How to Felt Wool Quickly and Easily with Your Washing Machine This is the simple technique that lured me into the wool felting world. On the downside, that process usually involves terrible chemicals. Unless, of course, you're saying that on purpose to make it felt, because Murphy's Law is recursive. Cookies help us deliver our Services. And: NO–you can absolutely use superwash yarn, knit some color work, make a steek, felt it and cut it open beautifully. And then there’s this slideshow which blew my mind with its overviews of the different finishing treatments - from superwash to non-flammable - for wool!. Are there other great fibers that would work for me besides wearing a turtleneck under all my projects? This is why superwash wool was developed. You’ll see a lot of botanical inspiration in my knits, as well as ethnic and traditional designs. Most animal fibers have scales along their length and when washed in a washing machine, the heat, agitation and rapid cooling at the rinse stage combine to give ideal conditions for the scales to interlock, causing the fabric to felt irreversibly. Untreated wool is susceptible to felting. What you must NOT do, is rub the garment, just gently squees it. Whether a yarn is superwash or not will affect the yarn’s characteristics and the kind of projects that you… Very hot water and excessive agitation may remove some of the superwash coating, which will eventually lead to felting. There you have it– you absolutely can felt superwash wool! Superwash wool is an absolute miracle for hardwearing items like socks (that really do need to be washed often). Again, you can only dye up to 1 pound (454 g) of wool. In some areas, you can buy these ready-made. It is renewable, sheep grow a new fleece every year. Traditional wool felts when you wash it in a machine. The knit stitch: This one is a little harder to pin point or predict. You can find the pattern for this MKAL in my Ravelry shop, it will be available to the public by the end of May, 2020. If you've ever felted anything — on purpose or by accident! My very first project was a little scarf for my teddy bear and I remember it well. Putting it in the dryer might help return it to original size though. Early on, I realized that I really enjoyed customizing my knits and I rapidly graduated to designing my own patterns. ( Log Out / Using a microscope to investigate a single strand of wool further, you would notice the strand has tiny scales covering its surface. Here's a mile-high look at some of the main considerations about superwash wool. Superwash wool is a yarn that’s been specially treated to make it machine washable. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Sew in a rubberband to make it strechy. This is accentuated in the washing process. The lack of elasticity allows your block to hold all of those YOs open. Superwash wool has been treated so that the scales are not so responsive to heat and agitation and thus can be washed in the washer (usually on a cool, gentle cycle, we don’t want to get too crazy after all). Projects that you might want to felt […] But sometimes, as knitters, we really do want a little felting (or wool fiber sticking together) action in specific places. The downside: Wool & tweed comes in different weaves. Some blends will felt, but the majority of the content must be animal fiber. Living a … If you want to dive deeper into the different types of superwash processes, this paper offers a comprehensive overview and a range of sources to investigate further. Guaranteed, the first time he washes it, it will shrink to a doll's cap. You may be curious if this felting technique works with all yarns: remember that it ONLY works if there is an animal fiber component to it. Heat, moisture, and friction are the elements that are needed for wool to felt. “But, but but… superwash won’t felt!”, you may be muttering right about now! If it felts, it shrinks! “You can and should wash knits like wool, cashmere, and blends from home to preserve the natural fibers of your garment.” “Washing at home is actually better for wool knits compared to … I need to take a class….still looks scary! You don't unfortunately, that's the point. Another go to quality is that this fiber will not felt. Knitters love its wide colour range, high quality pure wool fibre and soft handle. There’s no denying that superwash yarn is slicker or not as sticky as untreated yarn so I am going to stabilize the steek before I cut. If you try to cram too much wool into your pot, you won't get a consistent color. Unless it is superwash wool (meaning it has been chemically descaled so you can wash it, but not dry it) putting woolen goods in the washer/dryer is not a good idea unless you intend to felt it. alpaca or llama, maybe dog hair if you have a long haired breed. To felt things, you need to have 100% wool yarn, or it will not felt. No bits on the shaft, nothing