30 Minutes of Agitation

Four ounces of yarn scraps remained after knotting the tiny rug last week. Knitted up, it made a swatch measuring 13 1/2" x 13 1/2", once blocked.

I soaked the square in warm, soapy water and rolled and rubbed it for 30 minutes. Happily, this "fulling" yielded a firm, but still drape-y fabric.

("Felting" is the term most often heard to describe the process of agitating wool. "Fulling" seems a better word since I wanted pliable fabric, without the density of a hat or a purse.)

After 30 minutes, the square had only shrunk to 12", 88% of its original size. So much effort for a subtle result!

I can see why devoted felters prefer washing machines to bubble-wrapped rolling pins. Still, one can dream of a knitted, fulled winter coat in one's future.

Bubble wrap, soap, and a washboard were used to reduce a knitted square to 88% of its original size

Knitted square measured 13 1/2 " before being agitated in soapy water

Fabric is more dense after fulling, but still drapes enough to make a garment

Completed 12" square, after fulling (or felting, as the process is usually called)

Airport Knots

Last week I began a tiny rug in Central time and completed it in Eastern time (Kentucky and Indiana, respectively) before returning to Pacific time to post it.

This is another knotted pile carpet (7" x 7", 52 warp ends), woven mainly to try out another cartoon. Graphing a "readable" design for the coarse yarns I use isn't so easy as I thought it would be.

To attain wysiwyg (what you see is what you get), I will have to simplify and widen the graphed images some more.

7" x 7" hand-knotted rug finished just as our plane pulled up to the gate

Graph, or "cartoon" of the little rug

Loom and comb for weaving a rug smaller than one's foot

Done, Done, and a New Goal

The cat pillow is completely hooked.

The 13" x 15" hand-knotted rug is off the loom.

And new warp yarn is being spun. To keep the tension consistent throughout the weaving, I am going to have to spin a much stiffer yarn, probably by running each element through the spinning wheel twice. See example of correctly spun warp, below.

Hooked pillow cover (14" x 14") - hand spun and dyed yarns

Hand knotted rug, 13" x 15"

On the left, a middle-eastern carpet with firm warp yarn. On the right, my project's soft warp yarn (grey fringe)