I enjoy felting my hand knit items. I also care about the planet and hate paying a high water bill. A reduction in family hygiene is not an option. So we got a front loader. As I looked at this new high-efficiency machine I felt really proud. We were taking one additional step in using less..not always easy to do. I also felt a very selfish pang of sadness…well there goes felting. Sure, I may not felt often, but I still want the option to felt and I’m not inclined to do it in my kitchen sink. I wondered if it would be wrong to have a little machine just for felting. They have wee little machines that fit on your counter. I knew that my husband would not support a $300 water guzzling mini-machine just for the occasional project. I thought my felting days were over. Then came Max.
The Toddler and I went to the animal shelter last Monday and picked out a little 9-week old orange tabby. We left him there to be “altered.” When I got home Monday I went in to examine my stash for options…Max would need a bed, and maybe some socks, a sweater, a little stocking cap with holes for his ears. I quickly came to my senses and settled on just a bed. I picked out 3 balls of Noro Kureyon and got to work on the Kitty Pi bed from WendyKnits.net. I had seen the gallery of photos from her site and thought it a very sweet thing to make for a kitty. I declared the bed finished on Tuesday afternoon when I ran out of Noro ( held doubled), so I did an i-cord bind-off using 3 strands of cascade 220 and stood before my machine doubtful and desperate.
I selected the shortest setting that allowed for a hot water wash on my machine -quick wash- about 20 minutes with no spin. Agitation was still going to be an issue so I took a pair of The Toddler’s old leather tennis shoes, removed the laces, and tied them into a length of stocking. It took 2 quick wash cycles and now I have a beautifully felted bed for little Max. A sopping wet bed, I was picking up Max Thursday morning in my experience the drying of wet wool is not a quick endeavor. I pressed as much water as I could from his bed with towels. Then into the dryer Max’s bed went. 45 minutes later it was dry and ready for Max. He loves it.
Felted Project 1 Front Loader 0
0 Responses to “Felted Project vs. The Front Loader”