to interlock; no interlocking, no felting. Your Magical Felting Machine Awaits! Here’s the whole row of picked up stitches as nice and neat as you please. Those scales, along with the crimp (or curliness) of the fiber are what gives animal fibers their “memory”. Felt has many practical uses, but sometimes we want to work with wool in ways that run the risk of turning the wool into felt. Most recently, one of my designs was chosen for Sock Madness (an international speed knitting contest hosted on Ravelry). Fray both ends slightly, moisten your palm (yes, that's where the "spit" comes into it, but you can use water), overlap the ends in your palm, and then put your hands together and quickly and firmly roll the ends together. So as you can see, I love sharing my passion with others. And here is the entire steek needle felted on one side. Because it’s washable, making care easier, it is a good choice for wearable items. You can get the felted look without the felting. Further resources. What can be felted: Superwash is great for knitting sweaters, but… Felting the easy way. It’s been treated to prevent felting, right?? It just seems to be more organic with the knitted fabric. Typically 85% wool content or higher (not superwash) will felt. You can find many sources to purchase wool from on Etsy.com usually right from the shepherd that raises the sheep. Wish I still had it! I am a small-time wool yarn dyer. Wool is 100% biodegradable and will naturally decompose in soil in a matter of years, slowly releasing valuable nutrients back into the earth. If you consistently react to wool, a doctor can confirm whether or not you’re allergic. Another favorable quality of merino wool is that it weighs less and warms more. And then I usually like to turn around and design an easy but elegant knit that is beginner friendly. However, the yarn I was using in the video above was actually superwash merino wool, so felting just the ends with agitation is possible. Felting is fun, you can pick up some basic merino wool for around 5 or 6 bucks at Michaels or your local yarn shop. Be aware that wools labeled 'superwash' have been treated to … One great alternative to superwash wool is to use a natural”superwash” if that is what it can be called. What is superwash wool? Our products include wool boot liners, insoles, felt pads, felting wool and more. One quality of a super washed roving is that is can withstand machine washing. Acrylic, polyester, nylon, cotton, silk, or yarns with only a percentage of wool WILL NOT FELT. Wool blankets are ideal for this. But watch the washing instructions on any of it as some wool is being marketed that is Super Wash, meaning you can toss it in the washing machine and dryer without shrinking or felting. But to get to the crux of superwash wool vs, non superwash wool, we have to look a little closer than we can see with the naked eye. Some blends will felt, but the majority of the content must be animal fiber. Felting happens when the scales on wool fibers open up, grab onto each other, and are then permanently locked in … I've found that certain knits refuse to felt no matter what I do - even if the wool content is high. Suffice to say - that's why worsted wool suits tend to be expensive - because there's more processing involved. Follow along with me on a recent project I designed for a steeking clinic that does just that! Putting it in the dryer might help return it to original size though. Work in either Garter (purple swatch at left) or Stockinette stitch (green swatch at right) until the swatch is square. Tweed is an open weave. This is very important, since yarn that isn’t 100% wool won’t felt properly. Here’s the steek from the back. The natural stickiness of wool fibers combined with the nature of the knit fabric itself prevents the raw edges from unraveling too much when cut. My business has been growing rapidly these past 1-2 years and now my customers are starting to request that I carry more superwash yarns (I currently carry a small amount of Superwash sock yarns). A wool may or may not note that it's superwash, but if it says it's machine washable, you know that it must be! This is a fact of modern life. Most animal fibers have scales along their length and when washed in a washing machine, the heat, agitation and rapid cooling at the rinse stage combine to give ideal conditions for the scales to interlock, causing the fabric to felt irreversibly. You should use wool or other animal fiber yarn, ie. While some brands say that they are … Untreated wool has scales along the fiber shaft (like your own hair) that rub together and “snag” or bind together causing felting. Sure, your garment won’t felt (in theory), but it might still shrink a bit and can lose its shape. That is the minimum amount of wool for felting. If you were to purchase real wool felt (not the polyester sheets found in craft stores), you