Felting crochet question

[andyj]

I had a question come up about whether or not there was a FORMULA for felting crochet. I have not had much luck in determining a formula other than swatches and trial and error. I have tried to do some calculations and came up with about a 20% loss in W and less than 25% or nil loss in L. Does anyone know the answer please?

[Barbara G.]

Hello,

I am not familiar with felting crochet, but I am sure some one will come along to help you in this. Please be patient and we are glad you are here in the forums!

[Anaisa]

wow, felting crocheting? Um, I have to do some research on it...sorry I couldn't help.

[Pixieglitter]

Andyj,

I've done a lot of felting recently and have learned through my own process what works for me. I put my items in the washing machine with hot water, laundry detergent, bath towels and jeans. I usually have to run them through the washer 3 times, the more washing the more shrinkage. I've forgotten about it and accidentally let it run through the cold water rinse cycle. This doesn't have any effect on my items.

I learned that adding laundry detergent is very important, I get much better results than when I don't. I tried putting my items in a pot of boiling water with no effect. Adding bulky items to the washer at the same time is also extremely important. There has to be a lot of friction for felting to work so you want your load to be full. I wash on the lowest water level with a big towel and pair of jeans. You don't want a lot of water where everything "floats around."

I wasn't looking so much for shrinkage, which happens automatically, I was looking more for the felted "fuzzy" look. With the process above I don't see my individual crochet stitches. I used Paton's Classic Wool yarn with a size G hook. Your yarn must be wool or some other 100% natural fiber that shrinks when it gets wet. I don't think yarn with any acrylic of nylon will work. You don't want lose crochet stitches, you want them to be tighter. A smaller hook would probably work a little better. The colors of the Paton's yarn I use do not fade and it's an easy yarn to work with.

I have very hard water where I live. I think that makes a difference and the harder your water the more difficult it is to felt. I haven't made any big items, like a tote bag (yet). I made several sets of bright colorful nesting bowls, the largest is about 7-8 inches across before felting and I lose about 2 inches after the process. The coasters were about 5 inches and 4 inches after felting. They would be smaller but I stretch them out when they're wet into the shapes I want. After they come out of the washer I shaped them into bowl shapes and let them dry. It usually takes about 3 days for them to dry completely. I also made a colorful set of coasters to fit inside a small felted basket. When they come out of the washer I shape the bowl into more of a basket shape with a flatter bottom to hold the coasters. I didn't use any specific pattern, any basket pattern will work and the coasters are just a circle like the bottom of the basket. A basket pattern works better for me with a 90 degree angle from the bottom to the sides. I can shape it into a bowl or basket.

I'll post pictures when I figure out why my iPhone suddenly decided not to download my photos. Good luck and let us know how your projects turn out!

Shelley

[andyj]

Thank you. My method is almost the exact same as yours--only our washer it set to only cold water. I have found no problems using a cold cycle---I have always stuck with the jean and towels method and Arm and Hammer detergent. Three times and three days is right on the nose for me too. My main problem is that I haven't had much experience felting crochet. I have felted knit for many many years and almost always use Patons'--my favorite--I know what it does in the wash. I have done many an item large and small---pocketbooks,shawls,slippers, mitts and lots of decor flowers etc. And funny you should say "boiling"--I tried it many years back on some natural Icelandic wool and was SOOOOOOOOOO dissappointed---I later found out this "entirely natural product" had some sort of treatment in it due to complaints of shrinkage! I finally GOT IT in the dryer though--boiled it for 45min for nil! Thank you so much for your reassurance, I will try felting crochet again another day.