So here I am, newly liberated, writing about anything I darn well please. Look at me.
Puppies snowstorms soccer William Tecumseh Sherman rabid bats Plaxico beaches Chaucer cigars Elmo urine cumulus clouds Hello Kitty backpacks acid rock doilies toenails angry swan Uggs muttering retreats Elvis.
Anything.
Tonight, I will write about snow days. Specifically, the fourteen thousand snow days that have happened since the start of this school year. Yes, okay, fine: I exaggerate. It’s been only six thousand snow days. And today? We had another.
Let us not speak of the hazards of the snow day. Let us not speak of cranky, bored children. Let us not speak of work deadlines that pile up elsewhere, with no regard whatsoever for inclement weather. Let us not speak of icy roads or cabin fever or wails of “I’m hungry” or mothers with extremely short fuses who just keep snapping snapping snapping, endlessly snapping, like a turtle I once tried to move from the middle of the road, a warty beast that almost bit my hand off as I attempted to save his life, and that now reminds me of myself.
We shall speak of none of those things. Let us speak, instead, of sweaters.
I recently took my first foray into the world of felting wool sweaters. And friends? It was satisfying. Felted wool is so nubby, cozy, and warm. It is accessible, somehow; friendly and charming, and — yes, I repeat myself, but it bears mentioning twice — warm.
Felted wool is like the mother that my children want on snow days. So unlike the mother they generally get (but let us not speak of that).
Last week, I stopped by a Goodwill in search of wool sweaters to felt. Upon entering, I was greeted by a small, loud man, with a voice uncannily like Richard Simmons. He stood in my path and exclaimed, with a dramatic arm gesture, “WELcome to GOODwill!!!!! We’re having a GRRRRRREAAT sale! The sale continues until five minutes after 12! Only until FIVE MINUTES past 12! Then at 12:05 our fantastic sale is done!” As far as I could tell, he was speaking just to me — there was no one else entering the building — but I felt like I was watching a circus ringmaster. I adored him. He made me wish, genuinely, that communities still had town criers.
Then he listed the many things that were on sale. One thing stood out: every sweater was just $1.49. It was already 11:55, ten minutes before the sale ended, so I hurridly stormed through the store, pulling off the rack every wool sweater I could find. Purple vests, green cableknits, striped cardigans, pink v-necks and red rollnecks. Shetland, merino, lambswool. If it was wool, I put it in my cart.
$17.88 later and eight minutes later, I had a pile of sweaters. I had no idea what I would do with them.
Felting is so simple. So simple that I have done it a hundred times by accident: Just put woolen things in a hot cycle, and dry. What emerges is a smaller, denser version of itself , one that you will never wear again. This is felt, and it can be cut and sewn just like any fabric. Inevitably, in the past, I cursed when I accidentally felted something. Not this time; felting may not be so good for the wardrobe, but it is divine when you have $17.88 worth of Goodwill-salvaged sweaters.
Here’s what one of the sweaters looked like going in:
And here’s what it looked like coming out:
Yes, I changed into pajamas. I'm not proud.
Sometimes, you felt an adult-size something, only to discover that it’s become a perfect wardrobe addition for your child:
This sweater was a men's J.Crew, size medium. She's tolerating this photo, but jut barely.
This was a women's Gap sweater, size medium. Right now, she is like, "enough with the pictures, Mom. I want something to eat."
What happens after the felting is complete is a little less simple, particularly if you don’t have a book or an expert seamstress to guide you. But generally, it goes like this: you make something out of it.
Merrie suggested it might be fun to make ornaments, which led to a discussion of holidays, which led to a discussion about the next big holiday. No, not National Squirrel Appreciation Day, but Valentine’s Day, which led to a discussion of Valentine’s ornaments. So that is what we decided to make: Valentine’s Day ornaments, one for each member of her class. Incredibly simple, now that I have my rockin’ battle axe of a sewing machine. Each one takes just a few minutes, no kidding — not much longer than it would take bake cookies or write Roses Are Red on 15 cards:
In real life, they're kind of funky and cute, not nearly as faux-Victorian sweet as they look here.
I also spent a while practicing zigzag stitches on felt circles. I created something that looked rather like a psychedelic fried egg. Which, inexplicably, I thought might look less random if I added them to add to mittens. So I sewed mittens. They came out looking a bit like potholders. With eyes. Squid eyes. Enormous, round squid eyes that won’t stop staring at me.
Squid-eye mittens devour felted sweaters. News at 11.
One crafty friend recently said that she loves making things, because then she can say, “if it weren’t for me, this wouldn’t exist.” In the case of my mittens, I’m not sure that would be such a bad thing. But still.
