Picture yourself felting your kniting

It starts out very slowly with simplesquares that are felted by hand, moving on toscarves, belts, bags, pillows, a blanket, a hat andother projects that will inspire you to try new knitt

© 2008 Sarah E White

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007939364 ISBN-13: 978-1-59863-485-3

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T hanks go first to my and mother, who together taught me how tograndmother

knit, and all the other crafty ladies in my life

who instilled in me from an early age a love for

things handmade It was their influence that led

me to believe that living a creative life—as well as

making a living through my creativity—was possible

Thanks also to my father, my in-laws, and all my

friends who didn’t press when I didn’t answer

questions about how the book was going

While writing this book often felt like a solitary

affair, no one works alone Thank you, Megan

Belanger, for having the idea that became this

book, and for believing that I could do it Kate

Shoup and Rita Greenfeder were wise and

thought-ful editors, and I hope I was gracious in accepting

their help

Everyone I worked with at Cengage was supportive,

helpful, and understanding Thank you for your

skill, your creativity, and your passion for

publish-ing Having worked in publishing for several years

before writing this book, I understand everything

I put you through in ways that most authors don’t,

and truly appreciate everything you did for me and

for this book

Thank you to the readers of About Knitting, who

consistently remind me that people are still ested in the ancient art of knitting, even in thesemodern days You are always challenging me tostretch and try new things, and I have learnedmore from you than you can imagine

inter-Most importantly, however, I thank my husband,Nick, whose support is what made the writing ofthis book possible From cooking dinner almostnightly to give me more knitting time to allowing

me to quit my workaday job and pursue my dream

of freelance writing, he has been my moral, physical, and technological support throughoutthis book and our marriage Maybe someday you’llwrite a book and I can return the favor

Sarah E WhiteDecember 2007

S arah E Whiteand is the Guide to Knitting at About.com There, she writes about all aspects of the craft In addition tois a freelance writer and editor living in Arkansas She learned to knit at an early ageknitting, she enjoys sewing, beading, making candles, and paper crafts This is her first book.

