Felting an Angora Sweater

My mom has a way of gifting me the most challenging things. I mean that in a good way. She finds things that she knows can be re-purposed, and hands them over to me to get my gears turning. A few weeks ago, while we were chatting on the phone, she mentioned she was "done" with a sweater she'd had for years.


"I took the buttons off already. Do you want it to felt?"

"What is it made of?"

"Angora, I think."

"Ohhhhh yes please."

"Okay, I'll mail it to you."

I actually forgot that she was going to mail it here, so when it arrived in the mail, I was super excited and surprised. As I mentioned before, she's had this sweater for years. It's one that I have lots of memories of her wearing. And all those snuggly/scratchy/fluffy angora hugs. The colors are so autumnal as well, which puts the sweater even higher on my "Yay" rankings. 

I popped the thing in the washer alone on the "ultra clean" hothothot setting. The first time through, it didn't felt much. So I put it back in, stuffed in a pillow case. I even put it in the dryer! Crazy. Though it did not felt down as much as I expected it would, I am very pleased with the result.

It has that beautiful halo of fiber so common of angora. I simply love it. I have a few ideas for what I'd like to do with it, but I'm just going to let my thoughts simmer for a little bit before I jump in to a project with it. I mean, it is full of sentimental value and lovely fiber. Don't want to rush in to something.

What have you felted?

Baby Sophisticate; or Not Everything I do Turns Out Okay

 Remember when I bought all that cotton with visions of baby stuff dancing in my head? Well, I started working on the baby cardigan before we moved, and got pretty far on it! I was feeling pretty proud of myself, but I had to put it on hold until we got somewhat situated.

When I pulled it out again, I was disgusted to find that what I had previously seen as a perfect beginning of a darling garment...was a mess.

I kept telling myself it was okay...it wasn't.

Wonky. Distorted. Stretchy. Lumpy. I was so distressed, I took a quick photo to show some of my other crafty friends. I was hoping that they would calm all my fears.

"It'll block out!"
"Oh it looks fiiinneee. You are just being harsh on yourself."
"Cotton always looks like that before it's washed."

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that if anyone said any of those things to me, I'd think they were lying. Because they would have been. My baby cardigan was weirdy shaped, and there was no denying it. When I showed my internet crafty group the pictures, my go-to knitting guru and favorite Norwegian citizen Liz (of Lizzy Knits Day By Day) confirmed what I had already accepted as truth: there needed to be some major changes if I wanted this cardi to look normal.

So, unfortunately, I'll be frogging this baby. If you hear screeching or uncontrollable sobbing coming vaguely from the direction of the midwest, it's me, ripping the sweater apart. Good thing it isn't an adult sized sweater! I'd be inconsolable if that were the case.

Really, it's not so bad. But if I want an heirloom baby piece, I want perfection.

What your worst gotta-rip-it-out story?