Felting (or, to be proper, fulling) is a fantastic technique to add to your crochet skill repertoire. If you’ve never tried felting, now is a great time! All it takes is your hook, some yarn with a good amount of wool content (not superwashed), a pattern crocheted at least 1/3 larger than you want the finished product, some hot water, soap, and agitation. Sounds pretty easy doesn’t it? It is! And, it’s fun, if not always predictable.
For your first felting adventure, I recommend using a yarn designed for felting – something like Brown Sheep or Lion’s Pride 100% wool – and a fairly simple pattern, like maybe for a potholder or hotpad where size will not be key to the success of your experiment. Use simple stitches – sc, dc, hdc – and a fairly tight design without a lot of holes. You can change colors, use any size yarn you want, and play with shapes. None of that will matter. Just give it a whirl. Crochet a little something then throw it into the washer with hot water and a little detergent and a pair of jeans or towels that will encourage the fibers to rub together during agitation. You can also just do this by hand if you have a small project, no washing machine, or one of the newer machines that has no agitator.
How will you know when it’s done? When the stitch definition disappears, you’re there! However, some projects look and work fine with a little stitch definition remaining. Rinse the project and lay it out to dry, blocking it with your fingers and laying it on a towel on a table or the floor. It will probably dry overnight. Voila! Your first felted project.
I’ve included a few patterns here that I find attractive – some free, some to purchase. There are many free patterns online. And, to make a set of coasters or potholders, all you need is the wool yarn and your imagination to make something worthy of gifting.
These projects are just to get your creative juices flowing. Visit any of the free crochet pattern sites online for more free patterns to start with.
Keyholder pattern
For more in-depth information about felting, refer to the resources at the end of this article. I’ve blogged about felting before, so one of the resources is an earlier article of mine.
Resources for learning to felt (or full) your crocheting:
Wool felt and your crochet hook
Have fun with it!
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