Table of Contents

Introduction xi

Chapter 1 Introduction to Felting 1

What Is Felting? 2

A Brief History of Knitting and Felting 3

Why Are Knitting and Felting So Popular? 4

Don’t Be Afraid of Felting! 6

Chapter 2 How Felting Works 9

Why Animal Fiber Felts 10

Choosing Fibers 12

The Felting Process 13

A Knitting Refresher 14

Casting On 14

The Knit Stitch 18

The Purl Stitch 19

Increasing 21

Decreasing 22

Binding Off 22

Weaving in Ends 24

Chapter 3 Felting by Hand 27

How to Felt by Hand 28

Supplies for Felting by Hand 28

Felted Coasters 30

One-Color Coasters 31

Two-Color Coasters 32

Narrow-Stripe Coasters 33

Checkerboard Coasters 34

Two-Color Horizontal Stripe Coasters 35

Color-Block Coasters 36

Getting Ready to Felt 38

Steps for Felting by Hand 38

The Felting Process 39

When Is It Done? 40

Knitting Skills 42

Knitting Stripes 42

Knitting Multiple Stripes 42

Stranded Knitting 43

Color-Block Knitting 44

Chapter 4 Felting by Machine 47

How to Felt by Machine 48

Supplies for Machine Felting 48

Knitting the Variegated Scarf 50

Felting the Scarves 52

Getting Ready to Felt by Machine 52

The Felting Process 53

Knitting Skills 55

Starting a New Ball of Yarn 55

Unleash the Felting Magic! 57

Chapter 5 Felting Tips 59

Tips for Choosing Yarn 60

Hand-Felting Tips 62

Machine-Felting Tips 63

Caring for Felted Items 65

Choosing Projects for Felting 66

Chapter 6 Felting Patterns 69

Felted Rose 70

Materials 70

Gauge and Measurements 70

Instructions 71

Fibonacci Striped Belt 73

Materials 73

Gauge and Measurements 73

Instructions 74

Striped Envelope Purse 76

Materials 76

Gauge and Measurements 76

Instructions 77

Multi-colored Placemat 79

Materials 79

Gauge and Measurements 79

Instructions 80

Felted Pillow 81

Materials 81

Gauge and Measurements 81

Instructions 82

Dresser Tray 85

Materials 85

Gauge and Measurements 85

Instructions 86

Funky Vegas Tote Bag 88

Materials 88

Gauge and Measurements 88

Instructions 89

Felted Baby Blanket 92

Materials 92

Gauge and Measurements 92

Instructions 93

Felted Fish Cat Toy 95

Materials 95

Gauge and Measurements 95

Instructions 96

Felted Bucket Hat 99

Materials 99

Gauge and Measurements 99

Instructions 100

Knitting Skills 102

Mattress Stitch 102

Picking Up Stitches 103

Chapter 7 Needle Felting 105

What Is Needle Felting? 106

Needle-Felting Tools 107

Basic Needle-Felting Projects 108

Other Needle-Felting Practice Ideas 110

Needle-Felting Tips 113

Needle-Felting Embellished Bag 114

Monogrammed Gift Bag 120

Chapter 8 Other Ways to Felt 125

About Wet Felting 126

Making a Felted Ball 126

Wet-Felted Clutch 128

A Felted Flower 131

Other Ideas for Wet Felting 133

Felting Sweaters 134

The Easiest Bag Ever 135

Felted Computer Sleeve 136

Felted Wine Bag 138

More Sweater-Felting Ideas 141

Chapter 9 Design Your Own Felting Patterns 143

Why Design Your Own Patterns? 144

The Importance of Gauge 145

Making and Felting a Gauge Swatch 145

Doing the Math 147

How to Write Your Own Pattern 148

Messenger Bag Pattern 150

Chapter 10 Knitting Resources and Swatches 153

Knitting Resources 154

Learning to Knit 154

Helpful Knitting Books 154

Knit and Felted Swatches 155

Chapter 11 Yarn Suppliers 171

Berroco, Inc 172

Caron International 172

Green Mountain Spinnery 172

Knit Picks 172

Lion Brand Yarn 172

Lorna’s Laces 172

Louet North America 172

Muench Yarns (GGH, Muench) 172

Naturally Hand Knit Yarns (JJ’s, Naturally) 172

Noro Yarn 172

Patons Yarn 173

Peace Fleece 173

Plymouth Yarn Company 173

Prism Yarn 173

Schaefer Yarn Company 173

Skacel Collection, Inc (Skacel, Zitron) 173

Southwest Trading Company 173

Valley Yarn 173

Webs 173

Index 175

W elcome to the world offelting your knitting! Knitting itself is a

wonderful craft that provides all sorts of

opportunities for creating just about anything you

can imagine out of yarn, but adding felting to your

knitting brings a whole new aspect to the craft

Purposely shrinking your knitting to make a firm

fabric is really magical You’ll learn as you read this

book that it is possible to control felting to some

extent, but even after all the felting I’ve done over

the years, I’m still happily surprised when I pull a

piece of felted knitting out of the washer and it

looks exactly how I imagined it would

I learned to knit when I was a child My

grand-mother and grand-mother both taught me how to knit

and cross stitch (grandma tried to teach me how to

crochet as well, but it just didn’t take), and I have

aunts who quilt, paint, and cross stitch, among

other crafts I feel like I was surrounded by crafts

when I was growing up, which was great Now,

when I’m not knitting and felting, I also enjoy

sewing, beading, making candles, and paper crafts

Even though I’ve been knitting for a long time, it

wasn’t too long ago that I started felting my

knit-ting Frankly I was a little scared of felknit-ting I didn’t

like the idea of spending hours knitting a project

and then throwing it in the washing machine, not

knowing exactly what was going to happen while

the project was in the wash The first felting project

I made was a bowl of my own design I was

com-pletely petrified when I dropped it in the washing

machine But when it came out fine, I was hooked

on felting

I know from firsthand experience that felting can

be scary But I also know that once you have a couple of projects under your belt, you’ll feel a lotmore confident, and be bold about venturing outand trying new felting projects This book isdesigned to help you gain that confidence so thatafter you’ve worked through a few patterns you’ll

be ready to design your own felting projects or knitfrom larger or more complicated patterns withoutstress

