I recently found out what happens when you Disobey the washing instructions on a woollen top. Whoops! It shrunk and felted itself into a small, matted mess.
However it was a beautiful Autumnal, rich deep red colour and a warm, soft texture and I can’t bear throwing things away, so I couldn’t resist keeping it to see what I could do with it.
This is how I re-imagined and re-loved my shrunken jumper…
The great thing about felted knits is that you can cut them without having to hem the edges. So I thought I’d have a go at creating a scarf/hood type thing for myself.
I cut the sleeves off and around the buttons in a kind of pointy way, obviously, being me, there was no template, measuring or symmetry. This is what I like to think of as a very organic (chaotic) way of creating!
I tried it over my head and decided it needed another point so I used the off cut bit from the back of the jumper between where I’d cut the points and stitched it on. It looks a bit weird played out like this but once it’s draped over my shoulders it looks ok. I had a ball of wool in complementary colours so I added a crocheted edge.
It was a bit tricky to get the crochet needle through the felted knit so I used a skewer to help.
I added a scalloped edge to the other end (that used to be the bottom of the jumper and is now the edge of the hood). I love the way this wool subtly changes colour throughout.
This is the finished result, I’m looking forward to wearing this when it gets colder. It’ll liven up my boring winter coat too. I may crochet a matching flower corsage to pin to it.
I love it when I save something from going into landfill and create something useful with it instead.
Namaste x
