Posted by stella on 2004-12-09 21:51:51
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-it needs to be close to 100% of an animal fiber that CAN felt. superwash wool is treated with polymers so it can't felt. cashmere felts okay, *most* but not all commercial wool yarns that AREN'T superwash will felt to some degree, and other animal fibers like kid mohair will felt too.
-some type of animal fiber has to be involved. felting occurs because tiny, microscopic scales on the surface of the fibers interlock and stick together. manmade fibers don't have these scales, nor do fibers like silk or cotton.
-you have to knit and felt a swatch to see how much *your* yarn will shrink. all yarns shrink felt differently, for different people. even different colors of the same yarn will felt differently. i know it's tedious. but this is one of those times you really need to swatch.
Posted by Astrid on 2008-02-23 13:37:22
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Yeah, so many groups on BC and many people are criss cross members of different groups, I sometimes forget who's where... Glad I 'saved' your project :D See my comments on BC as well. But it's all a matter of tryal and error. I read somewhere that - depends on how they've been treated - even 100 % wool yarns sometimes just won't felt. I think the best is to always make a sample.
I'm working on a stripy purse/tote bag (depends on the size it gets after the washing machine) too! Hehe... Let's keep in touch.
