Knitted Felt
I have felt and this time it is intentional.
Yesterday, I finished bound off my piece of knit fabric that was to become knitted felt and promptly tossed it in the washing machine with lots of soap. Actually, I put it in a lingerie bag just in case the worst happened. The first pass through the washing machine felted the piece slightly and made it very, very fuzzy.
The fuzz is due to both the fleece and the spinning. The fiber I'm using for this piece has lots of short cuts and fuzzy stuff. The spinning job was very hasty and I didn't take the time to incorporate or remove all the short stuff. After all, the piece was to be felted and I wanted some fuzzies hanging out to felt.
Anyhow, the knit piece didn't felt adequately on the first pass. I've heard that alpaca thirds don't felt well. Guard hair in the thirds and various other reasons have been given. At this point in the process, I was a little worried because of the "won't felt" stories I've heard about thirds, but then I remembered that Sindre's topknot felts right on his head. I had some felting, so I decided to persevere.
My next attempt at felting was to work the piece in hot, soapy, water with my hands. When the various instructions say lots of soap and not much water, follow them. The felt works better if it's damp, not really wet. Soap really helps. I worked the felt with my hands using a sheet pan to contain the water. When my hands tired, I used a potato masher and pounded on the felt. I could feel the change in the fabric as I worked it.
When I finished working the felt with my hands, I put it back through the washing machine, and then tumbled it to half-damp in the dryer. I got considerable shrinkage while working the fabric with my hands, and a little more in the last washing / drying step.
The felt is still very fuzzy, although not like it was after the first washing. I think much of the fuzzy fiber is guard hair, but I can't be sure. I can see that there is some guard hair sticking through the piece rather than being felted in. Most of the fibers sticking out of the fabric are almost straight which is typical of guard hair and unlike the typically curly or kinky huacaya fiber. I like the piece of knitted felt fabric I have created. The only problem I have with it is that I think I want the soles of my slippers to be twice as thick as this fabric.
Right now, it's sitting on my desk and I'm thinking about the next step. The question is which pair of slippers is the better candidate be ripped to a pattern.
Yesterday, I finished bound off my piece of knit fabric that was to become knitted felt and promptly tossed it in the washing machine with lots of soap. Actually, I put it in a lingerie bag just in case the worst happened. The first pass through the washing machine felted the piece slightly and made it very, very fuzzy.
The fuzz is due to both the fleece and the spinning. The fiber I'm using for this piece has lots of short cuts and fuzzy stuff. The spinning job was very hasty and I didn't take the time to incorporate or remove all the short stuff. After all, the piece was to be felted and I wanted some fuzzies hanging out to felt.
Anyhow, the knit piece didn't felt adequately on the first pass. I've heard that alpaca thirds don't felt well. Guard hair in the thirds and various other reasons have been given. At this point in the process, I was a little worried because of the "won't felt" stories I've heard about thirds, but then I remembered that Sindre's topknot felts right on his head. I had some felting, so I decided to persevere.
My next attempt at felting was to work the piece in hot, soapy, water with my hands. When the various instructions say lots of soap and not much water, follow them. The felt works better if it's damp, not really wet. Soap really helps. I worked the felt with my hands using a sheet pan to contain the water. When my hands tired, I used a potato masher and pounded on the felt. I could feel the change in the fabric as I worked it.
When I finished working the felt with my hands, I put it back through the washing machine, and then tumbled it to half-damp in the dryer. I got considerable shrinkage while working the fabric with my hands, and a little more in the last washing / drying step.
The felt is still very fuzzy, although not like it was after the first washing. I think much of the fuzzy fiber is guard hair, but I can't be sure. I can see that there is some guard hair sticking through the piece rather than being felted in. Most of the fibers sticking out of the fabric are almost straight which is typical of guard hair and unlike the typically curly or kinky huacaya fiber. I like the piece of knitted felt fabric I have created. The only problem I have with it is that I think I want the soles of my slippers to be twice as thick as this fabric.
Right now, it's sitting on my desk and I'm thinking about the next step. The question is which pair of slippers is the better candidate be ripped to a pattern.
posted by Upper Alpacas | 8:12 PM
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