Now, friends, you probably have been felting sweaters for years, and are like, “she just discovered felted wool? *Yawn,*” Heck, you probably made your wedding gown out of felted wool. I did not, however. Felting is relatively new to me, so I learned some things along the way:
1. When felting in the washer/dryer, sweaters will throw off a lot of lint. Clean your filters, and be careful not to throw them in the wash with something that will get ruined by lint.
2. Some sweaters will never felt. I don’t know why. They just won’t. Consider it a reminder from the universe that you are not all-powerful, and you never shall be.
3. Some sweaters require just a single wash in the hot cycle. Some require two. Some require even a little bit more. They are like children; their needs vary. Play it by ear. Be flexible. And take heart: unlike children, these sweaters won’t ever tell you you’re mean because you didn’t take them to the coffee shop for cookies in the middle of an ice storm.
4. When is it felted “enough?” When you can cut the sweater without it unraveling. You want it to be like a good partner: solid, snuggly, but not too dense or hard to work with.
5. The very hardest part about the whole thing, psychologically speaking, is making that first cut with scissors in the wool. Cutting a sweater may go against every instinct that you have about taking care of your belongings. You must get over this. Make that first cut, or the sweaters will just sit there, taking up space in your home. Cut.
Terrifying squid eye mittens and Valentine’s ornaments. I’m guessing that probably takes care of $2.24 worth of my felt. What shall I do on the next snow day — probably tomorrow, and the day after that — with my remaining $15.64 worth of sweaters? I’m thinking that maybe it should involve replacing the squid eyes with some other embellishment.
Oh how I wish I were sitting in your living room felting with you. Not only do you cook, but you’re felting too! I went into the Goodwill looking for wool sweaters last year for exactly this reason. We haven’t had a snow day –ever– so I haven’t done much with the few I found. We don’t have snow, so most of the sweaters were acrylic. I will felt though, I will. I’m too intrigued not to.
Hope you get out of the house soon, but until then, your ornaments are marvelous!
Love the mittens!
Readers without washing machines don’t need to miss out on the fun! Grab a pair of yellow, industrial dish gloves, fill up your sink half way with the hottest water you’ve got (add to it from a boiling tea kettle if you must) add dish soap, add wool. Now here is the trick party, you must become the agitator. Move that wool around, scrunch, swirl, roll and kneed. It only takes about 5 minutes and you’ll get the same results (this also works for people with front loading machines, which don’t felt really well.)
I’ve read that those who do use their washing machines love throwing a pair of jeans in with the wash and dry, the jeans add extra agitation and it makes the process go better.
I had a snow day myself yesterday, so the day was a gift from heaven for me. Although our daughter’s decree against dessert meant we couldn’t make cookies – my standard snow day activity! Instead, we all made chili and corn bread, and boy did your boyfriend let me down. We all declared his corn bread the worst we’d ever eaten.
Ooh, what great creations! I am now going to buy adult wool sweaters, shrink them, and give them to my nephew. Also, I love the valentine’s hearts! Would you be interested in writing a short post about how to make them for our Goodwill blog? I know our readers would love it!
Michelle
I have to admit right here in front of everyone that I AM A FELTING VIRGIN. Yep, I am. I had NO IDEA what you were talking about. Okay…let me clarify, I am an “intentional” Felting Virgin, I now know that I’ve had multiple “unintentional” Felting experiences that I didn’t know I was having…so maybe “virgin” was too hasty of a word to use.
I knew Felt is something you buy at an arts & craft store, and cut out and make things from it (I’m not a complete bonehead)…and at first figured that the Felting you were talking about, was the action of doing that. Thank you for the information and the lessons. I love the ornaments you made (the mittens…well you’ll tweek them a bit more I’m sure, hahaha, they do look like googly eyes.) I am now considering how I can travel down the felting path you have led me down. You’re right I do feel all friendly, cozy and warm with the aspirations of trying it. In fact I’m going to go through my closet to see if I have any good Felting canidates in there right now….hmmmmm.
One question before I depart…once felted, is the wool still as itchy or does it soften up? I’m thinking of snow hats or slipper socks for the boys, but if the wool is still itchy to the bare skin then it will be a waste because they won’t wear them.
Hey Ali,
The kids and I were sewing stuff during the snow day as well! And, interestingly, we were also occasionally biting each others heads off – just like you and that turtle.
Another thing to keep in mind while felting sweaters in the washing machine is to try and keep colors separate. Some will shed and you can end up with dark fibers on a light colored sweater, and vice/versa. Just something I learned from personal experience.
Happy making things to you, Love, Maribeth
Beautiful! I’ve been knitting for seven years but have yet to try my hand at felting. Thanks for the instructions!
