Felted Patterns Gone Bad

Have you ever purchased a pattern and made it up only to find that the size, despite the gauge being correct was way off?

Now, I can correct most any pattern to make it work but the yarn I waste in the meantime frustrates me because if you knit or crochet you know yarn, especially wool yarn, is not cheap.

Here are some tips on felted patterns. I have come up with these suggestions as a general guide after much frustration.

When you buy a pattern and it calls for worsted weight yarn be very careful to look at the gauge. Even so, I suggest you knit a swatch and felt it to see if you get the correct felted gauge. Worsted weight is so general and can be anywhere from 3-5 stitches an inch...big difference in the finished product. Even if you are using the same yarn they did keep in mind that everyone felts differently depending on the techniques, machine, water temperature, etc...

Here is a pattern I used recently.

It is a beautiful hat but it was supposed to fit a 23 inch head...it is 16.5 inches on the inside! I will have to make major adjustments to this one, not so much in the length because it is not too far off but the circumference is a mile away! That kind of tells me perhaps something is amiss with the pattern but there are no corrections listed.
 
That brings me to another point. If you ever purchase a pattern, look to see if there have been corrections before you begin knitting/crocheting.
When I create a pattern I write it down as I go along. After I am finished I write up the pattern so it makes sense to the community then I make another item following the directions to make certain there are no typos. I have found errors in doing this so I am very happy I included that step.
Be careful when you are making a knit or crochet item to felt that you use the same brand/weight of yarn so they (probably) felt us evenly. Even still, you should do a small swatch to make sure. If you are using different colors you also want to do a sample first to make sure the colors will not run together. I have had very good luck with Cascade 220 & Lamb's Pride by Brown Sheep but Patton seems to bleed more and the color also fades more...for me anyway. If you are making a solid color item this does not matter. I really love the Cascade 220 yarns, they have a wonderful variety of colors and I get very consistent results. If I am making something in winter white or natural I really love the Fisherman’s by Lion Brand. If you have ever tried to felt light colors you know it can be challenging and often by the time you have the correct size there is a lot of distortion. This yarn does not distort and it felts really fast...5 minutes in the washer with hot water and Dawn. Most fibers take about 20 minutes which means setting back the agitation...you cannot felt in a front loader, you have to have an agitator.
For more information on beading, kitting or crochet see my blog at  Divella Delights

Moving Sale!

I am moving to Vermont and I don’t want to take the hats!


I have a variety of colors, styles and materials available at 50% off.

Stock up now for fall/winter or get a jump on your birthday or Christmas gifts for later this year! I have sold hundreds of these hats both wholesale and retail. Come check them out. I also have a selection of felted bags.
Sorry, no more special orders until these are gone!

Update from Divella Delights

Hello Everyone!I hope you are all enjoying your summer. It has been a tough few months with family difficulties and health issues but it seems as though things have stabilized and now I can really get back to work! Good timing too since it is time to begin the new Winter Hat designs for this year! I want to do some really fun and funky felted hats this year getting back to the 20’s and 30’s era.
I had a request for bead crochet rope necklaces so am going to do a few of those with some wonderful new lampwork and other embellishments. I am going to go ahead and do a few bracelets too so stay tuned!

Classes will start soon and I will be adding more info to the website.

Shortly you will see a “Tips, Tricks and Patterns” tab at the top of the page where I will post things such as my trials with different materials, good websites for supplies and some patterns for you.I will be going to Oregon for 3 weeks in August for a little R&R as well as a little business. When I return I expect to be doing several classes a week for 3 different age groups beginning at 9 years old. I did a trial run on my niece this Spring and it went very well. If you live in the Waterville, Maine area and are interested in the classes, shoot me an e-mail for more details.

