Yesterday evening I went to mag nation on Elizabeth St to meet up with some knitters from Ravelry. It was my first meeting with them, but we had a lot in common and I know I had a great time, anyway. Everyone was really friendly and funny and, being knitters, we had heaps in common. It's amazing all the stuff you can learn too!
Anyway, because I was having so much fun, my needles were flying and the scarf I posted yesterday got finished! So today I had my first attempt at Shibori felting and I'm pretty pleased with the results, I have to say. This scarf is for a swap as it's getting far too warm to be needing them around here! Apologies for the sideways pics, I thought that I'd saved them upright . . .
This is a close up of the unfelted "bubbles". The little ones didn't quite work, but the big ones sure did! I like the random pattern on this end, although I was trying to make smaller bubbles as I got closer to the middle of the scarf.
This picture is of the whole scarf drying on the clothesline. Along with the towels I washed as I was felting it! There's not enough water around to be using the machine to felt one scarf, and I had to wash the towels anyway, so they added extra agitation. You can see how the other end of the scarf has a pattern of bubbles in a triangle pointing towards the middle of the scarf. I wanted the two ends to be different. Also, this photo sort of shows the seed stitch border which hasn't been felted out of existence. I like the level of felting on this scarf but if I was making it again, I'd use a looser gauge as it's a very thick scarf now! I used 6.5mm needles when the recommended on the ball band was 4mm. The yarn (in case I forgot to mention) is Lincraft's cosy wool (100% wool) which was okay to work with but did have quite a lot of vegetable matter in it. But it felts beautifully and is pretty cheap with a good range of colours.
Anyway, because I was having so much fun, my needles were flying and the scarf I posted yesterday got finished! So today I had my first attempt at Shibori felting and I'm pretty pleased with the results, I have to say. This scarf is for a swap as it's getting far too warm to be needing them around here! Apologies for the sideways pics, I thought that I'd saved them upright . . .
This is a close up of the unfelted "bubbles". The little ones didn't quite work, but the big ones sure did! I like the random pattern on this end, although I was trying to make smaller bubbles as I got closer to the middle of the scarf.
This picture is of the whole scarf drying on the clothesline. Along with the towels I washed as I was felting it! There's not enough water around to be using the machine to felt one scarf, and I had to wash the towels anyway, so they added extra agitation. You can see how the other end of the scarf has a pattern of bubbles in a triangle pointing towards the middle of the scarf. I wanted the two ends to be different. Also, this photo sort of shows the seed stitch border which hasn't been felted out of existence. I like the level of felting on this scarf but if I was making it again, I'd use a looser gauge as it's a very thick scarf now! I used 6.5mm needles when the recommended on the ball band was 4mm. The yarn (in case I forgot to mention) is Lincraft's cosy wool (100% wool) which was okay to work with but did have quite a lot of vegetable matter in it. But it felts beautifully and is pretty cheap with a good range of colours.