I’ve been buying wool sweaters and felting them – only recently I cut them into giant strips (like, 5 inches wide). Someday – someday, when I have buckets and oodles of free time – I’ll going to sew them into a blanket and then I’ll have a wool blanket. Maybe I’ll line it with flannel, so one side will be soft and not-scratchy. This is my plan. Someday. (My craft projects always take me years to finish – because I have multiple ones going at any given time, and because I don’t have oodles of free time.)
Ali,
Isn’t wool a wonderful fiber? It’s my favorite fiber to wear, use, and “play” with, though silk runs a close second. I’ve probably mentioned before that I spin, make felt, and knit, though mostly it’s just some spinning and a bit of knitting. Not enough time in the day to do everything I want to do. Glad you’re discovering it, though. It’s a great creative outlet, and a fun activity for all ages.
Felted wool is a permanently tangled fiber matrix, with much of the air space removed.
“Some sweaters will never felt. I don’t know why. They just won’t.”
Some wool is treated to make it “superwash wool”, which prevents felting (which most people consider a good thing, unless like you, they are trying to shrink the wool on purpose, in which case, it’s frustrating). There are a couple of processes that can make wool “superwash” (smoothing the fiber surface so it won’t shrink and become more dense), but essentially these processes “smooth” the fiber shaft and prevent the “shingles” on the wool fibers from gripping against each other and permanently entangling. Some processes remove the shingles and others coat the fiber exterior with a resin.
Want to learn some more fiber/textile technicalities? Hopefully you have nodded. Though the shrunken fabric you are making is commonly referred to as “felt”, what you are doing, in textile terms, is called “fulling”, which means the shrinking and thickening is done on finished cloth (woven, knitted, etc.). The result fabric is “fulled” wool (this has also been called “boiled” wool). Fulling was traditionally done to cloth after weaving or knitting to make it wear harder, get thicker, be warmer, create more wind and moisture resistance, etc. Usually, the sloth was wet with an alkaline solution, then “beat” with tools until the desired effect was achieved. Your washing machine does essentially the same thing.
FYI, adding jeans or other heavy, smooth hard items (a clean sneaker!) to the washing machine can aid in the process. But don’t add towels or any fluffy cotton items, no matter how heavy, that will shed lint. The lint will become trapped in the wool fiber and create little unsightly cotton “pills”.
Some more fulling trivia – “Fuller’s earth”, a fine clay powder, was used to remove lanolin grease from the wool. Anyone named Fuller probably had ancestors in the wool textile trade.
In textile terms, “felting” is actually making a cloth or a form from just plain wool fiber, not already finished cloth. Traditionally, this was done with a wet process, often soapy water(the alkalinity of soap helps open the “shingles” so the catch each other). Making felt this way involves agitation of the wool in some way, either by a controlled form of gently rolling, rubbing, vibrating, etc., to encourage the fibers to migrate and slide past each other in the soapy moisture. Then the wool is shocked with abrupt temperature change (hotter to colder), pH change (more acidic), and/or physical shock “throwing” or beating to quickly contract the fiber, creating a denser, permanent mesh of fiber.
Industrial felt is made with plates of straight barbed needles in a big “needle bed” machine, which punch through the fiber and entangle them. Contemporary felt artists have borrowed the industrial needles, using them by hand, singly or in groups, to create all sorts of “dry” felt and felt “painting” effects, often in sculptural forms, but also on flat felt and fulled wool cloth. This is not your craft store felt (which is almost always made from an industrially needle-felted synthetic fiber now, not wool).
Then there is “nuno” felt, or “laminated” felt, which is wool fiber that is felted onto thinly woven fabric. It’s veeeeery fun, and can make a great ruffling or rouching effect when the wool shrinks and gathers up the fabric into which the wool fibers have migrated.
So you can see that to textile people, fiber artists in particular, there is a clear distinction between making felt from loose fiber and making fulling cloth. But it’s all commonly called felt and feltmaking these days, so that’s what you’ll hear most often and for most people, using the terms felt and feltmaking instead of fulled cloth and fulling works just fine.
I haven’t been actively making felt in a couple years due to more pressing interests (but I still have a huge stash of yarn and fiber), but a few views of my earlier projects can be seen here:
http://homepage.mac.com/gandasalvesen/Menu4.html
That’s probably more than you ever wanted to know about making felt and fulling wool cloth, but if I’ve whetted your appetite for more, check out the Feltmaker’s FAQ, a great resource for all feltmaking techniques. The nice folks at the Feltmaker’s list are very generous with their expertise.
http://members.peak.org/~spark/feltlistFAQ.html
First things first, you found awesome sweaters at goodwill!!! I’m so impressed. I was felting sweaters yesterday too and admit that I did have to call M down the street to check in on my felting technique. Amy, I hate to admit it, but Mr. B let me down too this week and that has NEVER happened before. His hummus…sadly, not so good. I was stunned.
