Art felt

So, a quick word about a class we have coming up in March that I am seriously psyched about. Artfelt ™ is a fairly new technique that uses fine merino wool roving from Skacel and their magical “easy felt” paper. It’s is a bit like needle felting and wet felting, but requires far less time (and dare I say talent) than either of the those!

Each kit contains enough roving (in a whole variety of gorgeous, wonderful, inspiring colors) and easy felt paper to make either a scarf, several pillows or a purse. It also contains two barbed needles, one plastic sheet for felting and an instructional slide show DVD. You just cut your paper, lay out your roving, saturate your work with water, roll it up in the plastic and pop it in the dryer. The tumbling and heat of the dryer magically felts your piece.

Our class is being taught by Joanne, our Skacel representative and, trust us, an Artfelt ™ master! It’s Saturday, March 1 from 9am - 12 noon. The class is $20 and the kit is $45. This class is going to be so fun that we scheduled it before normal business hours so that both Shannon and I can take it! One of those benefits of being the boss…

To sign up, just stop by or call us at 503-922-1150. Check out all our other classes here.

Felted bag madness

We want to announce a change to our popular felted bag class. The class will now be three sessions of 1 1/2 hours each and cost $45. The next class still has spots open, so give us a call and sign up! It’s Thursdays, January 17, 24, and 31 from 6:00 – 7:30 pm.

Your teacher, the lovely and talented Dr. Julie Nelligan, made this bag using three balls of Noro Kureyon. Skills include picking up stitches, knitting in the round and making i-cords.

A few years back, everyone in our knitting group started making these and just couldn’t stop. It was felted bag madness there for a while. We were swimming in Booga Bags. In fact, come to think of it, our friend Bonita is in the midst of felted bag madness right now and is on, I estimate, her fifth bag in a row! It’s a truly addictive pattern.

It’s perfect for beginners as it’s very easy to knit, and the felting hides any mistakes you might make (what? mistakes? no, never!). Plus, there are infinite variations for more advanced folk. You can make it bigger, make it smaller, do it in different weights of yarn, add decorations, knit in a pocket, plug in a fair isle pattern, or drop in some intarsia. Since it’s so easy and quick to knit up, it makes a great gift. Who could resist?!

To sign up, give us a call at 503-922-1150.

Fun with felting

I made up a little felted pumpkin to celebrate autumn!

It’s actually crocheted, using about half a skein of Ella Rae Classic, a worsted weight wool. Here’s the pattern as I remember doing it… in case anyone else is bored and in an autumnal mood.

Pumpkin (crocheted):
Rnd 1: Ch 1, 8 sc into ring, pm in last st to mark end of rnd. Do not join in first st. 8 sts total.
Rnd 2: Work 2 sc in each st around, replace marker in last st throughout pattern. 16 sts.
Rnd 3: *Sc in next st, 2 sc in next st* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 24 sts.
Rnd 4: *Sc in each of next 2 sts, 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 32 sts.
Rnd 5: *Sc in each of next 3 sts, 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 40 sts.
Rnd 6: *Sc in each of next 4 sts, 2 sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 48 sts.
Rnd 7: Sc all the way around to marker.
Continue sc all sts until straight part of work measures about 5” or what looks right to you. Begin decrease rounds.
Rnd 1: *Dec, sc in each of next 4 sts.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 40 sts.
Rnd 2: *Dec, sc in each of next 3 sts.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 32 sts.
Rnd 3: *Dec, sc in each of next 2 sts.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 24 sts.
Rnd 4: *Dec, sc in next st.* Repeat from * to * around to marker. 16 sts.
Rnd 5: Decrease all the way around. 8 sts.
Change to green yarn. Work sc until stem measures 2″ or desired length. Break tail and weave in end. Stuff with polyfill through opening in stem.

Vine (knit): CO 30 sts.
Rnd 1: Kfb of every st. 60 sts.
Rnd 2: Kfb of every st. 120 sts.
Cast off all sts.

Then felt the whole kit and kaboodle in your washer. I also threw mine in the dryer to get the stuffing dry faster. (Impatient? Who? ME?!) Finally, attach the vine to the stem.

how to shrink your knitting

felting has been hot for a while, and it doesn’t seem likely to cool down anytime soon. and with good reason - felting is fun, fast, and freakishly fabulous. great for new knitters still trying to perfect their technique, and for seasoned vets looking for a quick-and-easy project, felting pretty much rocks. it can also be as easy or as difficult as the knitter or crocheter wants it to be - fair isle, intarsia, short-rows, i-cord, all can be a part of a felted finished object.

a new shipment of interweave knits’ felting special just arrived. this issue is broken down into 3 parts: felted knitting, wet felting, and needle felting. and, true to interweave’s form, the projects are all to die for. our ella rae classic or araucania nature wool and nature wool chunky are the perfect accompaniments to the felted knitting projects in this mag.

ella rae’s felted bags pattern book is divine. great for any skill level, all style sensibilities, and pretty much any knitter under the sun, this is a must-have book for the felter in you. we have almost 50 colors of ella rae’s classic wool, so whether you are a hot-pink-and-chartreuse wearing maven or a sedate-and-classical brown and grey type of gal (or guy), we’ve got your felting needs covered

and, did we mention our felting classes? here’s the 4-1-1 (please note that the 3rd class in the OneSkein series is NOT a felting class):

ONE SKEIN SERIES
Three projects from the book OneSkein by Leigh Radford
Beginner
$120 + 20% discount on class supplies for the 3-class series or $40 each class
with Laurie Ann Greenberg

OneSkein #1: Felted Bowls
Practice knitting with these adorable little felted bowls. Once you make one you won’t be able to stop! Sign up for this class and the other 2 OneSkein classes to receive 20% of the necessary book and materials.
Fridays, August 17, 24. 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Class needs: a copy of OneSkein, bulky-weight non-superwash wool, 1 24” circular size US 15 needle, set of 4 or 5 double-pointed needles, size 15, stitch markers, tapestry needle.
OneSkein #2: Felted Clutch
Put your new knitting skills to use with this fashionable and easy-to-make felted clutch. Sign up for this class and the other OneSkein classes to receive 20% of the necessary book and materials.
Fridays, August 31 and September 7. 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Class needs: a copy of OneSkein, bulky-weight non-superwash wool, 1 24” circular size US 15 needle, buttons for embellishment.
OneSkein #3: Candy Wrapper Sachets
Fridays, September 14 and 21. 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Class needs: a copy of OneSkein, one skein Debbie Bliss Pure Silk, size US 3 DPNs.

Felted Bags
Flex those new knitting muscles with a large and functional felted bag. Warning: highly addictive!
Beginner
Sundays, August 19 and 26 and September 9 (no class will be held over the holiday weekend)
Julie Nelligan
$60
Class needs: the instructor will contact you with class needs.

If you are interested in registering for these, or any other, classes, please give us a call at 503.922.1150.