk/
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