January 25, 2018

Rug Results

Off the needles, in all it's loose ended and curled edge wantonness, the above handknit went for a hot wash spin the machine with a filthy pair of jeans. Our old top-load washer with the center agitator beat the snot out of the knit. Because the machine is old, it lacks (or it no longer functions) the safety mechanism that stops the washer when the lid is open. I watched agog as the rug got pummeled, my heart giving a lurch at its mistreatment. Never mind that that was the point. It still hurt to watch the process.
After the wash cycle, I dried the rug on high heat with the jeans and 4 dryer balls. And then put it through the process twice more. The amount of wool fuzz that came off in both the washer and the dryer was alarming. I'd guess about 8 to 10 squished down handfuls, like pictured above. (I have a plan for all the fuzz. An idea that's been tickling at the back of my mind for a while.)
In the end, mixed success. Overall, the rug shrunk to the dimensions I calculated, but the two colors of wool felted at different rates. I didn't swatch the lighter colored brown. It didn't figure into the planning until it became clear that I needed to order additional skeins of wool, at which point, on a whim, I decided to add stripes. The lighter brown felted much more densely than the dark brown, hence the puckered ends. I plan to felt the left and right bands of dark brown by hand this weekend, see if I can coax them to felt a bit more. 
In the meantime, I've got studio plans beyond the weekly yoni. I can't tell you how good it feels to follow an idea, to experiment, to ride the flow. Once that rust dyed twine is dry, we have a date.

The rug:
8 skeins Halcyon yarn rug wool (6 dark, 2 light)
size 17 needles
unfelted gauge: 8.5 Sts x 11.5 R = 4x4 inches
CO 65
work 128 Rows in stockinette
after felting = 24 x 34 inches

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