Even if you’re relatively new to knitting, this bookwill show you how you can knit and felt projectswith ease It starts out very slowly with simplesquares that are felted by hand, moving on toscarves, belts, bags, pillows, a blanket, a hat andother projects that will inspire you to try new knitting techniques and give you more confidence

to felt projects

You’ll even learn how to write your own pattern for

a knitting and felting project The back of the book

is full of before-and-after pictures of knit and feltedswatches so you can see what a particular yarn isgoing to look like felted before you even go to your local yarn store This should be a big help inavoiding disappointment with your felting projects,since yarns often look quite different once they arefelted compared to plain knitting

I hope this book will serve as a guide to some ofthe things you can do with felting, and will provideyou with fun and easy projects to try to give youthe confidence to venture out on your own to knitand felt whatever your heart desires Happy felting!

Knit and felted swatches show the changes brought about by felting Felted swatches spill out of a felted bowl.

P icture yourself knittingfor your home, your pets, your family, and yourself.fun felted accessoriesEnvision yourself combining the basic skills of knittingwith animal fibers, hot water, and a little agitation to make perfectly shrunken knitted items that are as functional as theyare beautiful Finally, see yourself taking felting even farther byusing the techniques of needle felting, wet felting, and shrink-ing already knit items to make new and improved pieces.

Felting your knitting is a fun and easy way to expand your ting skills, even if you are a new knitter Felting knitting uses allthe same skills as conventional knitting, but adds a watery twistthat transforms what might look like a misshapen, too-hugeobject into a perfect knit project

knit-In this chapter, you will learn what felting is, a little of the history and vocabulary, and why it is such a popular choice for knitters everywhere Let’s get started, shall we?

1

Introduction

to Felting

B efore learning about howknitted projects, you first must understandto felt

what felting is In the simplest terms, felting

is the deliberate shrinking of a knitted item to create

a firmer, thicker, smaller fabric than the one you

started out with If you’ve ever accidentally washed

a wool sweater and had it come out a few sizes too

small, you’ve seen felting in action You can felt with

any animal fiber—even human hair—but the most

popular choice for felting projects is good old wool

If you’re worried about making wearable objects

with wool, don’t Wool doesn’t have to be scratchy

and uncomfortable to work with There are many

well-made wool yarns that won’t remind you of the

horrible sweaters you might have worn as a kid

Felting can be a little intimidating at first because

so much of the process seems out of your control

As you work your way through this book, however,you’ll begin to realize that felting isn’t completelyuncontrollable; you just need to pay attention andnot abandon your work to the wiles of the washingmachine while you go on to the next thing

The projects in this book are designed to give newfelters—even those who are also new knitters—confidence to ultimately design and felt their ownprojects Even with a lot of experience, there is anelement of magic in felting, as well as the feeling

of surprise when you pull your project out of thewash and it looks completely different from when

it went in

What Is Felting?

Some people are actually

allergic to wool, or at least highly

sensitive to it It’s often not the

fiber itself but the lanolin—a natural

substance in wool that’s frequently

used in lotions and other products and

is meant to soften skin—that causes the

problem That said, some people are

sensitive to the naturally barbed shape

of wool fibers, something in the wool

such as animal dander, or even a

chemi-cal used to process or dye the wool.

Although wool allergies are considered

rare, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

Don’t make any piece featured in this

book as a gift for someone unless you

know he or she isn’t allergic or sensitive

to wool.

Many different kinds of yarns can be felted.

