Project 1: Felted Sweater Pillows

The first thing I ever knitted was the sweater you see above. I made it in the winter of 1997 when I had a lot of free time and lived in a very cold city. By the next winter I was in North Carolina and I never got cold enough to wear it again.  This sweater has been sitting in my closet for 13 years suffering neglect and developing moth holes. It would probably have stayed there for another 13 years if I wasn’t doing this blog project.

Felting is: “a process by which knitted wool is soaked in hot water to shrink and tighten the fibers and create a dense fabric.” [Source: DIY Network] That dense fabric can then be sewn like any other kind of fabric. I like the idea of felting this sweater and making it into a pillow because it means I’ll still have evidence of the work I put into it, but it will be around in a more useful form. I can finally bring my guilty sweater out of the closet.

Of course, since I’ve never felted anything before I’ll make a few test runs on some thrift store sweaters first. I hope you’ll stick around this week as I learn to felt (hopefully without destroying my washing machine) and make beautiful recycled pillows for my home.