the twisted yarn

Knitting, crochet, running, and silliness.

The Near-Disaster Of Felting The Knitted Bag

by 72 Comments

This blog post is jinxed, jinxed, I tell you. In the course of its making, I’ve broken the washing machine, over-shrunk a knitting project, mislaid an important piece of technology without which I couldn’t finish illustrating the post, and almost flooded part of the house. I drafted the first, pre-disaster, part of the post earlier. It went like this:-

Well, the Toddler Twinnage are abed, the Stoic Spouse is quietly playing ‘Live Forever’ on his guitar in the dark in another room, and I am sitting at the kitchen table nursing a goblet of wine and feeling nervous. It’s not the Stoic Spouse’s music that’s making me nervous, it’s the washing machine. Because for the first time ever, I’m having a go at felting my knitting, and now that the machine has started, I’m worried that the programme is too hot, too long, and that having started with a huge, floppy knitted bag, I’ll end up with a tiny woollen thimble that’s useful mostly for storing toenail clippings, should I ever become weird enough to do so. Yeah yeah, first world problems, I know.

Ah, to return to those semi-innocent times of mere hours ago, although as you can see, I wasn’t entirely confident that all would be well. But the washing machine was doing its stuff, and I was hopeful.

What could possibly go wrong with this?
What could possibly go wrong with this?

I’d knitted a bag, you see, from a lovely kit that was given to me by my departing psychotherapy trainee. I know this a swerve from the usual business of this blog, but I just wanted to mention it. The knitting was rapid and went well. The pattern is Circus Bag by The Mercerie, and the yarn supplied in the box is their own Yorkshire-produced aran-weight wool.

image

The result was an enormous, floppy sack, but it was designed to be felted so I didn’t worry too much. The yarn allowance in the kit was a smidgeon on the generous side, so I added a couple of extra stripes.

image

So far, so good, no?

Well, no, actually, because our normally cheery washing machine started beeping in distress, and I had to put down my wine and deal with this:-

:-(
🙁

Yup, my felting project had blocked the machine with fluffy gunk. So instead of cooing smugly over a lovely finished bag and showing off the little crocheted flower I’ve made to adorn it, I get to try and find the blimmin’ blockage. Thus far I’ve failed. So armed with advice from the internet, I’ve got to try and conduct some more serious minor surgery on the machine tomorrow. Because we’re potty-training the Toddler Twinnage at the moment and so one thing I really REALLY need in my life is a functioning washing machine.

Anyway, I’ve retrieved the soggy bag, and I’m not entirely on speaking terms with it. It’s……. quite small. Too big for the storage of toenail clippings, I’m happy to say, but maybe half the size it started out. Want a photo? Well when I’ve found my missing bit of technology then I’ll try and take one for my next blog post. Grrr…… (Actually, it is quite pretty, but I want to take a decent photo to do it justice.)

Can you tell that felting just isn’t going to be my ‘thing’, knitting-wise? Reckon I’ll go back to fairisle. 🙂

Comments

  1. The bag looks fab I love the mercerie designs and I’m sorry it appears to have damaged your washing machine. Felting is obviously Very Tricky. Good luck on the repair!

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  4. Yikes. You soynd (quite rightly) stressed out.
    May I suggest. ..more wine. Then haul OH off the sofa to fix the washing machine.
    Then more wine. Wirh choc biscuits.
    At least that’s what works for me! X

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  5. I hope your cute purse can be salvaged. Next time just use a pot of hot water and a wooden spoon to twirl the knitting around. I hope your washing machine isn’t too damaged.

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  6. Hope its fixed son. Will ask my friend Eileen about felting, she’s an expert
    Sounds awful, a washing machine, in working order, is definately up there on my list of things I don’t want to do without (though Bathroom is fast overtaking it – woodworm in the floor, discovered after plumber had removed all old bathroom!) Agree that more wine is probably called for!
    Hope its fixed v. soon, will try to remember toask my felting expert friend what method she uses

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  7. Sorry to hear this. It seems that disasters come in threes sometimes. After your bad day, maybe things will be smooth again, at least as much as possible with potty training going on . . .

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  8. Oooooooooh dear!! Potty training aside, a twinnage = washing machine necessity surely! Now I know I’m getting on in years and therefore am likely to be a bit out of the loop so to speak – but I did not know you could felt in a washing machine. Once-upon-a-time, long, long ago [etc] I did it on the stove top in a big jam making thingy that I forget the name of it was so long ago 🙂 This way you can keep an eye on temperature and do the required swirling with a big wooden spoon and also watch shrinkage and felting mass etc.. Plus still sip on the carafe of wine and write up the blog post between stirs and checks. Fingers crossed it all works out okay and the twinnage have clean underwear soon.

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  10. I did exactly the same thing and killed our washing machine 🙁 however I did learn 2 things – one, if using a washing machine always put items to be felted into a pillowcase and tie tightly which stops all the fibres escaping and two, my favourite – forget the washing machine and buy a deep, strong bucket and a sink plunger suction thingy, put hot soapy water in bucket and use plunger with abandon to felt knitted items!! It’s good exercise and also gives a lot more control over the felting process! Hope this helps.

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    • Ah, a plunger! That’s a genius idea. But I’m sorry about your dead washing machine, rest its poor soul. Sigh. Like you, I’ve learned my lesson (and I THINK our washing machine may have survived…)

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      • Bless your felted bag……the washing machine will be perfectly safe if you place your garment to be felted in a zipped pillow protector. Of course, it kinda ruins the pillow protector but better than messing with the washing machine. Be not afraid. You can do it again fortified with wine and hindsight.

