Felted Potholders

I made some terrific felted potholders recently, but forgot to download the photos from my camera until today. So now I can give you the little tutorial I had planned on writing. Better late than never.  Of course, I forgot how many stitches I cast on. So technically, this isn't a pattern, just a how-to.

I used 100% non-superwash wool. It was Knit Picks Wool of the Andes (worsted) in a discontinued color called Tomato. I think I used a US8 needle.

I started with the tubular caston, and I used an even number. Here's a video tutorial by Ysolda Teague. But instead of doing ribbing after completing the caston, I knitted tubular stockinette. The way to do that is to [Slip1, Knit1] repeat across. And every row is done the same way. I wanted square potholders, so I knit long rectangles, roughly 150% as long as wide. When I felt they were long enough, I used the tubular bindoff. Here's a written tutorial by TechKnitter. I started where she says "Phase 3: Grafting". You can see the measurements of the potholders in the photo below.

 Being relatively inexperienced at felting, I wasn't sure how well these tubular rectangles would felt. I was afraid that the two sides wouldn't felt together to make a nice flat piece, so I basted them with sewing thread. Not sure whether that was necessary, but it didn't hurt.

 Then I ran them through the washer with some jeans. Twice. I have a front-loader, so it doesn't agitate much. They didn't come out perfectly square, but I think they're close enough! So I pinned them out to dry. Here's the after-felting pic:

 And then, since I didn't want plain, boring potholders, I crocheted some tiny snowflakes out of white laceweight wool. After blocking them, I needle-felted them on to the potholders. I had never needle-felted before, and I enjoyed it. It was very easy, and I love the finished product.

 So there you have it: how-to make felted potholders.

In other knitting news, I finished the Sisterhood Blanket! The color isn't quite right on this pic. I'll take more pics once it's dry.

Still distracted...

They look like basic balls of yarn, right?

Actually, they're dryer balls. I had a bit of this pretty Lion Brand Yarn in my stash, and it wasn't really enough to knit anything with it, so I decided to make some dryer balls. From what I've read, they're great at reducing static cling in the dryer and softening fabrics, without those dryer sheet things. I figure I'll give it a try, and see how well it works.

Here's how I made them.... I used 100% non-superwash wool, and simply wound it into a tight ball, roughly the size of a golf ball. Then I carefully placed the ball inside a small sock, and used cotton yarn to tie the sock closed, so that it was tight all around the ball. Then I put it in the washer with a load of laundry with the water set on hot wash, cold rinse. (Note: don't wash them in a load with bleach; bleach dissolves wool.) I put them through two cycles like that, then removed them from the socks. The wool had felted somewhat, so the balls didn't come unrolled. I even threw one across the room to be sure. ☺ Then I wrapped more wool yarn around the balls, until they were about the size of baseballs, and repeated the washing-inside-socks process. I also put them through a cycle in the dryer before removing them from the socks. They shrunk a little with the felting process, so they ended up about the size of tennis balls. (The blue ones ended up a little bigger than the more colorful ones.) I have a front-loading washer, which is great for laundry but not as efficient for felting, so if I had used a top-loader, they might have shrunk more. I haven't tried them out yet, because in the process of making them, I finished my laundry! But I'm sure there'll be more laundry in a day or two and I can try them in the dryer. From what I've read, they continue to felt a little each time you use them in the dryer, which will make them more dense, and even less likely to come apart. I can hardly wait to see whether the hype is true. I'll try to remember to post an update after I've used them.

Because I'm easily distracted

You know those looms kids use to make potholders out of nylon loopy things? My oldest daughter has one of them, and doesn't have much interest in using it, since she knows that nylon isn't a great choice for potholders, because it can melt. I had the idea of weaving a potholder with a natural yarn, just to see how it would work. I'm glad I picked a feltable wool.

I used Lion Brand Wool, in the "Sunset" colorway(at least I think that was the name. It's been in my stash a while, without the label). I wove (weaved?) it on the loom...

then bound it off, using a crochet hook. A little tricky once I got to the third side, but do-able...

I made two of them. And tossed them in the washer...after which, they looked like this...It took a few minutes to wrestle them into a semblance of a square shape, but I did it.

They didn't shrink quite as much as I had expected, but that's alright. They would probably shrink a bit more if I washed them again, but I don't care that much. LOL. They're a bit bigger than the typical coaster, and smaller than the typical potholder. I figure I'll just give them to Angel and Princess, to use however they want.

Yard work

Wow, it's been a while since I posted anything. I've been pretty busy the past few weeks. The fence that separates our back yard from our neighbors' yard has been leaning since a hurricane hit a year and a half ago. Our neighbor's business has been slow, thanks to the economic downturn, so he finally had time to work on the fence. I've been helping a bit with the demolition and building; since Hubby is working these days, he can only help in the evenings and on the weekends. Anyway, the fence is almost completed, and it looks great!

♥

There hasn't been a whole lot that I could do, so I've been doing other yard work. I've trimmed our crepe myrtle trees, which I really should have done two or three months ago. I trimmed our Mexican fan palms...which needed a lot of trimming. I cut down several bushes and trees that were dead or dying. I dug out roots from those bushes and trees. I planted a few new plants. I raked and bagged leaves. I carried all of that brush to our back yard, to await permission from a nearby farmer to burn it in a small section of his field. Once we got permission, I carried brush from the piles in our back yard to the burn pile. My tasks for today are to mow the lawn in the back yard, and kill whatever poison ivy/oak/sumac I find, and maybe dig out some more roots in the back yard. I'm trying to get our back yard done so that I can set up the new wading pool I got for the girls. It's not technically summer, but summer weather has already arrived, as it usually does this time of year in our area.

♥

In knitting news....not much has happened. I had an idea to make felted oven mitts that my girls could use, since the ones I have are really much too big for their little hands. I used size 15 needles, and three strands of worsted-weight wool held together. I started by making a very large swatch and felting it, to test the felting properties of the wool. That swatch became a potholder. Then I began knitting a basic (huge) stockinette stitch mitten. I felted the mitten, and it became the perfect size for my oldest daughter's hand. It was still drying yesterday, so she hasn't tested it out yet to see how well it actually protects her hand against the heat of a hot pan or baking sheet; maybe it'll be dry today, and we'll have the opportunity to do that. I haven't got the pictures downloaded from my camera yet, so I'll have to wait to post them.

♥