can expect to … This award-winning worsted weight yarn is as versatile as it is popular. If you want to dive deeper into the different types of superwash processes, this paper offers a comprehensive overview and a range of sources to investigate further. It’s easy (and addictive!) When you join a new ball of (feltable) wool to your knitting, you can spit-graft or felt-graft the end of the old ball to the beginning of the new ball. I am hesitant to add more Superwash, as I understand that the Superwash process is quite toxic. Or sew (or crochet) some elastic thread into the back of the ribbing. Change ), You are commenting using your Twitter account. So, you can blame the itchiness of your least favorite sweater on the thickness of the wool strand. Next time use more negative ease and don't get frustrated, knitting a fitting hat is super hard. You may be familiar with what happens during this process: it felts! I made a hat for a friend of mine with superwash merino wool, intending it to be machine-washable since he's a dude and probably wouldn't know how to care for a woolen item. Thanks for this great idea! “Superwash” is one of those terms you see on yarn packaging that might make you wonder what exactly you’re getting in to. So for this piece, the raw edge of the steek is completely covered. Unfortunately, my gauge was slightly off, and it came out slightly big, but I thought, no problem, I'll just throw it in the wash and it should shrink a bit, right? Next up: cutting the steek!! What is superwash wool? Find out how to make wool felt by hand. As an alternative to wool, you can use a wool blend. Felting is a natural but sometimes unwanted property of the wool fiber. Thus, THE yarn of choice for knitting traditional Fair Isle garments is untreated wool which facilitates the stabilization of the raw edges of a steek. However, as a dyer, if you can dye roving, then you can dye yarn that isn't superwash. If you’d like to purchase your own needle punch and mat, just click the previous links to the products at Amazon where I purchased mine. Conditioner for hair temporarily smooths the bits which is why we put it on and rinse it off, it's like hair glue to make your hair lay next to the shaft, making it less frizzy. Heat, moisture, and friction are the elements that are needed for wool to felt. Many people are afraid to work with wool because it is so easy to shrink. One quality of a super washed roving is that is can withstand machine washing. Superwash* is chemically treating wool to remove the little follicles scales of the hair, leaving the smooth shaft. Because of the possibility of felting, we are more gentle with the non-superwash yarn. This, of course, is a giant pain in the butt, so countless folks have resorted to throwing their woolies into the washer to save time (washers are a great invention, right?). Either the wool is exposed to an acid bath that removes the scales or the fibers are coated with a polymer to prevent them from opening and locking together. Woollen yarn just loves to grab onto itself – the surface is scaly and these scales want to be joined as one! Felting is fun, you can pick up some basic merino wool for around 5 … And, since the garment won’t grow excessively, you can more easily predict the outcome for your sweaters. Browse our collection of craft, designer and industrial felts available by the roll, sheets, ribbons & stripping. Whether a yarn is superwash or not will affect the yarn’s characteristics and the kind of projects that you’ll use each for. Since I teach biology and botany at the university level, its natural that I teach knitting and knitting techniques as well. You are working wool on wool which works well for some designs. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Use only 100% animal fiber … I believe techknitter has a blog post(s) about this. Interestingly, superwash merino wool has been treated in a special way to remove the scales so that felting does not occur, making the wool machine washable. I had a similar problem with a hat I made for a big-headed person! I finished this piece with a folded picot hem. This is a mechanical felting technique and is a very easy process, it just takes a few minutes of carefully punching the needles through the steek over the mat and your steek is felted in that area. Especially with a demand for convenience and usability, To overcome such issues, the ‘Hercosett Superwash Treatment’ uses chlorinated … ( Log Out / Description. Keep in mind … I knit in a one stitch wide garter stitch column and the “indents” of that column are my guide for where I insert my crochet hook and pull up the yarn. Hope that's satisfied your curiosity! Based on your medical history, you could have an increased risk of wool allergy. Superwash wool is a wool yarn that is machine washable and, therefore, will not felt. It came out bigger. The superwash process prevents