Crafty Herbal Knitter

This idea came to me while I was flipping through Last-Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. In it is a pattern for felted potholders. I got the idea that this would be a good way of using up some of my leftover wool yarn. I had a lot of fun rummaging through my stash and coming up with different color schemes. 

As I was knitting these potholders up, I started thinking about how these would be a perfect introduction to felting for someone who has never done it before. They are easy, easy, easy to knit and felt up fast.  It would have been great for my first felting project. For my first felting project I crocheted and felted some slippers. I accidentally over felted them and they came out too small. These potholders would have been great for my intro to felting because you really can’t go wrong! 

The pattern is basically a 12-inch square knitted with garter stitch. I crocheted a border in single crochet and added a loop to hang the potholder from.  To felt, I placed the potholders in a zippered pillowcase protector and tossed that into the washer along with two pairs of jeans (to help with agitation). I set my washer to small and the water temperature to hot. After I started the washer I added a small amount of Biokleen Laundry Liquid (this is what I use but you can use any mild laundry detergent). After the washer finished filling and started agitating, I set my timer for 5 minutes. At the end of the 5 minutes I would check on how the item was felting. I would continue checking every 5 minutes until the item was as felted as I wanted it to be. I like checking every 5 minutes to make sure the item isn’t over felting. These potholders took about 15 minutes total to felt (that was with me checking them every 5 minutes, so I basically checked them 3 times). Once the item is finished felting, I rinse it with cold water to remove the detergent. Then I tightly roll it up in a thick towel, pushing down as I go. This does a great job removing a lot of the water. Then the item lays flat to dry. That’s pretty much it! 

In the pictures below, the top picture shows 2 potholders before they were felted, the middle one shows them after they were felted, and the bottom picture shows another finished potholder. These potholders were a lot of fun to make and you don’t feel like you wasted a lot of time and money if they don’t come out “perfect”.  Hmmm, I’m thinking Christmas presents……

Filed under: Felting, Knitting, Recommended Books on October 3rd, 2007