Felting advice

I'm about to take my Lopi wool, some of which I Kool-Aid dyed to yummy
colours, and crochet it into hooded scarves. I then want to felt them.

I've read as many old rcty posts on felting as I could find, and I gather I
should make the piece about 30% bigger than I want the finished article to
be.

Can someone confirm this for me before I start and have kid-sized hoods
instead of adult-sized?

Thanks, and I'm open to any and all advice on felting you wise souls have.

--
Michelle in St. John's
NL, Canada

You should make a swatch and full it to see how that yarn behaves when
made up using whatever stitch. Make note of the # of stitches, the
size after casting off, and the size after fulling. Armed with this
information you can reverse engineer the finished product to be any
size you like.

On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 11:50:32 GMT, "Michelle"
wrote:

I'm about to take my Lopi wool, some of which I Kool-Aid dyed to yummy
colours, and crochet it into hooded scarves. I then want to felt them.

I've read as many old rcty posts on felting as I could find, and I gather I
should make the piece about 30% bigger than I want the finished article to
be.

Can someone confirm this for me before I start and have kid-sized hoods
instead of adult-sized?

Thanks, and I'm open to any and all advice on felting you wise souls have.

"Michelle" wrote in message
...
I'm about to take my Lopi wool, some of which I Kool-Aid dyed to yummy
colours, and crochet it into hooded scarves. I then want to felt them.

Oh, itch. I sure hope the Lopi softens up after felting. Ick, ick, ick.
My head is just crawling thinking of it on someone's head. This is nothing
personal Michelle - I'm just not a fan of Lopi yarn. (grin) It's the
scratchiest wool I've ever put my hands on.

Shelagh

I've read as many old rcty posts on felting as I could find, and I gather I
should make the piece about 30% bigger than I want the finished article to
be.

Usually felted items shrink anything between 25-50%. Finnish magazines
say that when knitting with "Huopanen", the items shrink approx. 40%.

Johanna

--
Johanna Koski
Finland, Europe

Shillelagh wrote in message
...

Oh, itch. I sure hope the Lopi softens up after felting. Ick, ick, ick.
My head is just crawling thinking of it on someone's head. This is
nothing
personal Michelle - I'm just not a fan of Lopi yarn. (grin) It's the
scratchiest wool I've ever put my hands on.

Shelagh

It doesn't seem extraordinarily itchy; I had to rewind three of the skeins
after dyeing and they didn't irritate my hands like some other wools I've
used. BUT I do think the two skeins of Lopi I purchased in raspberry and
violet (rather than natural and Kool Aid dyed) will be itchy.... I may use
those colours for the scarf ends that will be thrown back over the
shoulders. I wonder if the dyeing process softened them... they do seem
somehow fluffier than the pre-coloured skeins.

I've got (well, my oldest DD now has) two accidentally fulled wool sweaters,
and both of them had softened a lot after my DH (don't know if the D is dear
or da*n, for that) took them out of the dryer!

Plus I believe the hooded scarves will not so much 'hug' the head like a hat
but offer a more looser fit. That may make them itch less.

The few unfelted wool hats I've had I haven't been able to wear; like you
find, they were too itchy. I'm thinking the fulled wool may act
differently.


--
Michelle in St. John's
NL, Canada

Johanna Koski wrote in message
...

I've read as many old rcty posts on felting as I could find, and I
gather I
should make the piece about 30% bigger than I want the finished article
to
be.

Usually felted items shrink anything between 25-50%. Finnish magazines
say that when knitting with "Huopanen", the items shrink approx. 40%.

Johanna

--
Johanna Koski
Finland, Europe

Thank you, Johanna... I shall keep that in mind!


--
Michelle in St. John's
NL, Canada

Slinky wrote in message
...
You should make a swatch and full it to see how that yarn behaves when
made up using whatever stitch. Make note of the # of stitches, the
size after casting off, and the size after fulling. Armed with this
information you can reverse engineer the finished product to be any
size you like.


Yes, that is obviously the best way to judge what I need.

Thanks!

--
Michelle in St. John's
NL, Canada