Have you been to the website lately? I have been doing some really cool designs with my new beading software, stop by Divella Delights and take a look. More soon!Have a great day!
Dianne

Handmade Jewelry sale

Good-Bye 2009!
In just a couple of days we will have the final monthly drawing for 2009. You only need be on the e-mail list to have a chance at a very special free gift. Here are just a few of the free gifts this year and this month there is going to be something extra-special!
There are some changes in the works at Divella Delights for 2010 so stay tuned in January for some updates. I am trying to get it all together now so I can just send out one e-mail with all the new information.
Did you know that we now offer Gift Certificates at Divella Delights? Did you realize that they never expire? You can also set up a specific day to have your gift certificate sent. If your life is as busy as mine this feature can come in very handy!
There is a sale beginning NOW at Divella Delights with earrings, bracelets, necklaces and even the Crochet Hats by Jessy from 30%-50% off regular prices. Some of the designs will not be coming back so if you have seen something you like, now might be the time! We also have the new "Under $25.00" category. Come by and check that one out from time to time.
I extend my wishes for a very happy, fulfilling and joyful 2010 to all my wonderful customers…see you all next year!
Dianne
Divella Delights

Felted Hats

Divella Delights has some beautiful new felted hats coming. This one sold in less than 2 hours so I guess I will be making more of the felted hats.
I begin with 100% wool, usually Cascade 220 but I do have some really yummy Lamb’s Pride wool as well. After I knit or crochet them, they are felted into a nice wool fabric. They take about 2 days to dry and at that time I form them to the shape I want. Next comes the embellishment phase, which is my favorite. This one was needle felted all by hand using a small barbed needle and a foam block. Some will have knit or crocheted flowers and leaves, some will have beaded flourishes. It all depends on what the hat tells me it wants! I will also be doing some clutches to match and I even have a pattern tucked away in my head for a scarflet. Check in often at Divella Delights, things are changing every day and it looks like the felted hats are going to go fast!

Felted Bags

I am happy to announce that I am knitting like crazy to make more of the felted wool clutches and full size felted bags. They should be dry in a day or two so I can begin the embellishments and get them ready for you.
I was very busy getting a lot of the small felted bags finished for the jewelry store. She has plenty to last for a bit so I want get more clutches done since they did so well. I have some really yummy colors coming up so check back and check often, they go quickly!
I am winding down with the hats, there are many to choose from right now and I really need to get some jewelry done for the jewelry store. If there is a special color you would like to see, let me know and I will try my very best to accommodate your wishes. Should you be interested in a particular bag, I will need plenty of advance notice as they do take quite a bit of time, not only to knit and embellish but they also take a few days to dry.

More information can be found at Divella Delights

Felted Bags

I am very happy to report that the "Little Bag" series is a success! You can see more at Divella Delights as well as some larger felted bags and clutches. I love to have an excuse to knit so thanks to all my wonderful customers!
I really need to focus on getting some jewelry done but with the temperature dropping all I want to do is knit and crochet. The jewelry store is getting low on stock and it is not the best time of year to neglect that for sure. I suppose that in light of this I will be at the table creating designs of the gemstone variety this week when I am not at LL Beans answering phone calls!
As far as those wonderful Flapper hats I have some in stock already. Last year they took off suddenly and I was up until well after midnight crocheting like crazy. This year I have quite a few made up ready to go.

Grab a cup of tea and stop by Divella Delights and check out the new jewelry, hats and felted bags.

Monthly Drawing Winner

Congrats to Leslie who was the Divella Delights monthly winner for October!
Remember that you have to be on the e-mail list to win so sign up now if you have not already! You will not get a bunch of e-mails from me. I send them out to notify my customers of sales or contests. I will be having a customer only sale soon. E-mails will go out to notify those on the list with a special password to get the hot deals but if you are not on the list you'll miss some great pre-holiday deals.
Just go to the home page of Divella Delights and scroll down to the bottom.
While you are there take a look at the guestbook and see what my customers are saying! Her are a couple of examples of what you will find in my shop.

