Ok, maybe I shouldn’t have created a project that combines both knit and crochet items since Ravelry won’t let me choose both, but I wanted to create a project that showed some of the felting I did last summer. For about 6 months, I felted and felted and felted until I finally had enough. I still have a crochet bag that I designed to felt. Maybe I’ll do it soon.

The main drawback for me is the washing machine at the house where I live. It is supposed to have a “small load” cycle, but I’m telling you, the heavy and small loads produced the same amount of water, namely too much. And I could never get the water hot enough, so I just gave up. Any felting I do from now on will be by hand in the kitchen sink where I have more control. And the projects will have to be small because I can’t see myself felting something really big in the kitchen sink.

All the purses were made with Cascade 220 except for the fuschia messenger bag. I used Manos de Uruguay wool for that one. It produced an interesting effect.

The yellow purse is crocheted. It was adapted from a pattern in Jane Davis’ Felted Crochet. The pattern didn’t include instructions for the strap, so I knit an I-cord.

With the exception of the yellow purse and the messenger bag, all patterns came from Aloha Yarns in Kaneohe, HI. I got a lot of help and advice from the owner, Nanea, since I had never felted before. Probably why I went crazy with it for a while.