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  12. Oh my. Sure hope the washer is salvageable. I was thinking of felting an old wool sweater but think I will boil it in hot water instead of using the washer. Good luck on the potty training.

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  13. OK. This jinx thing. How powerful is it? Is it safe for me to merely read the post on the other side of the world? If not, it would explain my endless unpicking of bad sewing this morning and absolute inability to master a gathering line for a skirt.
    Good luck with finding the blockage in the washing machine, the missing technology (which hopefully isn’t causing the blockage in the washing machine) and potty training (first, catch your potty.)

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    • Ooooh, I’d say it’s pretty powerful. I know you’re only reading this…. and you’re a long way away…. so the jinx will be weakened somewhat… we’re probably talking slight-paper-cut level of disaster rather than complete Armageddon. If I’m responsible for your sewing stress, I sincerely apologise.

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    • Steeking is fine. Steeking is easy (as long as you close your ears to the stitches as they scream when you’re cutting them). But felting…. Well let’s just say that I’ll leave it to the experts from now on.

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  18. Seeing as we have had a horrible streak of bad luck anyways I will risk commenting! When I felt in the washing machine I put the item in a pillowcase with a hair elastic holding it tight. That keeps the fluff in the pillowcase and saves the machine.

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    • You’re far more sensible than I am, and your washing machine will probably have a long and happy life compared with mine. But seriously, thank you for the idea. That would have made all the difference. Oh well, I’ve learned my lesson.

      Wishing you some good luck.

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  23. Oh no! That does sound dreadful. But I hope it doesn’t cause you to give up on felting altogether–it’s so fun to see the end product. It takes some trial and error to figure out how much something will felt, but I love how it erases any imperfections or mistakes in the knitting. I’ve had to move onto hand felting because my washer doesn’t agitate enough to felt things well, so give that a go if you’re brave. It’s cathartic to take the wet knitting and throw it against the sink or beat it with a spoon (or even take it outside and whack it against the side of the house). Anyway, good luck with the washer…and the potty-training!

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  24. Oh no! I am so sorry to be laughing at you misfortune but… put down your wine… hahahaha. I know exactly that feeling.
    I’ve never been brave enough to machine felt. But I adore the color combo! That orange stripe is a fantastic addition.
    Good Luck!

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  25. Oh dear. Hope you get your machine fixed successfully. Not something I’d want to be without and I’ve only got a husband to wash for.
    I’d agree with other commenters on the ‘using a pillowcase’ for felting too. Anything I’ve crocheted that needs washing or felting gets sewed into an old pillowcase before being lobbed into the machine. It protects both the crochet and the machine 🙂

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  27. Love this post. I have a washing machine I’ve been trying to kill for the last 4 years. A big felted project might just work. Thank you.

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  29. Oh what a desaster! I love felting… but it is the only crafting technique I didn’t learn autodidactic cause I always was afraid of the result. I knitfelted some slippers in my washing machine without problems – I did it 40°C, like coloured clothes, only with washing powder – without liquid detergent and absolutely without any fabric softener; and additionally I always put 2 spiky massage balls in the machine too… until now I had never problems with the wool or fluff. Perhaps the reason was this special wool?

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  30. Felting, Fairisle, all of the “F’s” methinks tangled into one. I once watched Hugh Fearnley (another fine “F” of a man 😉 ) Whittingstall and a couple of wonderfully hairy legged hippy girls felt some wool that Mr Whittingstall had been collecting his pee for. I can’t remember exactly why he was collecting his pee for this project but it had something to do with dying or other but the end result was wool that had been peed on, thrashed to within an inch of it’s life, rolled, folded, squeezed, hand wrung, carded etc. and that ended up as a very unusual looking hat if my memory serves me correctly. Around about then I relegated my interest in felting to the “F” basket.

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  31. Oh dear. Hmm. I’ve never had a blockage while felting, but I suppose it could happen. Good thing to watch out for. Louet Euroflax sport really sheds in the washer too.

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  32. Oh noes! I hope the bag turns out ok. I am very scared of felting…I know there are tons of useful books etc. out there but I already have gauge issues so it seems like tempting fate…

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  34. …and my husband’s managed to professionally felt all manner of things I’ve knitted I’ve the years without pillow cases or damage to the washing machine. Damage to him now, when a cardigan I’ve slaved over is suddenly too small for the baby…..Hmm

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  35. I felt crochet in my washing machine and (touch wood) haven’t had any problems yet! I use Drops Eskimo which felts beautifully at 40 degrees, plus it’s super chunky so it works up quickly! It’s important to use a low spin so the wool is still damp then you can pull it into the right size and shape and let it dry out slowly. I wonder if an aggressive spin cycle would spin out more fibres and increase the risk of clogging. Hmm. Have no idea really! Just guessing! I think I’ll start using in a pillow case though.

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  36. Just joined your followers, so this comment is a little after the fact. However, I have a couple of suggestions – you have a front-loading washer by the look of it – when I moved from a top loader to a front loader, felting got very difficult. With a top-loader you can check the progress of felting without stopping the entire process – just take stuff out and check it, and if it still needs more, put it back. So I bought something called a “Wonder Washer” which is a “portable” small washing machine, designed for use in campers, etc. [got mine from Amazon] and works perfectly for felting. Whether or not there is something like this in Britain [I think that’s where you live???] I don’t know, but check into it. I love felting, and have made numerous purses, bowls, vases, etc. It’s a great way to use up small amounts of 100% wool. Anyway enjoy your blog, and will keep following you.

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