The Answer Lady

Innovative Ideas for Machine Knitters
To contact the answer lady, use this new anti-spam e-mail address. Rewrite this address in the standard e-mail format with no spaces anywhere and the usual symbols for and and dot:
kathryn d answerlady at hotmail dot com

FANCY FELTED BAGS Fancy Felted Bags includes patterns for a Classic Carpet Bag and an African Market Basket plus a detailed article on felting. These are special, beyond-the-basics felting patterns but they are not difficult and beginners can succeed at them. Both bags, shown at left, may be knitted on any gauge of Japanese machine*. Bonds and other hobby machines can utilize the designs by hand selecting a fairisle pattern. 19 pages include 2 punchcards, lots of illustrations, bag diagrams, an in-depth article on the principles and practice of felting and very detailed pattern instructions. The Market Basket was first published in News and Views in 2005, the Carpet Bag in Knitwords in 2004. The felting articles were produced in News and Views as a series in 2005. The illustrations and diagrams are new to this pattern and there have been additions to the text as well. *Passap knitters may knit the bags using single bed fairisle techniques. They will need to understand the machine functions clearly because Passap language is not used in the pattern. E-pattern is $10.50 and will be delivered by instant download.

return to homepage

FABULOUS FELTED CARPET SLIPPERS A whole new approach to slipper-making. Knit the fabric, then felt it, cut it, sew it and add soles. ALL knitters can use this pattern including any machine (except 3.6mm) hand knitters and frame knitters. Suggestions are given for knitting appropriate fabric. Complete felting instructions are provided. A pattern for the cut and sew process covers childrens' size 1 (not babies) to mens' size 14. Complete assembly and sole-making instructions. Modest sewing skills are adequate. These slippers are quick, cozy and unisex. They make great gifts and are a wonderful way to use up mixed wools. E-pattern $7 AND WILL BE SENT AS AN INSTANT DOWNLOAD

FABULOUS FELTED FOOTWEAR

The newest version of Fabulous Felted Footwear is for bulky & mid-gauge machines with ribbers. It is faster to knit than the other bulky version with less hand finishing and also produces a deeper heel cup. This pattern has lots and lots of pictures. $10.75

This is a pdf file like all the others but this one may require you to select Acrobat Reader and load it manually. On some computers, it does not initiate the program automatically

Click here for a new free addition to this pattern that shows how to make a deeper heel cup. The results will be much like the shoe shown below for the bulky-with-ribber pattern

This is a single bed pattern for mid-gauge and bulky machines,including Bonds and Varios. Recently this E-pattern was updated with lots more photos and more detailed information, gleaned from feedback by many knitters. If you purchased the old version you may have a new one for free. E-mail with info about the date of your purchase and some sort of proof or reference that will help me find record of it and I'll send you the new file. For those who have not yet tried this pattern, now is a great time!$10.50

Standard gauge Japanese machines and 5mm Passap and White machines use this pattern. This is an E-pattern that will arrive as an instant download $10.50

Now you can make this pattern with a deeper heel cup so it will resemble the red shoe below left. Click here for a free upgrade to add to your pattern.

Fabulous Felted Footwear for circular sock machines. E-pattern SENT AS AN INSTANT DOWNLOAD $10.50

Now you can make this pattern with a deeper heel cup so it will resemble the red shoe below left. Click here for a free upgrade to add to your pattern.

Fabulous Felted Footwear patterns allow machine knitters to make custom fitted cozy slippers. The slippers are similar to those hand knitters have enjoyed for many years but they are achieved by completely different methods. Left to right photos above show: bulky with ribber, mid-gauge/bulky single bed, Standard-gauge/Passap, circular sock machine version. The Circular Sock Machine version at right works with all brands of circular sock machines and all sizes of cylinders. The standard gauge and circular sock machine patterns both use Brown Sheep Naturespun fingering weight yarn or something comparable. Mid-gauge and bulky versions use worsted weight. DON'T choose sock yarn with nylon as it is designed not to felt.

All versions of the pattern include instructions for applying OUTDOOR SOLES. This is easy and inexpensive and makes the slippers even more versatile. All versions of the pattern include felting instructions. Make some soon for the coziest winter ever!

