Guide to Felting: Fiber Preparation + Project Inspiration for Making Felt

Making felt has evolved into a fun, creative process—quick and easy, too. All you need is a bit of wool, warm water, wool-safe soap, and some towels, and you're ready to start making cloth in one of the fastest, free form ways you can imagine.

In this guide we've compiled articles from past issues of Spin Off that are sure get you experimenting with felt. The book covers the basics of felt including felting vs. fulling, the best fiber preparations for felt, and what fibers work best, along with great project to try different felting techniques. Inside you'll find:

• How it Felts - Learn techniques and methods for felting various types of wool and be inspired by Robin’s experience in exploring the creative possibilities of abundant fleeces.

• Pom-Pom Bunny - This is a great project for those new to spinning to learn some of the basics of how to work with wool. After completing this bunny, you will have a working knowledge of the staple length of wool as well as drafting and wet-felting techniques for felting fiber.

• Bowled Over - M’Lyn Walther discovered knitting with unspun roving and handspun yarns when she became crazed with making felted bowls and baskets. Fill them with plants, small fruits, decorative squash, candy, nuts, dried flowers, skeins of handspun yarn, hot or cold dishes, or a fresh bouquet in a glass jar. These bowls are also great for holding knitting projects; spinners can attach a bowl to a stick and use it as a distaff.

• Spinning for Felted Bowls - Felting a knitted piece is easier if the yarns are spun with a lot of loft, so Ronnie Cox uses a long draw spinning technique with little twist. She also likes to use wools like Merino and Targee that take dye and felt well. Learn how to make felted yarn in your washing machine as well as methods for preparing, plying, and dyeing your yarn to create a woven texture in these fun, colorful baskets.

• Spaced-Out Felted Scarf - This project is easy for beginners, but has appeal to more seasoned weavers as well. The basic idea: spaced warps and wefts are woven in an open weave to create a grid. The scarf is then felted in the washing machine. Jane loves the way felting makes a fabric that is interesting and never the same from one end of the scarf to the other. Believe it or not, she designed, warped, and wove this scarf in an evening—and threw it into the wash as she went to bed.