Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Pimp Your Wheel

I finally finished my felted spinning wheel bag project and I ended up with a nice assortment of little felted bags. I think that they came out really cute and it is handy that my wheel has a convenient place to hang this little bag.I've got a WPI tool, diz, spinner's control card, oil, and a little pair of pliers stored in my bag. I know that all wheels aren't equipped with some place to hang this bag - but it is perfect for my folding Lendrum.

I made these bags in several types of wool to test out the pattern and to see how different wools would work with my pattern.I think that in the end all the bags turned out great and I don't see a huge advantage to one wool over the other. There was a huge difference in the rate at which the wools felted though. That is something you will want to be mindful of when felting.You need to be sure of the felting rate for the wool you pick or check the results often.

I put all the bags into the washer together and ran the agitator cycle three times and then checked the contents. I probably should have jumped in for a look after each round of agitation. This photo shows the results after those three rounds and you can see that all the bags but the ones knit from Kureyon (top 3) are basically finished. I was actually afraid that two of them had gotten a little small. But I gave them a little tug to stretch them a bit and they fit on my wheel perfectly.

I continued the wash the little bags made from Kureyon for another 3-4 agitation cycles before they were felted like I wanted.I did learn that if I was combining wools into the same project for felting that I would probably leave the Kureyon out. It always takes forever to felt.

I also notice a difference in the thickness of the final fabric. The Kureyon is slightly thinner than all the other choices. All of the other wools ended up being thicker overall and much closer in to each other than the Kureyon did.Although it really didn't matter for this project, I could see it making a difference in other projects. Although I could probably run the Kureyon through the washer a few more times and tighten the fabric up a bit, but it will serve the purpose here.

I think it basically comes down to personal preference. This project is also great for leftovers and scraps. All the bags I knitted are from leftovers from other projects and the Kureyon bags each are made up of multiple colors.

Well without further rambling here is the simple pattern. Let me know if you see errors and I'll make corrections.

Felted Spinning Wheel Bag

Yarn: About 70 yards of worsted weight wool suitable for felting.

I have tried the pattern with Noro Kureyon, Cascade 220, Pattons Classic Merino, Lambs Pride Worsted, and Wollmeise Merino-Lammdochtwolle. All will work well. Make sure you know the rate of felting for the wool you choose.

Needles: US #11 (8mm). I used two circular needles, but DPNs would work just as well

Supplies: stitch marker; 2 stitch holders; tapestry needle for weaving in the ends

Measurements: I didn't measure my gauge, I usually don't when felting. I've provided measurements both before and after felting fora guide.
Pre-felting Measurements: bag bottom - 4.5 x 3.5 inches; 6.5 inches tall
Final Measurements:

Instructions:

Cast on 14 stitches and knit 20 rows. Pickup up 10 stitches along the first short side of the rectangle, pick up 14 stitches on the long side and then pick up another 10 stitches on the remaining side. (48 total stitches)

Distribute stitches even between two circular needles and mark beginning of the round. Knit in stockinette stitch until side of bag measures 6.5 inches tall.

Move first 3 stitched to a stitch holder and then cast off 8 stitches. Move next three stitches to second stitch holder and continue binding off until 1 stitch remains of the right needle. Move the 2 stitches from the first holder to the left needle and bind off one more stitch. Knit the 2 stitches that are still on the left needles.

You will have 3 live stitches on the right needle. Using these 3 stitches, knit 8 inches of i-cord.

After i-cord is knit, stitch the bottom of the i-cord together with the 3 remaining stitches on the last holder. I break my yarn and thread a tapestry needle for this part of the project. I run the threaded needle through the first stitch on the handle and then the first stitch on the bag and alternate like that until all the stitches have been threaded.

Weave in the tails and felt!

18 comments:

bockstark.knits said...

Oh they are so cute, I love all of them!!!!

Monika said...

The bags look great!!! Now I want one too! What are the finished measurements? Thanks for the instructions. I'm sure I'll give it a try soon, and I WILL find a place to hang it on my wheels. :o)

Anonymous said...

Great bags! I've been considering making little spinning bags for my wheel, but I've been thinking about crocheting them with crochet thread (ouch on the hands); this looks like a good option though :-)

Bezzie said...

VEry cool!!! Now if only I had a wheel where you could stick something like that!

turtlegirl76 said...

Awesome! Thanks for writing up the pattern. I need one for Al. =)

Annalea said...

They're so cute. :o) My newly 3-yo daughter came up while I was reading the pattern and admired them loudly. lol

I've been resisting spinning mightily, but I'm afraid it's a losing battle. As the author of "A Fine Fleece" wrote: "...the path from knitter to spinner is, in many ways, inevitable."

Now, to get a wheel . . .

Zonda said...

Those turned out cute! Thanks for the pattern and info on the felting.

Karen said...

Cute bags! I'll have to make my wheel one too!

cpurl17 said...

Very cute! If you ever set up a store, I'll be first in line!

Batty said...

Those are so cute! I think my wheel needs one, they're so bright and happy. Thank you for posting the pattern.

Liz said...

I've been looking for this exact pattern for months. I know I probably could've made something up but this way is more fun :) And have a ton of Wollmeise worsted samples that will be perfect for this. Thanks!

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

how cute! I don't even spin but I want one!

Beeba said...

I am planning to knit some for my mom! What a great gift for a spinner! I am curious as to how they got the square-ish shape, like what did you put them over to dry? The only thing I've ever felted so far is a booga bag, as soon as the actual felting was done I removed it from the washer still damp and placed it over two unopened cereal boxes and let it dry for a couple days like that. So I would like to know what you used to get the bag boxy! :D thanx in advance! -Safiyah

Anonymous said...

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Anonymous said...

I was considering winging a little felted bag to hang on my spinning wheel and on a lark checked ravelry to see if anything existed already. I'm very glad I did because otherwise I wouldn't have found this post and pattern. This is perfect! Thank-you for taking the time to document it and add the directions.

Inges uldprogram said...

Real cute. Thank you for the pattern. I have made on for my Wee Peggy.

Anonymous said...

OMG - I saw that you have two kitties. Biscuit and Gravy.

When I was a kid, my Mom had two white cats that were sisters. They were named "Fluffy" .... and "Not-So"....\


Bet you can guess why, too!!!

I love your site. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

I started wearing long cotton skirts this summer because they're cool in the heat. Only problem is no pockets. Been trying to find something to make and here you are with just what I was looking for.
Thanks, Colleen