Great Gift Ideas

What a great idea, thanks Marsha!
Do you give gift cards, or want to but think it might not be personal enough? Check out these great little handmade felted bags just the perfect size to slip a gift card, or even cash into.
They are hand knit then felted to make a beautiful, thick durable fabric. Once dry (takes about 3 days) I embellish them in a variety of different ways and no 2 are ever alike. There are a few different sizes of the small bags and then of course the beautiful clutches are back this year.
The clutch is perfect for a night out, especially all those Holiday parties that are coming right up. It holds the essentials but does not overpower your outfit and they are quite elegant and feminine.
These little bags would make wonderful gift bags for a nice piece of jewelry too!
Some of the uses that have been suggested are:
Coin Purse
Gift Bag for jewelry,
gift cards and moneyCredit Cards
Business Cards
Eyeglass Case
GPS case
Digital Camera Case
All this and more can be seen at Divella Delights.

Just the bag for those Holiday parties or shopping trips! This bag was hand knit and felted to 8X6.5 inches and has a 15" to center felted strap (30" total). The flower is beaded one petal a time and is attached to a pin so it can be removed to wear. In the center of the flower are genuine pearls. The pin back also has a necklace loop on the back if you want to slide onto a chain to wear as a necklace. I will be adding new Holiday jewelry and gift items to my shop so come by Divella Delights and see what's new!

Felted Bag Accessories

I am so excited about these new felted bags. I found a wonderful website some time ago for oxidized brass, silver, etc… to use on some of my jewelry. I was fooling around with some of her products the other day and came up with this bag. Now I have placed an order for some beautiful leaves, flowers and other filigree items that I can use on the 6 bags I have drying now. I can’t wait to get them! The shop is Accessories Susan and her prices are great which is important to me, as I want to keep the bags affordable. They take some time to make, then there is the expense of the felting process so keeping the embellishments affordable is key and Susan makes that happen!
Check in with Divella Delights in the next week to see what I come up with!

Small Felted Bags

Because I had a request from the local jewelry store to do these little bags I thought I would make some for my Internet customers as well. They are all hand knit with 100% wool and some novelty mohair and angora then felted. They have a heavy-duty snap closure and most of the embellishments are handmade by me as well. They are great for gift bags and perfect for business cards, money, credit cards, etc… I am also making a variety of other sizes perfect for all those pesky little items that get lost in your bigger bag. I use one to keep my GPS and digital camera from getting scratched. Lots more to come so stay tuned into Divella Delights for more felted bags and jewlery!

New! Spring Knit, Felted Clutch

These beautiful bags measure roughly 10"x6"x2" and are felted very thick. First I hand knit them using exquisite woolen fibers then I felt them. After they are dry I add the embellishments.
I make the felted adornments as well and any items with needle felt are also done by yours truly. Naturally I also so all the beading. About the only thing I don’t do is raise the animals and spin the yarn.
This series will be going to the local shop when I get a dozen made. At that point they will no longer be available on line.
I am having a sale on my site at http://www.divelladelights.com/ on selected hats and jewelry so come by for a visit!

My New Felted Bag

I wanted a cool new bag for my trip, especially since I am going a-marketing so I whipped this one up. It is large, has a beaded crochet rope handle and cool brass leaves attaching it to the bag. It has a magnetic snap and a crochet free form button made with all kinds of cool stuff. Neat huh? Here is is hanging with all y junk in it.

Handknit Felted Bag Clearance Sale

All my bags are hand knit using high quality wool then felted. Most are lined but there are few I did not get around to or that did not need it as I felted them 3 times for extra thickness. My hats really took off and are taking over my space so I need to clear out the hand knit felted bags and find them good homes. They start at $10.00 and are not small bags! So some on over to www.divelladelights.com and steal a handknit felted bag!

Hand Crocheted Hats for $8.00

I took some time out to make some crocheted hats as the weather is changing here in New England. In addition to gemstones, knitting and crocheting is an addiction of mine and one that I enjoy very much. Typically I am in my studio upstairs during the day making jewelry. When my husband gets home I sit with him and knit or crochet while we watch our favorite shows and work on our various projects; he with his wood and me with my yarn.
He will occasionally say to me "Can’t you just sit and relax?" My answer is that knitting and crocheting is very relaxing for me. It is very difficult for me to sit and do nothing; I even have a sock bag so I can knit in the car!
I hope you enjoy the hats and other hand knit and crocheted items I offer as an aside to my jewelry. I love making them! The hats like those pictured here sell for $8.00 n my shop so I think they are very reasonable. I also have some felted bags and other fibre goods in my shop. Cruise on by www.divelladelights.com and take a peek!
My favorite yarn store has a huge sale every January so watch periodically for more hand knit and crocheted hats!

