Felted Bowls

I was picking up some more roving at the Knitting Cottage in Waynesboro, PA the other day and they had all of these small roving balls in this really cool felted basket/bowl.  It was tempting to buy it outright, trust me. 

I thought that I could perhaps make a felted bowl.  I am not a knitter, nor much of a crocheter, for that matter; but I thought that I could manage with the little I do know of crocheting.  Really, most of crochet is based on four basic stitches - single, half-double, double and triple (or treble) crochet. 

Small Felted Bowl

This little grey bowl with the pink edge was my first attempt.  I love the feel (it is very soft) of this bowl.  It wouldn't hold much and the sides are soft, rather than stiff like a basket, but it would be good for holding little things, like on a dresser and such.  Unfortunately, I really didn't keep track of my stitches and ripped and reworked it so that the bottom would be flat, so I quite lost track.

Larger felted bowl

My next attempt at making a felted bowl is this dark brown/ecru color.  This time I kept track of my stitches, and so I have a pattern that I can share with you.  It is a little bit larger than the other one and I alternated the brown and ecru.  I also added a scalloped edge on this one.  The pattern is available here.

To felt the bowls, I placed them in the washing machine, set it on hot wash, added a little mild detergent (Woolite) and let it go on a quick cycle.  I am thinking the longer cycle would work better, because I had put the second one through a second quick cycle and it looked even better. 

The picture doesn't do these justice, but they are cute. 

I also wanted to share with you this cute little hen with her baby chick.  The pattern for these can be found here.  There is a story to go with them in the newest issue of Living Crafts.  I have to thank my friend, Mary, for introducing me to this magazine!  The Knitting Cottage sells back issues for $2 (Yippee!).  The newest issue also has instructions for making cleaning tools (dust mop and dusters) for your little kids.  I am excited about this.  Daniel has been "helping" me sweep for a while now and the little broom I picked up at Toys 'R Us is really useless.  They always have some little needle felting idea, as well as knitting, crocheting and natural craft ideas. 

Well, that is the post for today!  I best get moving along! 

God Bless,
Jennifer