T here are many theoriesand when knitting originated, but mostas to where

sources place the advent of knitting in the

Middle East One of the oldest known knitted

arti-facts is a pair of socks that was found in Egypt and

dates back to 1100 There’s also evidence of a

knit-ting tradition in Asia and India that may be even

older than that

Sailors brought knitting to Europe from the Middle

East as they traveled for trade Knitting gave the

men something to do on long journeys, as well as

providing them with a means of mending their

fishing nets when out at sea In time, men in

Europe established the first knitting guilds, and

began knitting more complicated and intricate

pieces Hand-knit silk stockings and gloves took

thousands of man-hours to knit and came with

huge price tags

It’s not known exactly when felting became an

important craft, but it was probably discovered

soon after knitting was developed, with non-knit

felting techniques being even older The nomadic

tribes of Asia used felted objects as protection

from the elements as they dominated the world

Today, all sorts of animal fibers can be used to felt

projects at home; felting is also a popular look in

fashion, from boiled-wool coats to funky felted

bags

A Brief History of Knitting and Felting

More and more knitters are combining basic andadvanced knitting techniques with felting and creating wonderful home accessories, handbags,blankets, and much more—all with the same basicyarn and needles that other knitters use

Felting is a wonderful choice for all sorts of ects because it makes a fabric that is more durable,warmer, thicker, and more structured than thesame project would be if knit in wool that wasn’tfelted If you want to knit a bowl that will stand up

proj-on its own or a wrap that will keep you warmthrough the chill of winter, felting is a wonderfulmethod to use

Roving is used in both needle felting and wet felting.

A ccording to the Craft YarnCouncil of America’s statistics from 2005,

about 53 million American women knew

how to knit or crochet That’s one in three women

—a number that doesn’t even include the men who

take part in these crafts! Additionally, more and

more young people are taking part in these needle

arts The 2005 numbers showed that the number

of 25- to 34-year-olds who knitted or crocheted

had increased by 150 percent since 2002, while the

number of crafters under the age of 18 had grown

100 percent One can only assume that these

num-bers have grown in the time since that survey was

published

All these young knitters have driven the

develop-ment of cutting-edge yarns made of all sorts of

wonderful materials, as well as more interesting

patterns that consider the world of fashion As a

result, knitters are provided with products they want

to make and will be proud to have in their homes

The resurgence that knitting has enjoyed over the

last several years has been attributed to many

dif-ferent things Some say that the spike in knitting

began after September 11, 2001, when people began

spending more time at home and doing activities

that made them feel cozy and safe Another theory

is that young women sought a connection to the

crafts that were formerly considered exclusively a

woman’s domain but that are no longer regularly

passed from mother or grandmother to child or

grandchild Crafting something for yourself is also

a way to take back a bit of what we’ve lost through

the mass production of cheap and uninteresting

products

Felting Versus Fulling

It’s worth mentioning that what knitters callfelting and what some other crafters call felting are actually two different things

If you want to be precise, what knitters dowhen they shrink a knitted fabric is properly

called fulling In contrast, using pieces of wool fiber sometimes referred to as roving

along with water to make a fabric is truefelting There’s also a technique known as

needle felting, in which sharp needles are

used to shape the roving and force it tostick together, often fusing to a fabricunderneath the needle-felted object.Most knitters still call what they do felting,and this book sticks with that convention

to make it easier to talk about all of thesedifferent techniques The first chapters ofthis book deal with felting knitting, whileChapter 7, “Needle Felting,” looks at feltingwith needles and Chapter 8, “Other Ways

to Felt,” covers wet felting

Why Are Knitting and Felting So Popular?

Knitting is a great way to multitask, because it can

be worked on while in meetings, while watching

television, or when at your child’s soccer game

Moreover, in addition to being a great way to

reduce stress, knitting offers a wonderful way to

show your love for friends and family by giving

them gifts you made with your own hands You

can even knit for charity and share your craft with

people in need around the world It’s something

fun to do with friends and to share with your

chil-dren—boys and girls

The trend of felting knitting began a few years

after the knitting craze, and with good reason

Knitters who are now comfortable with all the

basics of knitting are looking for new ways to use

their skills, and felting has been a huge part of

fashion for the last few years Yarn companies and

knitwear designers have come up with all sorts of

new ways to use felting, and you’ll discover a few

uses for the craft in this book that you might never

have thought of before

A project on the needles.

