Whenever I work in public on a crochet project that I am going to felt, inevitably someone will ask me what I am making. When I answer, and add that I will felt it when I'm done crocheting, the next comment is, "I didn't know you could felt crochet." Well, yes you can. It may not felt just like a knitted piece does, but crochet does felt!
What you need to felt something is yarn that felts, hot water, and something that will provide agitation.
To felt something by machine – put the piece into a zippered pillowcase (this will prevent the felt lint from getting into the washing machine and gumming up the works). Use a small amount of hot water – you don't need much. Add something like an old towel, old jeans, or rubber flip flops. Something that the piece can bump around with. Add just a touch of laundry detergent, and start the machine. You might want to add some boiling water, too.
You should check your project every few minutes. Then, when it's felted enough, take it out. DON'T let it go through the rinse and spin cycles – this could put creases in the felted piece. If it doesn't felt enough in one wash cycle, drain the machine and start again. When the piece is felted enough, take it out, rinse it in cold water. Do not wring the water out of it (see above about rinse and spin cycles.) Roll it up in a towel to squeeze water out of it. Lay it flat to dry, and if it needs shaping, pull it into shape. If it needs stuffing, stuff the inside with a towel or some newspaper to wick the water away.
Now – how do you know how much your piece will shrink? You don't. :-)
You can make a swatch, measure it before and after felting, and get some idea. But it won't always be accurate. Small pieces felt differently than large ones do. Different yarns felt differently. Different colors of the SAME yarn felt differently. If the water is not as hot, if the agitation is not as strong or as long, your piece will felt differently. There are so many variables! And, crochet pieces felt differently than knit pieces. Crochet felts more in the width of the piece than in the height. Knit felts more in the height then in the width.
Look at the above example. Two bags, the red one is knit, the violet one crocheted. Both are worked in Berroco Vibe. Both were worked to the same initial size. Both were felted in the same machine, but not at the same time. See how the knit bag is not the same size as the crochet bag! It's shorter than the crochet bag, and the crochet bag is a little narrower than the knit one. If you look close, you can see the different width in the handles too.
I like to tell my students that felting is not an exact science. But it's fun to do, and you do get "hooked" on it!
19 comments:
Is it nessary to Felt? I'm going to crochet an afgan out of wool, and I want to know if its nessary to felt it. What is the advantage to it? Sorry I'm just beginning at this adventure! :)
I like to felt purses and totes - the felting process makes a solid and somewhat stiffer fabric so that I don't have to line the bag. I wouldn't felt an afghan - it doesn't need to be solid or stiff - in fact, it should be the opposite - drapey.
If you're not sure what felting does - did you ever wash a wool sweater or scarf in the machine, and it shrunk up and the material got stiffer? What you did was felt (it's really called fulling) the sweater.
So - to answer your question - no, it's not necessary in an afghan.
thanks so much! That really helps! Can I ask you one more question? I want to make a afghan out of a double crochet. Its all one solid color. How many oz. of wool yarn do you think I'm going to need?
Charity Lewis
That would depend upon the size of your afghan, the weight of your yarn, the size hook you want to use. What you can do, is crochet a swatch - measure it, and then rip out your stitches so you can figure out how much yarn you used. When you know that, if you know how big you want to make your afghan, you can figure out how much yarn you'll need for it. Divide the total area of the afghan by the area of the swatch, and multiply the number you get by the amount of yarn (in yards, if possible) of the swatch. And that will be an approximation of how much yarn you'll need.
I want to try my hand at felting but I have a frount load washer. Can it be done in this type of washer. Do I need to do something different to get the same results?
I think that the only difference is that you can't open the washer to check on the felting progress or to stop it from going through the spin cycle. Otherwise, if you can put something in the washer to create more agitation (an old towel or two, an old pair of jeans, rubber flip flops, etc.) and control the length of the wash cycle, I think you can do it. You'll have to let the washer spin to let the water out - you can't stop it before the spin cycle - so if there are any wrinkles in what you have felted, you'll have to stretch them out. The best way to figure out if you can do it or not is to try it! :-)
Hope this helps.
do all yarns felt? if not how can you tell/ find out if one will?