Shop closed

Well, I did it, I closed the fiber site. All that is left is 6 or 7 ($5.00) crocheted bracelets and a couple of handbags priced really low. I won't be adding anything to it and when it is empty, that's it. My focus now will be on my gemstone line. Anyone who has marketing ideas or suggestions, PLEASE feel free to leave my some ideas.

HUGE DISCOUNT ON BAGS AND HATS

These are just a couple of the bags that are being cleared out during my shop closing sale! I have hats,scarves and other knitted and crocheted times too. My shop in ETSY will close for good this Saturday and there are some really great bargains. If you are ready to do a little shopping for the Holidays, now is the time! It is a little sad because I do love knitting but my time needs to focused elsewhere. Take advantage of me and stop by http://www.divellasfibers.etsy.com

Think you can wear chunky Jewelry?

Trends in jewelry fashion are heading back to the chunky styles. At first I had a problem with it as I have always been more of a lightweight if I wore jewelry at all. I still don't wear much although my daughters keep telling me I have to wear my designs. I have developed a passion in creating and designing, or perhaps I just like to play with all those gems! Either way I have been learning, developing and having a great time with it. When I first started a couple of years ago I just made jeweled dangles to attach to my hand knit and felted bags. You can see where it has taken me. In the beginning...I used only craft store type glass beads and from there I went onto the Czech beads. Someone told me about Swarovski crystals and when I received my first order I fell in love with all the sparkle. Then a shop owner suggested I incorporate genuine pearls in my work so I tried it out and that was great. With my second order of pearls I also ordered some gems. All that was well and good but I did not care for much for what I was getting on the Internet so I started shopping locally. I found a great shop about an hour away for beautiful pearls and some gems http://www.beadinpath.com/ and another for my wire and other gems http://www.jsritter.com/. They are significantly more expensive but the quality so much nicer. It did mean I had to raise my prices but I feel like the increase was worth the quality. I really enjoy the process of handpicking my pearls and gems so I don't mind paying the extra.

I had the same basic experience with lampwork beads. I am fascinated with that art. I was buying them from company in Canada and while they were nice, they were mass produced and not really unique. I bought some beads from Generations Lampwork http://wwwgenerationslampwork.etsy.com/ and Margo Lampwork http://www.margolampwork.etsy.com/ and fell in love. I have worked so much with Generations that all I have to do is shoot off an e-mail and tell her the colors and shapes I want and it is perfect, beyond expectation in fact, every time. The lobster and the shells are hers, the octopus is Margo's. Now I have ventured into the world of learning the stitches. For someone who loves realism and has a hard time with abstract the free form peyote I have been doing is a stretch. I never thought I would be so taken by it. Now I want to buy a loom. You can just imagine what my studio looks like with all the beads, gems, pearls, lampwork and yarn...I still make those bags. Stop on by my shops and take a look at what's new! http://www.divelladelights.etsy.com/ and http://www.divellasfibers.etsy.com . I will have my own website up and running in about a month so stay tuned. Any suggestions on the design?

Felted handbags and ID Lanyards

This was supposed to be the first bag for my Fall series but it has already sold and not even lined yet. I hope I can figure out how I made it as it came out really cute. My sweetie keeps telling me I have to write down what I do in case I really like it. I guess he is right (shhh). It is made of high quality 100% Peruvian highland wool, hand knit then felted, same with the flower. I am felting them much thicker this year so they keep shape much better. I have also bought some roving to begin some different needle felting designs I have had in my head, they need to get out! I am making ID lanyards for the local VA this week as well so I am keeping very busy and waiting for something to break.