Felted Wrist Warmers

Not art, but knitting... A couple of times over the past days, I've mentioned I was knitting something. Yesterday I completed my latest little project: wrist warmers. The idea is that you knit the warmers and then felt them in the washing machine. I fell in love with the wool last week. It's Lana Grossa "Feltrino Mix", which is pure virgin wool. The wool is multi colored, so there is no hassle with changing balls, to create patterns. You just knit away, and the patterns appear as you do so. Apparently most people use Feltrino to knit gloves, caps, and slipper-socks.

Before shrinking and felting

Once you've completed the item and sewn the pieces together, if required, you simply toss it in the washing machine and wash it at 40 degrees (Celsius), to shrink and felt the item. Feltrino shrinks by 30-40%. A couple of years back, I accidentally shrunk and felted a woolen cowl I'd knitted. At first, I was a little disappointed, until I realised that the felted cowl was much warmer than the unfelted one. Since then, I've been an absolute fan of felted winter accessories. Here are the before and after photos for my wrist warmers.

After shrinking and felting