My first felting experiment and... a word on buttonholes

"Felting" is the process of taking a piece of work and agitating it with hot water and soap. This causes the fibers in the work to get all fuzzy and thick. Also the piece will shrink. Felting can only be done with materials made from animal fibers (fur or hair). This material is 85% wool 15% mohair.

TEST SWATCH BEFORE AGITATION

AGITATING SWATCH ON NOODLE STRAINER WITH ROOMMATES LAUNDRY SOAP

TEST SWATCH AFTER AGITATION

A WORD ON BUTTONHOLES

I was curious about how to make buttonholes. I learned two different methods from the booksKnitting for Fun by Diana Biggs and Better Homes and Gardens Complete Book of Knitting Crochet & Embroidery. The buttonhole styles explained in these books enable a person to create buttonholes that run perpendicular to the grain of the knitting. (see the 2 darker green holes, pink and white) Meaning, if you are knitting upwards your buttonhole has to lay flat right and left. There is another option for “bottonholery” which is the single eyelet hole. (Not pictured here.) The eyelet hole is made parallel to the grain of the knitting. However, this eyelet only seems to work if you have large yarn or a small button. Not finding an adequate horizontal (parallel to the grain of the knit) buttonhole I decided to make my own. (See bright light green hole!) It was very easy. I suspect “my” method already exists. Nevertheless, it was fun to do.

photos by Sarah Swanson