basin felting, bathtub gin

[fox]

So the felt thing is a wee project for my mother's birthday, a change-purse thing.  I'm going for about three and a half inches square.  I knit a piece yesterday and tried to shrink it in the bathroom sink, because using the washing machine is not on when laundry is $1.50 a load.  (I don't want to put it in with my regular laundry because it's red and not at all colorfast, and would ruin even a load of darks.)  Sadly, I completely overestimated how much it would shrink using the hand-felting method, and I can still see the stitches and some gaps between them and so on.  Feh.

This evening I made a smaller piece, and it's felting up much more nicely.  I think because it's easier for me to agitate.  It's about halfway to as dense as I'd like it, I think; it's soaking in a hot bath right now while I take a break.  :-D

[eta:  thingie is now happily drying on a "form" which is a lotion bottle on which it fits perfectly and, huzzah, symmetrically.]

Comments

[mamadeb.livejournal.com]

I haven't tried felting anything yet, but I'm told that a toilet plunger works wonders.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

I believe it. If it looks like I'm going to do this a lot, I may get a little sink-sized plunger (and never use it in the toilet [g]); for now I'm doing okay with the soak-and-wring approach. (Pruning my fingers all to pieces, though.)

[wordplay.livejournal.com]

You know, you could come over and felt in my washing machine. I even have the little zippered pillowcase doo-dah. Just a thought.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

[notes this for future, esp. as will shortly live 20 miles closer than now do]