the scales from binding in one of two ways. — you already know where this is headed. Wool is great to work with. As an alternative to wool, you can use a wool blend. It is important to know what wool you are using and where it came from, especially if you want to keep track of which type you like best. Wool is great to work with. Similarly, a medium-high wool content and an admonition to handwash only in cool water means that yarn will probably felt if you encourage it. The wool will want to float to the top, so push it … You must use animal fiber to felt. (A note for seamless sweaters: sticky wool can really help with maintaining shape and fit.) As a demonstration of what types of yarns can be felted, I tried felting the … I am a knitting newbie…..with a wool allergy. A wool-alpaca blend will felt nicely. Superwash wool is a yarn that’s been specially treated to make it machine washable. There are only two things that are important to felting success: 1. You are working wool on wool which works well for some designs. When you take it … The largest supplier of Canada's online felt materials and products. So, we like superwash wool because it has the properties of wool but can be washed in the machine. Wondering what you can make with superwash wool yarns? Just not in the washer . This is a quick cowl pattern I designed for folks to get some practice with stranded color work and making (and cutting!) Wool garments should be washed on the wool setting (usually gentle action at 40°C). So basically you might be able to damage the yarn somehow to introduce new bits on the shaft, but to do so universally without wrecking the piece? Most yarns that are 50% wool will felt nicely. Knitting a narrow waste panel (a steek) that will be cut open later enables the knitter to create the piece by working from the right side only by knitting entirely in the round. Let's scavenge because felting won't work. I can run a skein of wool across my neck and red blotches/itching begin. Now, I think your method would be handy for someone that doesn’t mind altering a pattern. If it's not melded, I would try felting it again to see if the fibers grip onto one another better. Yes–superwash yarn has been treated to prevent felting in the washer. And, to be honest, even knitters using untreated woolen yarn occasionally stabilize their steeks before cutting; it’s better to be safe than sorry, after all. Similarly, a medium-high wool content and an admonition to handwash only in cool water means that yarn will probably felt if you encourage it. Yarn, roving, silk sliver or … Simply put, superwash wool is the term for a wool yarn that has been treated to be machine washable. I've done this to salvage too-big hats before, it works nicely and makes them twice as warm! Superwash is a patented process that assures the fabric can be machine washed and dried without damage if you follow the label instructions. You can make a sheet of felt consisting of felted wool fibers alone or you can needle felt on top of another piece of fabric. And then there’s this slideshow which blew my mind with its overviews of the different finishing treatments - from superwash to non-flammable - for wool!. Have you wondered about the difference between superwash and non-superwash yarns? Another favorable quality of merino wool is that it weighs less and warms more. Wool can absolutely be washed at high temperatures: Presoak the wool garment in luke warm water, then fill a bucket with as hot tapwater as you get; add wool detergent and the presoaked garment. When it comes to most sweater knitting I love a non-superwash wool if you/the recipient can handle the feel of it. I chose a zig-zag stitch so that there is a little stretch to accommodate the knitted fabric. Can be coarse. Toss it in and you’re done, just like with the rest of your laundry. I have a bit of a problem. https://lizzieknitzz.com/2020/05/02/yes-you-can-felt-superwash-wool Tweed is an open weave. You can expect alpaca wool to felt more than other, coarser wool fibers, as it takes longer for coarse fibers to felt. The Hercosett Superwash Treatment. Depending on the size of the project, hand felting can be quick and easy. Each hair of wool is made up of scales. I’m attaching to the inside here. Did you machine-dry it too? Besides knitting and adding to my yarn stash (can you say S.A.B.L.E.? Seconding lining it with fleece, in particular techknitter's tutorial. The cut will be in the middle so I do need to stabilize both sides. I had this problem with my brother's xmas present, and he likes his lined hat even more than the unlined ones I've made for him. