Perhaps due to the fact that I haven't knitted in a week, I was on a roll today. I not only completed the back of the Phildar sweater, but also felted the squares of Noro Kureyon and Lamb's Pride Bulky.
This was the first time I have felted and it felt really good (sorry, had to put that in). You can see the before pieces here. I simply knitted two squares using the appropriate needle size. On the Lamb's Pride square I used two stands of maroon to sew on circles with the idea the the darker color would felt into the pink and create a patterned material, inspired by Cicilie Telle's cool felted totes and hats.
The felting went fairly well. I spent $3 for three wash cycles to get each square to felt as much as I wanted. I put each in a lingerie bag, threw in a pair of old 501s and used permanent press on hot. I love how it turned out. Here is a close-up of the pink square. I think in the future, though, I will use two colors with more contrast. And the bulky yarn made a really thick felt, so maybe a worsted weight would be better.
I still do not know how I am going to make these squares into bags. I was hoping to simply cut them into the sizes I needed, sew in zippers (or velcro), add lining and voila, a small bag. But, I am a little afraid to cut into them with the fear that the yarn will unravel. I know felting binds the fibers together, however, it still scares me. I am confident I will come up with something.
