I just noticed, using Google Analytics*, that someone came to my site searching for the term "how to unfelt a sweater."
Oh, poor thing. You unfelt felted sweaters the same way you darn your handmade socks when they get a hole (courtesy, of course, of the Yarn Harlot): You hold them over the trash can and then drop them in, saying, "Darn." (You can stretch them out a little, but a good felted sweater? It's toast. Or good for your eight-year old neighbor.) And we've ALL been there. (I hope you didn't knit it yourself. I hate it when I do that. And I've done it.)
We had a great Thanksgiving, with a surprise sit-down meal for ten (plus nephew Isaac, who at five months old didn't quite require a chair, but made that eleventh nicely) that no one really saw coming. I mean, we saw the food coming–cooking happened all day long. But somehow I thought we'd just roam the house, food in our fists, so when we actually put two tables together and rounded up enough chairs, it was really quite spectacular. And delightful.
And now, I have a few more days off to continue digesting. Thank god. And knitting continues. I like this time of year SO much.
*That Google Analytics, I like it. I am a Google Girl, that's for sure. All hail the Church of Google. Google Wave? I am not convinced I need it, but I'M GLAD I HAVE IT because it has Google in the title. That is all.
We are of the Thanksgiving buffet school. It has been that way since I was a kid. I was listening to The 404 podcast and one of the hosts had never heard of a buffet-style Thanksgiving meal. Where has he been?
My wonderful alpaca cardi made a gloriously soft cat bed (donated to the Cats’ Protection League) after I felted it. But oh, the soul. I know the misery.
Just posted and thought I would cry-baby here too that I ‘won’ Nano but only in my own mind due to system probs.
I have read (but have yet to try) that you can boil a felted sweater with Epsom salts and then try to stretch it back into shape. I have a favorite, store-bought sweater that is in line for this treatment. (This is how I discovered the difference b/t “delicate” & “hand wash” on my machine.)
I have a confession…I love to darn socks. A good friend in Kentucky gave me an antique darning egg as a birthday present, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I see it as a construction challenge…
http://kottke.org/00/01/like-an-idiot-i-threw
Kottke says he has unfelted a favorite sweater. If I had the favorite sweater that was felted 20 years ago I would give it a try. Can’t hurt. Makes sense too.
Hi honey ~ felted sweaters can also be cut up and sewn into new things!