Photo at left is of the new bulky-with-ribber pattern showing a slipper not attached to a sole. You can see the deeper heel cup well in this photo. Photo at right is of a bulky/mid-gauge slipper using the single bed pattern but with the change that produces the deeper heel cup. This addition to the pattern is a free download. Click the link beneath the pattern to find it.

FABULOUS FELTED HATS FOR BULKIES (above) and MID-GAUGE, STANDARD & PASSAP (below) Knit 9 styles of hat for kids or adults with 100% wool worsted weight yarn. Felt hats to perfection in the washer and dryer. ANY bulky machine will do--no ribber required. e-pattern $16.50 and will be sent as an instant download. First button is bulky pattern. Standard and mid-gauge pattern shown in lower photo uses sport weight yarn. Passaps use this pattern. Styles are similar but not identical. This pattern has fewer styles but more detail about sizing than the bulky version. $16.50

FABULOUS FELTED BAGS now for ALL gauges of knitting machine 10 styles of bags can be knitted on ANY machine. Worsted weight or Lopi yarn is used on bulkies. Sport weight is used on standard, Passap and mid-gauge machines. Passap & standards knit on every other needle. Most styles are presented in 2 basic sizes with instructions for adapting the designs to any size you wish. Easy and practical--no ribber required. E-pattern $16.50

Using worsted weight 100% wool yarn and a stitch size that will produce a very loose stitch, cast on 3 stitches. Knit 100 rows. Bind off. Starting at one end of the cord, hang it on 20 needles. Do this by pushing needle 1 through the end of the cord any old way. You don’t have to choose an exact portion of any one stitch. It won’t matter. Now hang a stitch on needle 20, letting the cord droop about 2” down from the needle bed in the center. Find the center and hang it. Hang the cord on the remaining needles, easing in the slack. Put all needles in hold with a claw weight in the center hanging on the cord. KNIT FLAP: Place 2 center stitches in work and knit 1 row (pull stitches by hand if necessary). Continue knitting, placing one more needle on the side away from the carriage in upper working position every row until all needles are knitting. Add additional claw weights and move them around as necessary to keep stitches from dropping. KNIT BODY OF PURSE: knit 15 rows. Hang yarn markers at either side. Knit 15 more rows. Bind off with a doubled strand of yarn. Fold the purse at yarn markers so that the shape of an envelope forms. Loosely whipstitch side seams with main yarn. Stitch the remaining length of the cord around the edge of the purse. Form the excess into a strap or loop and stitch the end to the bag securely.

Felt by running the coin purse through the washing machine and dryer. Use the maximum amount of liquid detergent recommended for your machine. Re-wetting the purse before drying will speed felting because the process is most active when wool is really wet. It slows as drying increases. For larger projects, front loading commercial washers at the laundromat are a great idea. they have the advantage of no center spindle to possibly distort the wool as it is agitated and they keep all that lint out of your home washer. Many laundromats don't have really hot water but will work OK anyway. Finish by sewing a snap on the flap.

Wasn’t that easy and fun? Now you know what all the felting fuss is about. This little purse literally takes 10 minutes to knit and would make a great project for bazaars. Besides its obvious use as a coin purse, it could hold a piece of jewelry or a little bottle of aromatherapy oil, a silver dollar or… Patterns for larger felted bags are now available at my website www.theanswerlady.com. They are no harder than this one, just bigger.

To felt well, yarn must be 100% wool. After felting many, MANY samples, I feel qualified to say that one of the fastest and most complete felters I have tried is Ashford Tekapo New Zealand wool. Brown Sheep Naturespun and Lamb’s Pride are close seconds. Patons Classic Wool is actually merino wool. It has recently become widely available and is a new favorite. Lion Brand Fisherman’s wool felts nicely but takes longer. Lopi felts nicely and makes a very thick cushiony fabric but it is not suitable for something as small as a coin purse. To knit Lopi on a machine, you may have to skip the tensioner. This may mean that you also have to manually pull up the slack yarn at the end over each row but it can be a worthwhile effort for the lovely results. Superwash wools are not suitable because they have been specifically treated to avoid shrinking and felting. All other 100% wool can be felted but some take more work than others. The exact fiber content (there are many types of wool, after all) as well as the way it has been spun and dyed affect the felting results. If you have odd things in your stash, make test swatches and felt them to see if you like the results. This could be a way to use up all sorts of leftovers.