2.26.2006

felting the furniture.

Presenting my first use of knitting as a substitute for furniture upholstering:


Yes, I did it again. I felted! This was actually knit in the round, even though it looks like a square. It was supposed to be a kitty bed, but for the past couple of months it has been an ottoman cozy, so after my fun felting experience this past week, I decided to felt this one too, and mold it directly to the ottoman:


The yarn I used felted at two different rates. The araucania wool felted nicely after the second hot cycle, but it took a couple more for the noro kureyon wool to felt. And even at that, it only slightly felted. Total hot/cold cycles: 5.

After laying a sheet of plastic over to top of the ottoman, I put down some miracle dry cloth, then stretched the felted knit over the top of it. After I was satisfied with the shape, I put it by the front window for some sun. In the pictures above, it was dry enough to remove the plastic and cloth, but I kept it by the window to dry it out a little more.

Look at the before pic! As you can tell, it started out huge. The hot/cold felting cycles really helped to shrink it to fit around the ottoman so perfectly!

Modeling credit: Kitty #1 shows you how the kitty bed I presented last week always has a kitty in it!

Pattern: This started out as Wendy's kitty bed, but then I added an extra increase and many, many more rows, and used twice as much yarn. As you can see in the before picture, it turned out huge! I like to think of it as an upside-down kitty bed.

Yarn used: Noro Kureyon, color 126, and
Araucania Nature Wool for the solid color edges (two strands held together).

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

that looks great! Also a nice stashbusting project too...

Anonymous said...

that is so darn beautiful!!! you are such a pro girl!!!!! and looka your cat in the corner--- i see the bed was a success!!! did i tell you that your cat is just soooo beautiful?! wow, and it took a yr to knit?! i gotta re-read the posts ;)

Anonymous said...

p.s. you know, ever try the knitted babe doll?! your work has similar eyes (i didnt know where to comment this- in the knitted part or in the illo part haha).... but here are a couple links that may give ya ideas (i am still on that "your work would be swell 3d" mode)

http://www.knittedbabes.blogspot.com/

rania said...

Thanks Juls, Monkey Freak, and ellia!

I've been knitting for just over a year now. The kitty bed/ottoman only took a few weeks to knit with other projects in the works, but for the past coupe of months (uh, since last April) was sitting around the house looking all floppy (like in the bottom picture!). Its pretty fast to knit because the needles are chunky (sz 13s!) and the wool is chunky too!

I flipped through 'knitted babes' at the bookshop the other day! The clothes look really fun! But if I take on another project I might get kicked out of the house! Thanks for pushing the 3d idea...I'd like to give it a try someday!

Oh, and the kitty in the pic is the other cat. Or the 'cuter' one as SA would say! We have a hard time telling them apart since they match!

Stef said...

This stuff looks great! You know, not that I want to get you kicked out of the house, but I'm thinking trusty cat Cleo may like a kitty bed of her own. Her birthday is coming up in May.... any interest in a project on commission? ;-)

Bonny Babe said...

Very hip! I Love it...! when will you come to my house and make me one? ;^D

Regina said...

Again! Such a wonderful and unique piece! Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

that ottoman is fabulous! very cool! I love it.

Unknown said...

Superb post. Thanks for sharing with us.

One Way Furniture has been called the best online furniture superstore, "Where Smart Shoppers Buy Ashley Furniture & Save." Shop today in the comfort of your home or office and see why One Way Furniture is the leader in online furniture.

Citaent said...

Wedding DJ, Photo Booth and Karaoke - Caught in the Act Entertainment in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon

Photo Booth - Caught in the Act Entertainment in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon

DJ, Photo Booth, Karaoke and Party Rentals - Caught in the Act Entertainment in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon

Karaoke and Event DJ - Caught in the Act Entertainment in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon

Online Booking - Best Wedding DJ, Event DJ, Birthday DJ, Party Rentals, Photo Booth and Karaoke in Eugene, Lane County, Oregon

Anonymous said...

missingtricks.net

bataiu said...

You will love it and enjoy our new application: Real Cricket 20 Mod Apk you can download it and use it easily.