I'm interested in making some felted items that include large eyelets or lacy patterns, or have thin bands of knit fabric crossing each other, like an open plaid. (I hope that's clear.)
The finished fabric should be very flat and thin. I'd probably use DK merino or laceweight.

Felting these pieces in a washing machine with agitation would, I think, mess up the open patterns or turn the whole thing into a tangle, even if I used a mesh bag.

Has anyone tried felting by pressing with a huge amount of steam? Yes, I know: I should be swatching and pressing right now instead of posting. But any input would be appreciated. Thank you.

How about this method--

Put the item in a basin of very hot water with a bit of soap, agitate and/or squeeze. Then in cold water. Repeat as desired.

Haven't done it. Read it somewhere as the pre-washing machine version.

I'm wondering how this would result in "very flat and thin?" (What is she up to?)

Anyone?

Jude

Jude--
Yes, the hand-felting method works admirably (as I learned when doing swatches for Pat Feeley's cowboy hat)and it's fun. Rubber gloves recommended (those silicone oven mitts would probably be even better since they are heatproof and have a washboard-like grip; but $40 for a pair--not this week, folks). I'm not sure I'd want to try it for something large, though. A while back I bought a very small toilet plunger, which is supposed to help with the agitation but haven't tried it yet.

Anyway, what I'm looking for is a technique that encourages fibers to felt in place, that is, without being moved around.

No mystery as to why: I've seen airy scarves at the Museum of Modern Art gift shop that appear to be yarn arranged in loops and very open weaves, then felted so they hang together. There was also a designer at the Columbus Avenue Crafts Fair* (which goes on for the next two weekends in case anybody is in the area) whose multi-color scarves and vests looked like strips of fabric woven together very loosely, then felted. Next weekend I'll take a closer look.

Anyway, my original idea -- intense steaming and pressure -- did not work. Agitation is apparently necessary to get the wool fibers to interlock.

Which leads me to: synthetics! What would happen if I steamed a loosely knit acrylic swatch? Could the melting/felting be controlled? Use a non-stick silicone baking sheet as an ironing surface? Gotta dig that Red Heart out of the back of the closet.

Unicorn Books has a series of books on (non-knitted) felting. May just have to take a look.

*This year's CACS, for the first time, had loads of handknits -- mostly hats and scarves, some sweaters in handpainted yarns. Nice workmanship and quality yarns but obviously geared to quick production and sales (thick yarns, simple stitches, cute but easy details). As a result, the vendors were able to price them like boutique items -- some wool hats with earflaps were going (and I do mean going) for $98.

A lesson to hand-knitters: stop under-pricing your work.

BaaBaa, my old textile/art school training says that agitation and temperature shock are both required for good felting. We used to put the big art projects in the bathtub and stomp on them, alternating with hot & cold rinses. The toilet plunger idea should work--it is more gentle and could produce up and down movement instead of serious agitation that messes up the arrangement. I am also amazed at how much control there is during the process of felting--after each washer episode, I take my bags out, stretch & pull and pat to get the shape I want, then do it all over again. How about trying a wooden meat pounding mallet--lots of shock value there, and it might help with the thinness factor (like cutlets).

Laura--
I love it! Merino lamb cutlets! (With garlic, rosemary and a touch of tomato coulis?)

I can't NOT try your suggestion. Somewhere in the kitchen is an old tenderizing mallet.......
The bathtub stomp also sounds promising.
Thank you

Baa Baa.. just a thought.. could the ones you have seen had the strips, loops or whatever felted FIRST and then been put together.. ????

I haven't gotten into felting.. have a fear of my beautiful handknitting ending up like one of my kids sweaters when they did the laundry..so ignore if this a ridiculous suggestion..
Knit On !
Nansea

Thanks, Nansea--
No, it's not ridiculous; it makes perfect sense.

