Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction to Felting
Felting, at its simplest, is an art and a science, the process of deliberately tangling and shrinking wool or other animal fibers. It’s as simple as that, but the possibilities of this very simple process are almost limitless.

Chapter One: Knit and Felt
If you already know how to knit and do laundry, you probably have all the skills and supplies you need to start making felt. The projects in this chapter are knitted first, then felted with a cycle in the washing machine.

Trapezoid Bag
One of the reasons we love felt is the variety of methods and materials you can use to embellish it, and this bag is the perfect blank canvas for all your experiments.

Cloche Hat
You don’t need much experience to make this bell-shaped cloche, but sizing and shaping this one-size-fits-all hat is an exercise to practice your blocking skills.

Bag of Many Pockets
The two different-colored sections of this bag are assembled to create five separate pockets: one big enough to hold a small knitting project, another for your wallet, and three small exterior pockets perfect for your cell phone, sunglasses, or knitting notions.

Mod Knitting Bag
This short, wide project bag will easily hold most of your knitting projects, even the ones on long single-pointed needles. The color pattern is inspired by a vintage mod wallpaper print.

Messenger Bag
This mid-sized messenger bag is just the right size to hold some books and a small blanket for a trip to the park.

Urchin Bag
When you’re entranced with knits that shape themselves, a short-row heel is one of the coolest things ever. This bag is made up of five heel shapes stuck together to make a puffy star.

Urchin Hat
When she saw the first urchin bags, Shannon immediately asked Heather, “Can you make this a hat?!” Of course we can! The hat is obviously bigger than the original bag, and the short rows on the bottom half aren’t as deep.

Short-row Slippers
If you’ve never knitted socks, this is a great project to learn the techniques – the slippers are worked at a big gauge, and the felting will hide any mistakes you might make.

Newsie
Knitted with a classic tweed yarn, but in a hot shade of orange, a newsboy cap can be as classic or as funky as your own personal style.

Karaoke Wrap
We chose a yarn that is 50% wool and 50% soy silk because it felts into a thin fabric that drapes beautifully and is super-soft.

Design Ideas

• Incorporating beads into felt

• Superwash textures

• Using grommets and other types of metal

Chapter Two: Wet Felting
Though many knitters get their introduction to handmade felt through a knitted and felted bag, hat, or slippers, traditional felting is a process much older than knitting. Felted fabric existed before weaving and even before yarn or thread, because unlike these other types of textiles felt is so easy to make that you can do it by accident.

Balls and Beads
Making felt balls from roving or yarn scraps is an easy introduction to wet felting and a great project to do with kids.

Sheepy Scrubbing Soap
A good bar of soap in its own wooly shell will help keep you extra clean; this is another good project for kids (to wash their grimy hands and make something useful at the same time).

Snuggle Scarf
This is an extremely easy project that makes the softest, warmest scarf you will ever own. It’s also a great chance to experiment with blending fibers or colors.

Nuno Felt Wrap
Nuno (or laminated) felt is a technique developed by artist Polly Stirling. It consists of wool fiber felted into a lightweight base fabric. The resulting fabric is thin, drapery, and can be used for a variety of applications.

Nuno Felt Skirt
Take advantage of the lighter weight and drape of Nuno felt to create wearable art and unique clothing.

Design Ideas

• Layering

• Overdyeing Felt

• Surround with Felt

Chapter Three: Needle-felting
When you see craft felt in a store, it’s usually acrylic. But we’ve already learned that felting is made possible by the special properties of natural protein fibers, and acrylic is decidedly unnatural. So how can that be? The answer is needlefelting.

Monogrammed Bag
A great way to start experimenting with felting needles is to apply a monogram or a simple pattern onto another felted surface, in this case the purple Trapezoid Bag from chapter one.

Bermuda Bag
You’re not limited to initials when you needle felt with yarn – making plaid with needlefelting techniques is a snap. With this pattern, we invoke a preppy staple: the Bermuda bag.

Daisy and Lily Flowers
Making felt flowers can quickly become addicting! Add them to hats, bags, or anywhere you need a little extra decoration.

Flapper Hat
This hat is extremely warm and soft and has sort of the same simple beauty as a fondant-covered cake.

Maki Pincushion
By rolling up wool of many colors into a tube, you can make a simple millefiore effect, like the can work traditionally done in colored glass or, more recently, polymer clay. We used this concept to make a simple sushi roll pincushion.

Wool Shoes
These needlefelted beauties were the first thing we thought of when we heard Converse was making a wool version of its classic shoe.

Design Ideas

• Felting for the allergic, vegans, and other non-wool people

• Shear Brilliance

• Iron-on embroidery patterns

• Needlefelting shapes

Chapter Four: Recycled Felting
Recycled felt uses repurposed knits (such as old sweaters) that are felted, sewn, embroidered, knitted onto, or otherwise manipulated into new items. Check the back of your closet, the thrift store, and garage sales for old sweaters.

Embroidered Felted Needle Case
Items you use all the time should be beautiful as well as functional. A handmade needle case with personalized embroidery is the perfect combination of those qualities.

Camera Case
This camera case will keep your digital friend padded and safe when it’s tucked in your bag or backpack

Espresso Cozy
Tea cozies are practical and fanciful, but frankly they’re the kind of project that non-crafters have been known to mock. Teach the doubters a lesson with this modern cozy that matches your highly caffeinated lifestyle.

Patchwork Felted Jacket
Like a quilt, there are a number of different ways to make a unique patchwork jacket or vest – with uniform square pieces, assemble crazy-quilt style, or following the construction of the original felted sweater.

Design Ideas

• Shibori techniques

• Quilting felted fabrics

 Abbreviations

Glossary

Guide to Resources

Index