Darla Fanton

Felting Fun with Tunisian Entrelac

No matter how often I have taught a particular class I’m always trying to add more information or provide more samples for my students. While preparing to teach at the upcoming Knit and Crochet Show in Oakland, CA I had the perfect opportunity to combine adding class samples with more felting fun.

I thought you might like to see the before and after felting samples for one of the “projects” in my Tunisian Entrelac To Felt or Not - On the Square class. Before felting, the coaster measured 7 1/4 inches square; after felting, 4 1/2 inches.

Originally this wasn’t a project - it was a swatch. Now there is nothing wrong with swatches. I love swatches - for all sorts of reasons. Gauge swatches, color swatches, pattern swatches, drape swatches. I have stacks of swatches. But this swatch told me - more than once - it wanted to be a coaster. It wanted to be a coaster, with options - such as to felt, or not.

Maybe a little background information will explain why I thought of this coaster as a swatch and how it stubbornly insisted it wasn’t.

I felt (no pun intended) I had the perfect project for Part 1, the In the Round portion of Tunisian Entrelac. You can see pictures of both the felted and non-felted bowls for the class here. As I developed Part 2, On the Square, I faced a challenge. I know four different ways to work flat Tunisian Entrelac. Each method handles the edges in a different way. I didn’t want to limit my students to only one method, so how was I going to fit all this information plus explain how to design their own flat projects into a three hour time frame? Swatches rather than projects seemed the way to go. I would provide some patterns that could be felted (or not) for them to work at home to reinforce what they learned in class, but due to the time limitations it would be swatches in class.

At the July Knit and Crochet Show I mentioned that if I hadn’t worked my swatches with cotton yarn I might not have made the connection that Swatch C was perfect for a coaster. One of the students was working Swatch C with wool yarn and a large hook. I wondered aloud if it would felt enough to also be a coaster. I had to agree with her reply, “It is going to be fun to find out.”

As soon as time allowed I decided to have some fun myself with “Swatch C”. I used Cascade 220 yarn for my felted version. It comes in a wide range of gorgeous colors and felts beautifully! After felting, the wool coaster worked with a 10 mm hook is just 1/4 inch larger than the cotton version worked with a 5 mm hook. I wonder if I run it through another wash cycle will it shrink another 1/4 inch? I don’t really care as it makes a great coaster in either size or fiber!

I hope you can join me in Oakland for one (or more) of the six classes I’m scheduled to teach. September 6 is the pre-registration deadline. It is always a good idea to pre-register for classes that interest you. If you wait to register on-site you run the danger of the class either being sold out or cancelled due to lack of pre-registrations.