Your first few felting yarn projects should consist of items that are not intended to be worn closely on the body, like a scarf or purse. As your felting skills progress, you can be adventurous and use an educated guess to adjust the size and gage of your project to allow for shrinkage without ruining your felting project. This can easily be accomplished by using a larger needle or hook when creating a felting project.
The finished felting project will be several sizes smaller, thicker and firmer. Your project needs to be completely finished before washing. Any embroidery stitching and finishing must be complete, as well as adding any closures or zippers. Once you have knitted your desired clothing, place it inside a zippered mesh bag with very small openings or a sealed pillowcase to prevent loose fibers from plugging up your washing machine's pump and to prevent your project from being damaged by the agitator.
Smaller items can even be sucked into the drainage hose and cause considerable damage to your washing machine. You may want to check on your machine part way through the cycle and remove any loose fibers floating in the tub. If felting a small item like baby clothing or mittens, you should place another larger item, not a towel, in the bag as well to prevent losing your project with the draining water.
Set your machine's option to wash in hot water and rinse with cold. You will need to add a tablespoon of gentle detergent that is suitable for wool items and a fabric softener if you desire.
Once the wash cycle is finished, check to see if your project is sufficiently felted. You may need to repeat the wash part of the cycle several times to reach your desired level of felting. Once you are satisfied with the felting, remove the item and lay it flat to dry. Hand Felting. There are two methods of felting yarn by hand, a wet method and a dry method. The wet method begins by layering a batt or roving of wool by very gently pulling the fibers apart and placing them on a large flat surface like a cookie sheet with the fibers all facing the same direction and alternating the direction of the layers.
One layer runs horizontally, the next vertically, then horizontally until you have at least four layers. The more layers you lay down, the thicker your project will be. The next step is to add very hot water mixed with a small amount of hand soap or dish detergent. Slowly wet your wool and apply pressure to wet areas with your hand, using firm pressure.
Fold over any frayed fibers into the edges and press them back into the project to create a more even edge. As your soapy water cools, you will need to drain it from your tray and add more hot water while applying pressure. Image source: shepherds-delight. Shetland is a lovely fine wool with more bulk and crimp to it than Merino.
We love working with Shetland and it is a popular wool available in many natural and dyed colours. It can be a little too fine to use for large pieces but is great for beginners. Image source of shetland-sheep.
Corriedale is a New Zealand breed that has become quite popular for needle felting. It is less fine than Merino, BFL or Shetland and has a lovely crimp meaning it felts quite quickly but can be difficult to get fine details with.
Manx Loaghtan is a beautiful wool to needle felt with. It has a lot of natural bulk and felts quickly. The natural brown is limiting but if you need that colour for your project it could be the perfect wool for you. Image source: manxloaghtansheep. Jacob comes in more natural colours than Manx but has a similar feel with a medium fineness and a decent crimp making it easy to felt. Image source: jacobsheepsociety. Herdwick is a pretty hill breed with a courser, dense wool. It is difficult to felt to a neat finish but can add textural interest to a piece.
It is only available in grey, but you can often find difference shades to work with. Alpaca is very different to sheep's wool but can be fun to add to a piece!
It is very fine and has a short staple length but is beautifully soft. It takes a long time to needle felt so we'd only recommend using it to add a 'skin' of colour. It is available in various natural colours including beautiful fawns and rich chocolates. This is by no means an exhaustive list but covers all the main wools we use here at Hawthorn Handmade! To begin spinning on a bottom whorl drop spindle, attach a leader to your spindle by tying a piece of yarn about 18 inches long onto the shaft right above the whorl, then take the yarn over the side of the whorl, loop it around the shaft underneath, and back over the side of the whorl, and secure the end onto the hook.
Is Angora wool expensive? Angora rabbits produce coats in a variety of colours, from white through tan, gray, and brown to black. Are rabbits killed for angora? Angora rabbits, which have extremely soft, thick coats, are not killed for their fur; instead, the animals are shaved or plucked and the fur is spun to produce a very plush yarn fiber. Is Angora wool cruel? A PETA Asia investigation into angora farms in China — the world's top producer of angora wool — has revealed shockingly cruel treatment of rabbits.
Investigators found that sickening abuse of animals is standard practice on Chinese angora farms. What is cashmere made of? Cashmere wool, usually simply known as cashmere, is a fiber obtained from cashmere goats or pashmina goats and other types of goat. It has been used to make yarn, textiles and clothing for hundreds of years. The word cashmere is an anglicisation of Kashmir. Does angora wool itch? Angora is also rare and requires a lot of work to produce, so it's generally more expensive than other varieties.
Alpaca wool is lightweight, soft, silky, and durable. It's similar to traditional sheep's wool but is warmer and less scaly. Read: not as itchy. How is mohair harvested? Shearing is done twice a year, in the spring and in the fall.
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