spent the morning at the promenade (think big, outdoor mall *shudder*) finishing up my holiday shopping. came home, wrapped everything up, and played with wool.
quick and easy felted bowls; no pattern necessary. just use the needles you normally would for the wool weight (or maybe go up a size - slightly loose stitches seem to felt better than tight ones), cast on however many stitches you want for your circumference in a multiple of four, and knit in the round until your bowl is as tall as you want it to be, remembering that the whole thing is going to shrink when you felt it, and it will shrink more lengthwise than widthwise (yeah, i've made a few rather shallow felted purses in my past, oops!). then divide your stitches into four groups with markers and k2tog and ssk on either side of your markers every other row until you only have eight stitches left. cut yourself a nice long tail and using a tapestry needle, thread up your live stitches. cinch and bind off.
i like to be hands-on with the actual felting process, so i fill up the sink with hot water and squeeze in a good amount of dishwashing soap. knead your bowl until you can't see the individual stitches anymore (you may need to change the water as it cools down or gets too fuzzy/full of dye). rinse. find a cup or bowl the shape you want your felted bowl to be and stick it in there overnight. take it out the next day to dry fully. enjoy!
(yes, we do have quite an army of
two-buck chuck there in the background. we finally gave in this week and bought a case - company coming and all!)