Crafting as a Feminist Statement

One really interesting thing about theresurgence of crafts—from knitting tobeading to candle making—is its connec-tion to the modern feminist movement.Once regarded as a symbol of the oppres-sion of women, who were expected tostay home and craft, knitting and othercrafts have been embraced by the youngergeneration of feminists as a great way oftaking control of their own lives and connecting to a past in which women’shandiwork was celebrated There are tons

of Web sites devoted to feminist craftingand/or knitting Here are just a few:

• http://www.craftivism.com/

• http://www.knithappens.com/

• http://www.getcrafty.com/

• http://www.knitty.com/

A lot of people out thereaccomplished knitters, but are afraid ofare

felting their knitting It’s easy to

under-stand the fear associated with felting—it can feel

like you’ve surrendered any control you might

have had over your project as soon as you put it in

the washing machine or dunk it in a sink full of

hot water After all, every washing machine is

different, and every yarn is different Even different

colors of the same yarn can felt at different rates

So to some extent, you are surrendering to the

will of the yarn each time you make a project But

to me, that’s a big part of the fun

Don’t Be Afraid of Felting!

I’m here to tell you that, yes, felting can be scary.The first time I felted a project—a felted bowl—Ichecked the machine every two minutes for fearthat I was going to shrink the project beyond allrecognition or usefulness But I can also tell youthat the more you felt, the less scary it becomes.You will begin to see that you can, to a certainextent, control what’s happening to your piece—even if you can’t see what’s going on inside yourwashing machine

A woman works on her knitting project Copyright Niels Laan, istockphoto.com.

Felting is more of an art than a science, but thetechniques and projects presented in this book willgive you the confidence to try it You can workthrough this book step by step, completing all theprojects in order, letting the different knitting andfelting skills build on each other; alternatively, youcan choose a few patterns to play with and useChapter 3, “Felting by Hand,” Chapter 4, “Felting

by Machine,” and Chapter 5, “Felting Tips,” to helpmake your projects a success Once you feel com-fortable with the process, you might even want totry writing your own pattern for a felted knittingproject If you do, there are instructions for thisprocess in Chapter 9, “Your Own Felting Patterns.”

For new knitters or new felters who are reluctant

to spend a lot of time knitting a project only to

potentially ruin it during the felting process, most

of the patterns in this book involve little

commit-ment knit-wise And even in the unlikely event that

you “ruin” them, you’ll likely be able to find some

use for them In fact, the only way to really mess

up felting is to leave your piece in the washing

machine for too long and you end up with a piece

that’s smaller than you intended Although this

isn’t ideal, you can often find another use for a

piece; an over-felted throw could become a wrap

for a young girl, while a dresser tray that shrunk

too much might serve as a business-card holder

Australian merino sheep wait to be sheared

Copyright Steve Lovegrove, istockphoto.com.

Alpacas are raised on farms for their fur

Copyright Mike Dabell, istockphoto.com.

B efore you start shrinking your knittingit’s best to have a good idea of the hows and whys of ,felting This chapter takes a look at how felting works,explores why animal fiber felts, and goes through a quickoverview of the knitting skills you’ll need to complete the projects presented in the rest of the book.

2

How Felting

Works

T he key component of feltedknitting is a knit object that has been

con-structed of animal fiber Other fibers are nice

for other kinds of knitting projects, but they won’t

felt That’s because animal hair—whether it comes

from a sheep or a cat or some other hirsute

crea-ture—has a special structure that allows felting to

happen Specifically, animal hair is basically made

up of two different parts: the cuticle and the

cor-tex, which itself can be described as being made of

the paracortex and the ortocortex

All these names aren’t important; what you need

to know is that the cuticle, or outside part of an

animal hair, is made up of overlapping scales or

cells that look sort of like the shingles on a roof or

the leaves of an artichoke These little scales actually

repel water and are part of the reason that wool is

such a great fiber, both for moisture resistance and

durability Such fiber can be felted because the

scales of the cuticle stand up when submersed in

water Combined with agitation—either by hand

or with the help of your washing machine—the

scales stick together like Velcro, and you get felt

Hot water is particularly helpful for facilitating

this process This is why wool sweaters and other

items made of animal fiber that you don’t want to

felt should be washed in cool water with no

agita-tion Even a little bit of heat or agitation can cause

the scales to fuse, which is not what you want if

your favorite wool sweater is already the right size

for you

Why Animal Fiber Felts

When you go looking for wool

to felt, make sure you aren’t

buying a product called superwash wool This wool has been treated either

with a chemical bath that removes the edges of the scales or with a coating that prevents the scales from sticking

to each other No matter which method

is used, the result is a machine-washable wool that will not felt It’s great for some applications—particularly children’s clothing—but it’s no good for felting.