But in the case of the woman who did the felted vests & scarves, the color crossings were perfectly integrated -- no seams, and no color was higher above the surface than another. I may have found a clue, though: a mat that looks like what I'm thinking about was made by needle-punching many shades of acrylic yarn into a surface fabric -- presumably felt. (It was then dunked into liquid latex for durability, but that's a whole 'nother story.) I've never done needle-felting, but it appears to be a way to integrate areas of color deeply into a background without a raised effect.

To be filed for another day, hopefully not far off. Too many WIPs begging to be completed.

BTW, I understand your reluctance to obliterate your painstaking stitches. The closest I've come is throwing two beat-up L.L. Bean lambswool sweaters into the washer with the idea of cutting them up into tote bags. That was fine because I hadn't put any time or labor into knitting them. They came out firm and thick; beautiful, but it'll take a rotary blade to cut through the fabric. The ongoing adventure with the cowboy hat by Dances With Needles' friend, Pat, is giving me the courage to deliberately knit something too big with the intention of felting it down to size.

If you are tempted to try it on a small scale, knit a couple of stockinette squares loosely and felt them in the kitchen sink. Voila -- coasters!

BaaBaa--

I recall seeing an artist using dyed wool roving in very thin layers and felting it--somehow. This was on an HGTV show. Last spring? They often have instructions on the HGTV website, I believe. (Maybe DIY TV has something, too; I don't get that channel.)

Sounds like fun, and beautiful, too.

Let us know how the cowboy hat progresses. I also bought the directions, but don't when I'll get it on the needles--a small person has "designed" mittens & a hat and cold weather is on the way.

Jude

Check out spin off in the fall of 2005, I think had an article on this technique. An email to interweave press would probably get the info about which mag had it , and possibly some further information on the process

Jude, Dances --
Yes! YES!
I believe that is exactly what I've been thinking about but didn't know how to describe. Thank you both for the great leads.
(Now I know why I don't have cable: I'd be watching DIY and HGTV all the time. Instead, I search their Web sites. Yeah, that really saves a lot of time....)

Jude, I know what you mean about the cowboy hat.
It's not a big project by any means, but two small people from Florida are coming North for a visit next week and I need to get their polar bear scarves done FAST! White and black for 4-year-old Pippa, an utterly tasteless combination of brights for 2-year-old Daphne.
http://www.highcountryknitwear.com/polarbearscarf.shtml
What do the youngest designer's hat and mittens look like?

Dances, how goes your Snifflecuff design? It's such a great idea.

BaaBaa,

Utterly tastless? My 6 year old "client" has verified that her hat & mittens are to have hot pink and turquoise stripes, with a purple pompom on the hat. But I get to choose for Xmas, and I think it will be the polar bear scarf in polar bear colors.

Now there's a Project Runway challenge--design an outfit for a pre-K client, not to be over-ruled by the adult professional fashion perpetrators.

Jude

Pink, turquoise AND purple? That kid's FEARLESS!

Have you noticed how many of today's toys, clothes and conveyences for kids are made in those charming colors? And how it is that such basically hot colors seem so cold?

I guess if we had been brought up with Barney and Elmo (and there's no escaping the influence, even if you throw out the TV), we'd feel happy surrounded by that palette, too. I wait longingly for they day they begin to appreciate the nuances of cream and terra-cotta and sea-green....

The sniffle cuff is probably going to debut under pat's name because between working 32 hours a week and taking advanced anatomy and phis six hours a week and the rest of the zoo that I tend to sound off about periodicly I have minimal design time. the basic design is very simple, a cotton chenille cuff with a second strand of something to give it bounce. here is the drawback: cotton chenille works very very well. it absorbs the "stuff" and holds on to it and so somewhere in the middle of the day you have something pretty weird on your hand. It also gets cold and soggy and if worn next to bare skin is distinctly cold and bad. further experiments with possibliltys have turned up Lion brand suede and cascade sock yarn, the prototype is heading up mt kilamanjaro as we speak and I will get the report in about three weeks. we progress but slowly and not in tune to someone elses deadlines.