Felted Clogs

I truly don't know how any knitter blogs in November, when everything on the needles is a present for somebody, and there's really nothing else to talk about. Luckily, this is one of those out-in-the-open-but-totally-ignored presents (because he had to try them on), so a little blogging can't hurt.



FiberTrends Felt Clogs, Lion Brand Wool perfect for Felting, 4 skeins of Midnight Blue*.



This was a KAL with a co-worker, and I just e-mailed her the following account of my first adventures in felting:

It was a good 20 minutes before they looked like anything but wet knitting - I was sure I had done something wrong and the wool was never going to felt. Then it took another 10 where they were clearly felted, but hadn't really shrunk any. Persevere!

The instructions say that every time you check, you should take both out of the bag - I didn't do that the first few checks, and whether that was the reason or not, one of them lagged behind the other by about 10 minutes (meaning that I had to give it two more 5-minute sessions before it shrunk down to the same size as the first one.

I should also admit that I got tired of the bag and stopped using it after the first 20 minutes.

Once they were the right (and same!) size, I drained the machine without the clogs in it, let it fill with rinse water, and them rinsed them out by hand, rolling them in a towel and then setting them out to dry while I drained the machine again. I just wasn't sure about letting them spin.

*I bought 5 skeins to have the yardage specified in the pattern, but only used 4, so the 5th skein became a nice wool watch cap over Thanksgiving (nice mindless knitting while the house was full again). I used every bit of the yarn, but the hat is too small for an adult head, so I need to find a cold child somewhere.

And that makes two presents I finished this weekend. 8)