My First Felting Project

This is my first felting project. Well, not exactly, it is really #2 and #3, the first project was almost 2 years ago which was a disaster in my book, but obviously not so bad as to keep from trying again.

I crocheted both these hot pads using a K hook, all single crochet, and Lion Brand Wool. For the green one, I followed the pattern instructions. For the Blue one, I winged it. The green hot pad has some problems, due to my crocheting skills, which were mostly resolved in the blue pad. I like the blue pad best.

To felt, I tossed them both into the wash with a load of color fast dark clothes (140 degree water, medium time length wash, 3 rinses) in my small European front loader. A nice thing about felting is that the woven in ends and joins can't be seen! Each pad shrunk by about 40%.

They are dense enough to serve as hot pads for the table. I'm not sure, as I'll have to try, whether they'll be heat resistent enough to use as pot holders. Each pad took about 4 hours to make, plus the time to felt, and then pull to shape (although little pulling was required).

Great gift to make, and think of the possibilities.