Regular wool and superwash wool look the same,

but superwash wool won’t felt.

Although wool is the most popular choice for

felt-ing, it is not the only choice All animal fibers felt,

including the following:

Choosing Fibers

A s mentioned, all animal fiberscan be felted, but wool and wool blends are

the most popular because they are also the

most economical (While I’m on the subject, let me

add that felting as a whole is a very economical craft

because, other than the yarn, most of the materials

you’ll need to be successful at felting are already in

your house—especially if you’re planning to use your

washing machine to felt items.) All the yarns

fea-tured in the patterns in this book are good choices

When choosing a yarn to work with for felting

knitting, make sure that the yarn is 80 or 90

per-cent animal fiber Yarns that include non-animal

fibers can be used for felting, but they will not felt

as evenly as yarns that are completely animal fiber

That’s because the part of the yarn that isn’t

ani-mal fiber won’t shrink

Of course incorporating fiber that won’t felt into a

felting project can lead to some very interesting

results, as when you combine a feltable fiber with

something like a novelty yarn or eyelash yarn that

will not felt When combining yarns or using a

yarn that’s not completely made of wool or

anoth-er animal fibanoth-er, it is especially important to make a

swatch and test how the yarn will perform when

felted I’ll talk much more about swatches in

Chapter 9, “Your Own Felting Patterns.”

In addition to understanding the fiber content of

your yarn, you should also look at the ball band to

see what size needles are suggested for working

with the yarn Because you will be felting the

knitted item, you should go two or three needle

sizes higher than the number suggested on the

ball band because, as mentioned earlier, the space

between the stitches improves the friction and

makes the felting a little easier

This swatch of Moda Dea Gleam, a 42 percent nylon,

35 percent kid mohair, 18 percent acrylic, and

5 percent polyester yarn, shows the effects of felting

a yarn without a lot of animal fiber content.

Tip

Be sure to check out the appendix at theback of the book; it includes many moreyarns that are good choices for felting, alongwith swatches so you can see how they lookbefore and after the felting process Thesewill be useful for choosing your own yarn towork with, whether you’re using patterns inthis book or your own designs

T he specifics of how to feltted objects are covered in much more detail

knit-in the next two chapters In the meantime,

however, it is good to know how felting works in a

general sense before you subject a piece of knitting

to the process

Felting happens when heat and agitation combine

to fuse the scales of the wool cuticle, although

sim-ply agitating the fiber will eventually felt the fiber

as well Indeed, it is thought that some of the first

felting was accomplished when fabric was placed

under a horse’s saddle The long hours of riding

caused the scales to rub against each other and

fuse These days, however, most people add hot

water to the mix and get their results much faster

Hot water in the sink or a washtub and a little time

is all you really need to felt anything, although

using a washing machine does speed the process

The Felting Process

Another thing that helps felting go quicker is ing some space between the stitches in your knitproject The fiber needs room to open up so thatthe scales can fuse, and that’s a lot easier to accom-plish when the yarn isn’t all bunched together like

hav-it would be if you knhav-it whav-ith the needle size gested on the ball band Don’t worry—everythingwill shrink right up into a firm fabric once you addthat water and agitation

sug-The main ingredient for success in felting, afterchoosing the right kind of fiber to work with, ispatience Felting does take time; it doesn’t alwayshappen as quickly as we would like But it’s a veryfun—even magical—process that is always enter-taining in its way

Many people think you need a

washing machine to make the

felting process work, but felting

has been around much longer than

elec-tricity and indoor plumbing You really

can do it without the help of a machine.