I never even knew what felting was until now. By the way, your daughter is beautiful, Ali.
Maybe you could turn one sweater into a shopping bag. Sew the bottom together, cut off the sleeves for handles. I did see this somewhere!
What a neat post! I had never heard of this before but I’m itching to give it a try. Once you’ve felted the sweaters – can you now wash and dry them, or do you still have to treat them like wool?
I love the felting, but mostly I envy your snow. Ali, send some of this way, please, and I’ll start felting, too. Althought…they don’t close schools much less business here, when it snows…alas!
Love your creations and loved the blog. This post is just so rich that I don’t even know where to begin…rabid bats, warty turtles, felted wool and partners, squid eyes? Perfect. Oh, and I could certainly use some things that don’t demand cookies!
It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but what a pleasant surprise to see a crafty post! I started feeling a little anxious, though, as I read through it. I love to reuse things and when I hear of a new (or maybe not so new) use for something, I feel this urgency to go out and buy every one of that item I can find and do that thing with it.
There’s a Goodwill in our town and even though we have no use for wool sweaters as they were intended to be used, I started feeling like I needed to make little felted nothings to give to school children or more mittens to add to the mismatched and unused pile. I need another neglected hobby like I need another hole in my head!
And then I read Barb’s comment about the shopping bag. Now that’s something I do need more of. I’m trying to make the switch from plastic to whatever else I can find and I think it might be nice to have one or two homemade ones to make things interesting. Or, I could use them to give gifts. Kind of a homemade version of the now-becoming-tacky gift bag.
Also, I really enjoyed Anna’s mini-documentary on wool processing. It was fascinating. For a minute there, I forgot where I was.
Enjoy your snow. We haven’t even come close to it this year.
Check out Crispina fFrench on Facebook. She’s a bigtime felter (among other things) in Pittsfield. Shes running a felting workshop using old sweaters and things in mid-January. I’ll be away the day she’s doing it, but it sounds like fun (but not if it’s a snow day).
I’ve been meaning to give this a try for ages! Martha Stewart Living had a big article on felting, gosh…a while ago and it had some fun ideas. A few are on the website, like this knitting basket:
http://www.marthastewart.com/article/knitting-basket-how-to?autonomy_kw=felted%20sweaters&rsc=header_2
And I love, love, love these little animals:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=0fdb27b07593f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=related
These mittens also look simple and would be cute gifts:
http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=09cb27b07593f010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default&rsc=related
go Ali! The picture totally cracked me up, and tomorrow I’m going to the consignment store to buy all sweaters pink and red. Because there is nothing like your valentine’s ornament idea for my kids. They love it!
Happy cooking, felting, writing and doing as you please!
Ok dokey….between you and M, I swear you’ve cleaned out the entire goodwill of nice wool sweaters! I stopped by today…gone, all gone. No colorful gap sweaters, nothing. Do you all have some secret method for successful wool sweater shopping?
Oh well, the force is with me! Yoda, to be exact. E outgrew a pair of thin fleece/flannel(?) pajama pants (Yoda style) and the little green guy is going to line the inside of my new dark green mittens. I love them!
Just so you know, you can felt a sweater that has as little as 30% wool, angora, etc. So even if it is an acrylic or cotton blend it’s still usable for felting. I like making slippers, and my next project will be a blanket I think. Martha Stewart’s website has a great pattern for felt slippers, FYI.
I spent our childhood torturing you with LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE pretend games. And who’s felting now?
Thanks for the tips, links, and encouragement, guys. And to Anna – wow! Thanks for the insights. That’s amazing.
Fiwa, you can wash the item once felted, but I’d keep it away from heat. Otherwise, some items will get smaller and denser. Cold wash, low heat dry (or even air dry, depending on the fabric) would be my recommendation.
And just for the record, local folks shouldn’t blame me for the run on wool sweaters at Goodwill. Kirsten is the gal to blame. She told me that she bought the store out of everything but neon yellow.
Happy felting, all!
This is so cool…love the crazy squid-eye mittens…I’ve been wanting to felt old sweaters for a long time (I have two sitting in a box waiting), but this has held me back:
“Cutting a sweater may go against every instinct that you have about taking care of your belongings. You must get over this.”
Plus not knowing what I would make with the felt…crazy mittens might just be the thing (I don’t think black and mustard would make very festive Valentines).
omg i just totally fell in love with you!!!!!! YOu have just taught me something new that I will HAVE TO DO!!!!!
If you want recycled wool ideas check out my blog!
There are hundreds of things on there made from recycled wool. Enjoy!