A yarn has to be mostly wool to felt. "Mostly" means about 80% - although I think I have felted yarn that was less than 80% wool. It can't be "super wash" wool, because that wool has been treated to be able to be washed in the washing machine, and dried.
If you have a yarn that you want to try to felt - work up a large enough swatch, measure it - length and width - then throw it in the machine and see what happens. Remember - put in something for it to agitate with. And HOT water. A little liquid detergent. And don't let it go through the spin cycle. Take it out, measure it, and see if it shrunk.
My front loader will stop before the spin cycle. U just hit cancel and the water drains before unlocking the door, but no spin!
Thank you for posting this. I have crocheted since I was a little girl and have gained new interest upon finding I can felt wool yarn! I would love to have seen a before and after pic of your lovely purses. So excited! Thanks again!
can you mix regular wool with felting wool? Want to make an afghan and use up all my colored wood.
If you're not going to be felting the afghan, (and see one of my replies above about why you wouldn't want to do that), you can mix "felting" wool with super wash wool, or with any compatible yarn and fiber that you wish. I have made many "scrap" afghans and other things with all sorts of fibers. Just remember, if you use wool that felts, you won't want to wash the afghan in hot water. If you would need to wash the afghan, you would want to use cold water, and wash it with very little agitation - preferably by hand.
I've been interested in felting my crochet for a while now, so I was curious to know if I should have a tight or loose stitch? Does this make a difference? Btw, ty for all the Q and A! It's extremely helpful!
Definitely, use a loose stitch. Choose a hook that is a few sizes larger than one you would usually use with that yarn. It will give your stitches room to "grab" each other. You can make two swatches, one with the regular hook, and one with a larger hook, felt them, and see the difference.
Thank you for your answer! I will definitely take the advice. I was going to do the complete opposite. Yikes! Happy fourth! Thanks again..
Want to felt a baby hat size 6 months with 98% wool yarn. Should I go up one size or two? It is button brimmed cap hat.
Also if I make a man's hat in the same pattern same yarn?
Scarf?
First, you should go up a few sizes in the crochet hook that you want to use. Your stitches will need "breathing" room, in order to felt. And I'm not sure if you need to go up a size or two in the hat size. The larger hook may be enough. But, you can do 2 square swatches, the same size, using the same stitches and yarn and hook that you want to use for the hat, then felt one of them and compare them. Will the felted version of the hat be big enough if you don't change the size of the hat? You'll need some math to figure that out. But you'll be able to see how much the felted version will shrink, without changing the hat size that you crochet. As for the man's hat, if the size that you want to make is in the pattern you have, then you can do the same thing with the man's hat that you decide to do with the baby's hat. But, remember, felting is not always exact. You never know what exactly will happen. One thing you can do, is during the wash cycle, check to see how much the hat has felted/shrunk. You may need to take it out, if it's the right size, or if it still can be felted some more, put it in for another cycle.
Hope this helps!
I am wanting to felt a beret style hat for a man. Do you think that going from a H hook to an I would be plenty? I am using 100% worsted weight wool and already did a test swatch using dryer felting. It shrank 1/2" each direction. I have never felted before, and I know it's not an exact science, but I am hoping for some guidance here... All the patterns I have seen for this style hat are knitting - and I don't knit. Thank you
Usually for worsted weight yarn I use an L/8mm hook to felt the yarn properly. Your hat will be bigger than you want it before you felt it, but will shrink when you felt it. And felt it with hot water in a washing machine, or by hand. Then, take it out before the spin cycle, rinse it, and block it to it's required size, if it is a little small. You can put some towels or paper in the hat to block it and help it dry.
Hope this helps!
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