exam-on the side, and a third number, oftenaccompanied by a drawing of knitting nee-dles, in the center The number on the bot-tom is how many stitches make up four inch-

es or 10 centimeters, while the number onthe side is the number of rows over the samemeasurement The number in the middletells you what size needles were used

A Knitting Refresher

Casting On

Before you can begin knitting, you must put somestitches on your knitting needle, which is known as

casting on There are many ways to cast on, but my

two favorites for new knitters are the knit cast on and long-tail cast on methods No matter which

method you use, you start by making a slip knot inthe yarn Here’s how:

1. Form a loop in the yarn with the tail end ofthe yarn in the back

2. Feed the yarn piece that’s on the ball side upthrough the loop and pull

and pull tightly enough that the loop willstay on the needle, but not so tightly thatyou can’t get the other knitting needle intothe loop The tail end should be in the frontand the ball end in the back when the loop is

on your needle; this counts as the first stitch

T his book is designed for knittersof all skill levels, including beginners, who

would like to learn how to felt their knitting

projects The following pages provide a quick

overview of the basics of casting on, knitting,

purling, increasing, decreasing, and binding off

that you will need throughout this book When

new skills are needed in the patterns that are not

mentioned in this section, they will be taught with

the pattern itself In this way the patterns build on

each other; as a result, working through this book

will not only give you a good education in how to

felt, but in how to knit as well

There are two basic styles of

knitting, known as the English

style (sometimes also called

“throw-ing,” or right-handed knitting) and

the Continental method (or German,

left-handed, or picking) Both styles get

you to the same place; they are just

different techniques Most knitters

learn one style and stick with it for life,

with English style being the most

popu-lar style in the United States Because I

think English style is easier to learn, the

following instructions use that method.

If you’d like to learn Continental knitting

there are many Web sites that can

teach you Check out the “Knitting

Resources” section at the back of the

book for more information.

3. Loop the working yarn over the tip of theright needle counterclockwise, pulling theyarn down so that it’s touching the loop.

4. Use the tip of your left index finger to gentlyguide the right needle back out of the loop

on the left needle, keeping the loop of theworking yarn on the right needle

Knit Cast On

Here’s how to perform the knit cast on method:

left hand and the empty needle in your right

The ball end of the yarn, also known as the

working yarn, should be at the back of the

needle

front to back

5. Pull the needles apart gently Use the tip of

the left needle to put the loop on the right

needle onto the left needle, going from front

to back This is known as slipping knitwise.

Continue in this manner until you have cast

on as many stitches as the pattern calls for

Long-Tail Cast On

Before forming the slip knot for the long-tail cast

on, you need to measure what’s known as a long

tail, which will be used along with the ball end of

the yarn to form the stitches A good rule of thumb

is to allow half an inch for each stitch you need tocast on A less scientific way to measure is to wrapyour yarn around the needle once for each stitchyou need to cast on You’ll have way more thanenough this way

Once you have determined the length of your longtail, form the slip knot as described previously Forthis cast-on method you only need the needle theslip knot is on Put it in your right hand Then dothe following:

3. Bring the needle over the ball-end yarn andbring the point back down under the yarnfrom behind.

your thumb

your left hand and loop the ball end over

your index finger and between your index

and middle fingers

piece of yarn

5. Pull tight to form the stitch Repeat the

above steps until you have cast on as many

stitches as you need

The Knit Stitch

If you’re comfortable with the knit cast on method,

you’ll be able to form the knit stitch quickly,

because it is basically the same maneuver Here’s

how it’s done:

left hand, the empty needle in your right

hand, and the working yarn at the back of

the needle, slip the right needle through the

top loop on the left needle, from front to

back

nee-dle counterclockwise, being careful not topull too tightly

so that the tip of the right needle is in front

The Purl Stitch

Purling is the exact opposite of knitting; combing

these two stitches on alternate rows makes a

pattern known as stockinette stitch.

