Monday, March 30, 2009

"A Few Fiber Things....."

Our next door neighbor Rob likes to wear flip flops when the weather permits (read: dry, but still cold). To help keep his feet warm, he'd wear regular socks and push the material back between his toes in order to get them on. I decided to knit him a pair of "thong socks". I used Cascade cotton and elastic sock yarn, which gives them a lot of spring.......perhaps they will massage his feet while wearing them? ;)


I have wanted to knit something for Don's cousin Deblyn, whom you may recall, had stayed with us while taking a class on Thai massage a few summers ago. I finally decided upon a "Lucy Bag", using earth tones with some brighter accent colors. The yarn used was Cascade 220, a yarn that I like and have used many times when knitting a piece to be felted.

This is the pre-felting photo......


And this, is the finished bag after the felting process. Felting is achieved by washing the wool piece in hot water, while using heavy agitation. I put the piece in a zippered pillow case and add a couple of small throw rugs into the washer to get the agitation desired. The piece is washed/agitated until all of the knitted stitches shrink together and are no longer discernible, which means checking on the washing process frequently. I was happy with the results.


A close up of the bag. In my opinion, felting softens colors and edges, creating a "muted blending", if you will, allowing the piece to attain a "oneness". Any thoughts on this? :)

2 comments:

Travis said...

I think all your knitting projects are amazing, but I absolutely LOVE your felted projects. I agree about the colors becoming more fuzzy around the edges. It makes the look more interesting. Rob must love his new socks. Scrunching the sock material between toes just doesn't sound comfortable to me. I bet his new socks are much comfier! Beautiful work, Mike.
Sara

Maniphone said...

Love the bag. What great colors! And what does Rob think of his "thong" socks? They blend in with his sandals almost perfectly!