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. Be aware that wools labeled 'superwash' have been treated to prevent felting. The yarn is then … You can't use Superwash wool yarn. Is there anything I can do to felt this damn thing, or am I going to have to unravel it and start all over? So far, I have used superwash because minus scales I seem to be okay. Learn what you can make from felted wool. However, some people shrink wool on purpose in a technique commonly called felting—though it's more correctly called fulling. This inhibits the wools ability to felt and you can wash it in your washer on a gentle cycle; I would still use cool water … In some areas, you can … No, acrylic will not felt. You can also be less careful about temperature and agitation with superwash yarn. I did have a small outlay for some new, specialized tools but I feel I will certainly use them again in the future. Another go to quality is that this fiber will not felt. Wool consists of many individual hairs. Join me as I knit and muse and review and have fun in this ancient craft. Can be coarse. This will probably only bring it back to being the same size it was originally, unfortunately. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Press J to jump to the feed. Below is a guide to some of the most common types of fibre and wool and how they needle felt. Most people prefer felting in the washing machine, but not everyone has that option.The great news is that you can felt by hand, using your sink, a bucket, a washtub, or even the bathtub. If you want to dye more wool, you will have to prepare another dye batch. Wool Blend Felt Sheets. This fiber has all the characteristics of a Merino Wool, 21.5 Microns, but has been treated to be Superwash. Here I go! If your washing machine does not have a wool cycle, use the … In my experience, the only way to felt superwash is to tell the recipient, at great length, about how because it's specially treated blah blah blah it will never felt, you can wash it and dry it in the machines a million times and nothing will happen. I also seem to have trouble with alpaca. One of those times is when one is working a garment in stranded knitting (for example, Fair Isle knitting) and are preparing to cut open a steek. This fiber has all the characteristics of a Merino Wool, 21.5 Microns, but has been treated to be Superwash. It was really easy and made the hat fit perfectly. And you’re not limited to loose wool. Last but not least, I can’t talk about superwash yarn without a caveat: Remember that “superwash” doesn’t mean you can really throw it in the washer and dryer without consequence. Many breeds of sheep wool do not felt and are considered be natural ways to obtain a fiber that can go in the washing machine. But in the end… No matter the size of the scales, they are all prone to felting and friction can be disastrous for your woolen garment! I watched my mom knit my entire life and now it’s a big part of my life, too. I used this method to knit a cardigan for my 8mo son in superwash and it worked wonderfully. Return to Homepage from What is Worsted Wool Superwash wool can allow you to work with great fibers without worrying about shrinkage. See What Happens. Bummer. Yay, problem solved! Further resources. Cutting up the middle with some good sharp scissors! Next, I’ll try sewing a line of zig-zag stitches with my sewing machine. On the upside, there is a process that can be done so that it doesn't felt! Superwash is not the only easy-care option. I have found with some superwash, the washer stretches it out and it loses a lot of elasticity, but the dryer can help scrunch it back up a bit. … For those who want to make use of wool for the yarn industry, some of these characteristics of wool can be problematic. Superwash wool to the rescue! Also, my steek is wider for this superwash yarn than I would design for untreated wool. Superwash is not the only easy-care option. Before Felting; Felted Wool Knit After 1 Wash Cycle; Felted Wool Knit After 2 Wash Cycles; Take a close look; Apres Felting. Before You Felt – Materials. Just as the name implies … this means making a flat piece of felt fabric. To check this, look at the yarn wrapper. Superwash wool is explicitly treated so that it doesn't felt. (and any yarn that states Superwash on the label, it is made to resist felting) I have noticed that a wool blend will work, but your best results will always be with 100% wool, which you can find at any craft store or online (and in a much wider variety of colors). Felting occurs when these scales bind together. No, acrylic will not felt. Spread a large towel over a surface into which you can stick pins, such as a bed, ironing board or carpet. If your Woolmark-approved garment’s care claim says that you can machine wash your piece of wool clothing, then it means it can safely be machine washed in a washing machine multiple times, without shrinkage taking place. You make it look so easy. Acrylic, polyester, nylon, cotton, silk, or yarns with only a percentage of wool WILL NOT FELT. When finished, the samples shown measured 5 inches by 5 inches.
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