To make the purl stitch, do the following:

in your left hand and the empty needle inyour right hand This time, the working yarnshould be at the front of the work instead ofthe back

on the left needle from back to front

4. Slip the loop off the left needle You have

just knit one stitch

5. Continue in this manner until all the stitches

in the row are knit

over and put the needle with the stitches

on it back in your left hand and the empty

needle in your right hand

Knitting every stitch in every row produces a

pattern known as the garter stitch.

Garter stitch.

Stockinette stitch.

3. Wrap the working yarn around the right

needle counterclockwise, taking care not to

pull too tightly

that the right needle is now in the back

5. Slip the stitch off the left needle You havejust purled one stitch Continue in this manner to the end of the row

Stockinette stitch is a great basic pattern stitch that is used

in most of the projects in this book The only trouble with stockinette stitch

is that it tends to curl That’s because the knit stitches and the purl stitches are slightly different sizes, and this creates tension in the work Once the piece is felted, though, it will be nice and flat.

2. Keep the loop on the left needle and performthe knit stitch again, this time in the part

of the stitch behind the left needle, known as

the back loop.

knit stitch in the back loop, slide the loop offthe left needle You now have two stitcheswhere you used to have one

Increasing

There are many different ways to increase the

number of stitches after casting on Increasing and

decreasing are both useful for changing the shape

of a knit object One of the most basic methods of

increasing used in this book is known as knitting

in the front and back of a stitch, sometimes

abbre-viated kfb Here’s how it works:

1. Form the knit stitch as usual, going as far as

sliding the needle back out of the loop so

that the right needle is in front

Working one stitch in from the edge when

increasing and decreasing makes for a smoother

looking edge of your work.

2. Complete the knit stitch as normal Whenyou slide the stitch off, you have one stitchwhere you used to have two.

Binding Off

Once your knitting is complete you have to takethe stitches off the needle and close up your knit-ting so that your work won’t unravel The method

for doing this is known as binding off, sometimes also called casting off Here’s how it works:

1. Begin by knitting the first two stitches of the row

Decreasing

Just as there are several ways to add stitches, there

are many ways to take stitches away, also known as

decreasing One of the easiest methods is known

as knitting two together, sometimes abbreviated

k2tog The knit two together is formed just like a

regular knit stitch, but instead of going through

one loop at a time, you knit through two loops at

once Here’s how it works:

first, then the top loop of the two stitches

Now really, it’s one loop for each of the two

stitches

4. Knit another stitch and continue binding off

in this same manner until only one knitstitch remains

5. Cut your yarn, slide the loop off the needle,and use a crochet hook to guide the end ofthe yarn through the loop When you cut theyarn, leave six inches or so to work with forweaving in the ends (see the next section)

2. Slide the tip of the left needle through the

loop of the first stitch you cast on, in the

same knitwise manner learned in the knit

cast on

3. Lift the loop up over the top of the right

needle and slide it off the tip of the

left needle There is now one stitch on the

right needle

Weaving in Ends

There’s one more vital step that must be done

before you can felt your knitting project: weaving

in the loose ends Weaving in ends is important for

any knitting project to keep it from unraveling, but

it’s particularly key to success with felting because

the agitation you use to felt can also cause the

loose ends to unravel the stitches, and then fuse

your work into a big mess with holes where you

might not have wanted them Weaving in ends is

very easy Here’s how it’s done:

is a blunt needle with a large eye Use a

needle threader if you need to

loops of stitches, taking care that the yarn

doesn’t show on the front side You can also

do this with a crochet hook Make sure your

threads are all secure before you start felting

Now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time toget knitting and felting Check out the next chap-ter for a very easy knitting and felting project thatwill teach you all about felting by hand while making a great set of felted coasters you can keep or give as a quick housewarming gift with

a bottle of wine

If your ends aren’t secure when you felt, they could loosen and leave you with a mess.

Hand-felted coasters.

A stack of felted coasters, ready to give as a gift.

L earning how to felt shouldexperience In this chapter, you’ll get your feet wet bybe a hands-onlooking at how to felt by hand—and why you would want

to You’ll also use basic knitting and felting skills to make a set

of felted coasters suitable for gift giving or keeping for yourself

3

Felting by

Hand