Students worked very hard to finish a 4” X 4” swatch. By the end of class, several students were ready to learn felting. We met in the evening in one of the residence halls to use a washing machine. (Cassie, left, finishing swatch before felting.) After measuring the length and width of the swatches and noting the number of stitches and rows, we let the swatches agitate in the wash cycle using hot water and a little bit of soap, taking them out for a cold water rinse after every five minutes until each person got the degree of felting they desired. 
We found that most swatches shrunk more in length than in width (some not shrinking any in width). For example, a 4” X 4” knit swatch became a 4” X 3.5” felted swatch. Students will use this to determine how many stitches to cast-on and how long a rectangle they should knit. If 5 stitches = 1” after felting and you want a bag that is 6” wide after felting, you should cast-on 30 stitches. However, because the seam eats up a couple of stitches you should cast-on a couple extra stitches.Tonight’s assignment: get started knitting the rectangle that will become your bag.
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