Best yarn for felting?

[HollyM]

Now I know Lion's Fishermens wool works nicely but I'd like to branch out into some already colored wools. What types/brands work nicely? I know not to use a "superwash" wool or wool that is blended with acrylic/poly. What else should I be looking for or steering away from? There's tons of gorgeous looking stuff online, I don't want to order the wrong stuff.

I have seen a few places that say Cascade 220 is a good one to use. Any thoughts?

Thanks!
Holly

[crochetme]

I've never used the Cascade, but I've used unspun wool (like White Buffalo), which felts really nicely. I also plan to make a bag out of Noro Kureyon wool, which also felts beautifully. Let us know what you end up choosing, and how it works up!

Kim

[HollyM]

Hey! I just ordered some White Buffalo. It looks so nice, I'm glad to know someone here has worked with it.

Did you know it's being discontinued? If you like it, you might want to grab some extra now. The places I looked at online had limited supplies. Elann only had 3 colors left.

Holly

[crochetme]

I had no idea it's being discontinued! I'll have to find out the story at my LYS tonight. A tip for working with it: It comes 6-stranded, but that's most likely going to be way too thick a strand for you to work with, so you can split the hank into two balls, each with three strands (I knitted my bag, and used 8mm needles with the three-strand yarn). It takes some work (and you'll need a second pair of hands), but it will be easier to work with. Also, the yarn breaks very easily (since it's unspun). But this is no problem, because you can just use the "spit and twist" method to rejoin. (Just spit on the ends - or lick your fingers, it's far more lady-like - and twist the ends together; they'll join nicely. And since you'll be felting your fabric anyway, it will end up very strong.)

[HollyM]

I got my White Buffalo from Elann today. Oh my goodness!!!! Pictures do not do this yarn justice lol! Apparently I was in some sort of sleep deprived frenzy because I ordered *3* balls of navy blue which I think equals about 9 miles of yarn, give or take a few yards. I also have a few colors on order from Beehive. Uh...I just looked at that order...6 colors (only 1 ball each though, whew!)

I also got a yarn swift so I think I will try splitting it into 3 ply balls. Maybe wind it on the swift and split on the unwind? I'd ask hubby to help but I think I might be better off hiding this whole thing from him lol!!

This should keep me out of mischief for *quite* a long time.
I want to go play with it NOW but I have a ton of homework to do plus I'm really close to finishing another bag a friend may buy when it's done. If she does, then I can say the new yarn is a business expense, right???

Holly

[Julie]

Yes!! Business expense, very good!! :b

[Donna]

I'd ask hubby to help but I think I might be better off hiding this whole thing from him lol!! I know exactly what you mean! :lol

[mishakitty78]

I know this is a little late on this post, but I'm new here so I figured I'd throw in. I felt all the time (crochet) with cascade. It always works beautifully for me. I put the objects in a lingerae (pardon my spelling) bag, toss into washer with about 2 tbsp dishwashing detergent and have had great results. Cascade does shrink, but not too much. I've been told that crochet takes longer than knit to felt - I often run my stuff through the agitation cycle several times to get a solid felted look. I've also used raw wool roving but that I've worked on by hand.

Hope that helps a little :)

Melissa