Wool Felts

My name is Dena. I am a knitter.

Over the years I have knit many things for my family. And when I knit them socks out of a washable yarn, I tell the recipient that they can throw them in the washer and drier and they do. And if I knit the socks out of a wool that is not super wash, I tell them to wash the item by hand and they do. (As a mother/wife who wished to foster independence, all of my children learned to do laundry - only their own - at a very early age. Two years old is NOT too young for a child to be doing their own laundry.)

The same with sweaters, they wash the ones that can be washed and don't wash the ones that will felt. We have felted items deliberately when those items were knit with the intention of later felting/fulling them but we have never accidentally felted an item - well, until now. And the accidentally is still debatable.

Among the items I have made for my family are afghans, blankets, and the like. Since my family consisted of small boys and big boys who get such things filthy, these items have always been out of washable yarns.

The afghan pictured above was MINE. Only mine. Just mine. And it was made out of a very nice wool. Fred had it in the car for those times when we needed a blanket for warmth. But the dogs had gotten it dirty. So he washed it. In hot water and dried it in the drier. It is very small now. When I saw it tonight, the first thing I noticed - from 20 feet away - was that it had been felted. Before I saw the small size and felt the fabric.

Fred still doesn't believe that it has shrunk and changed. It couldn't have. He washed it just like all the other blankets that I have knitted or crocheted.

I cried.