This week I made a porcupine pin cushion that I found on another blog, Prudent Baby. This link will take you straight to the directions for the porcupine. I made this one to be my boyfriend's daughter's first pin cushion. All she will do with it is push the pins further into the cushion, one by one. I can't wait to teach her to sew!
Also in the last two weeks, I have crocheted and felted a small bowl. It turned out to be just the right size to hold a pacifier, so that's what it's doing on the ledge above my kitchen sink. Here's a photo of it without the pacifier in it. I will post directions to crochet the bowl below. Woohoo, my first how-to!
Finished felted size: 3 5/8"diameter x 2 1/2"height
Materials: 1 skein of at least 50% wool yarn. (I used 80% wool, 20% alpaca!)
1 "I" crochet hook (5.50mm)
*Crochet pattern:
Round 1: ch 4, 12 dc in 4th ch from hook, sl st in top of ch-3 joining to beginning of round: 12 dc
Round 2: ch 3, 2 dc in each dc around, sl st in top of ch-3: 24 dc
Round 3: ch 3, (2 dc in next dc, dc in next dc) around, sl st in top of ch-3: 36 dc
Round 4: ch 3, (2 dc in next dc, dc in next dc) around, sl st in top of ch-3: 48 dc
Round 5-6: ch 3, dc in each dc around, sl st in top of ch-3: 48 dc
*Disclaimer: This was my first effort at crocheting a bowl, and I'm not sure that I did it exactly as stated. But the general idea was to build each increasing row at the rate of 1.5x, and then go straight up once the desired width was reached.
Felting instructions:
I have never felted anything before, so I read up online first. I found an excellent guide at lusciousgracious.com. But basically all you need is a (top-loading) washing machine, a timer, a zippered pillowcase or a pillowcase with safety pins, a pair of jeans and a couple of tennis balls for agitation. And some mild dish soap or delicate fabric soap.
1. Throw the item to be felted into the zippered pillowcase and zip shut. (Ultra-important, to protect your washing machine from all the tiny fibers that will come out of the yarn)
2. Start wash with pillowcase, jeans, tennis balls, and less than a TEASPOONful of mild soap. When the agitation starts, set the timer for five minutes.
3. Check the item for felting signs every five minutes until you see it starting to felt. Then check it every two minutes. (You may need to re-start the agitation process). It happens quick, so don't walk away! When the item is as felted as you wish, take it out of the machine and hand-rinse with cold water, being careful not to crease it.*
4. Shape it and allow it to air-dry. I shaped my bowl around one of my dog's squeaky balls that was actually the same ball I used in the washing machine. It is slightly larger than a tennis ball. If you use that method of shaping, be sure to get it centered and use empty drinking glasses or something else to set around the ball so it doesn't roll. If not, your bowl will be a tilt-y bowl like they serve you at my favorite restaurant. But that is how I got that oh-so-cute shape.
(Another tip: If you do shape it around a ball, take the ball out when it is mostly dry and then, without distorting the lip of the bowl, drop it onto a flat surface from a height of a few inches to get the bottom flatter.)
*I actually forgot and completely left out the hand-rinsing with cold water step. If it's not a piece of clothing that you're felting, it probably doesn't even matter if there's suds in it.
That's it! In this summer heat, it probably won't take long to dry. If you're doing this in a less dry climate, overnight should do the trick.
Good luck, and P.S. The felting process will go so much quicker if you're using a super cute ice cream cone timer like the one I used!
