Cascade 220 Swatch
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

Amy Swenson has asked me to do a couple of designs for her upcoming felting book. This blurry swatch (taken on the camera phone because I can upload instantly from phone to flickr via text message) is a bit of Cascade 200, with a size K hook and a half-double crochet–I want to see how much it would felt (the percentage of change) so I can decide how big to make the actual project–I also want to see if I need to adjust hook size or stitch pattern. Because I’m creating a vessel of sorts, even though this is just a flat swatch, I am curious about how the flat bottom will felt compared to the sides of the vessel. It’s in the washer now…

UPDATE: It just came out–it shrunk from 6 inches in diameter to 5 inches. Nice and thick, but not as stiff a fabric as I would like. I’ve put it back in, but I think I’ll need to go down a hook size.

UPDATE #2: The swatch is now 4 1/2 inches and a bit thicker… All stitch definition is gone, as are any holes. I’m also working on a denser swatch with a J/10 hook… But we’ll have to see what happens with that tomorrow.


Swatch for Felting