The Wool-blend Underground

Christmas Hatastrophes

I had a terrible time getting my ladies' Christmas presents to come out right this year.

I made my first attempt at felting with a cloche style hat. The pattern was straight forward, but it seemed like it was getting too big as I knit. I cut the height short by several inches, but it was still very tall before felting. But I pressed on, and threw it in the wash. Four times on the hottest, longest cycle. It just wouldn't get small enough.

The yarn I used has been around since at least the early 80s (a gift from a friend's mom when she cleaned out her crafty room). Perhaps the age of the yarn effected the shrinkage, but no matter the reason, revafisheye looked more like Nefertiti or Donald from Fat Albert than Thoroughly Modern Millie.





I was so excited to make personalized Jayne Cobb hats for my two favorite Firefly fans. Unfortunately, I misread my gauge. That wasn't all. When I finished the first one and realized it was too big, I thought, "Hey, it's a wool blend. I'll just wash it and it will shrink." With this plan in mind, I continued on with the second one using the same yarn and needles. When the first went in the wash with one of the aforementioned felting attempts: disaster. Not only did it not shrink, it lost all elasticity, coming out bigger than before.


Post-wash


Pre-finish

Criminy. I was on track to finish Christmas prezies before the New Year. Oh well, it just wouldn't be February if my friends weren't getting Christmas presents from me.

posted by revafisheye @ 10:33 PM