Just about anything you can knit can be felted - that is, shrunk with heat and agitation to create a thicker, more durable fabric. The knitting goes fast with fat yarn on big needles, and felting is easy and fun, but learning how to make all of it come together takes some skill.
More than just a pattern book, 'Felted Knits' shows you how to choose and test yarns, correctly size a knitted piece for felting, accurately shrink items by hand and washing machine, improve your results with blocking, and how to care for your felted knits. Novice and experienced knitters alike can choose from the books 24 projects. This invaluble resource also includes sections on embellishing your felting and about felting on felt (needle felting).
Sep 05
Beverly Galeskas' comprehensive guide to felting has everything that you need to know about this fascinating and distinctive creative art. A lengthy introduction takes you through the basics of felting, and introduces the techniques and tricks that will put you in control of your fabric, rather than the other way round - it's an easy mistake to make! There then follows beautifully illustrated sections on simple pieces to begin with, such as bags and belts, moving up to more complicated patterns and detailing for projects for your home and yourself.
With bright pictures and careful instructions, Felted Knits is a fantastic first guide to this art, as well as a great staple for anyone who is already fairly knowledgeable about the subject. There aren't that many books available on felting, and we felt that this one covered all bases brilliantly, whether you're a complete novice to the art or are more experienced and just need a bit of inspiration. The designs are simple and modern, too, and the slippers, in particular, look heavenly to wear. There's even a section on the back indicating how different yarns are likely to felt although, as ever, make sure you knit a tension square first!
* Simply Knitting *