Felted Flower Hotpads

I suspect that many bloggers are enjoying posting photos of projects made in secret before xmas, and this is my day to reveal to you my xmas knitting.

Back in September (geez, that seems like such a long time ago!), I spotted a felted flower hotpad at a friend's place and thought that I could make one of those myself! So I found a pattern online for a flower hand towel and went to work. My experience with felting is quite limited, but luckily I didn't have to worry too much about felting the fabric to a specific size.

I liked the first one so much that I just kept on making more of them! My tally is five so far, three of which are shown here.


Here below you can see the before and after shot - it's amazing how much it felted! To get an even shape and surface, I stretched the freshly-felted fabric (say that five times fast) , then ironed it with a tea-towel over it.



Pattern: Flower Power Hand Towel (Ravelry link)
Designer: Rebecca Mercier (Ravelry link)
Source: Whimsical Knitting Designs
Link: Direct link to free pattern here
Needles: 6mm bamboo circular and double-pointed needles
Yard details:

• Ella Rae Classic
• 100% wool
  
• 100gr = 200m
• each hotpad weighs approximatley 65 grams after felting

I gave the blue hotpad to my mother-in-law and the green ones to my own mother and soon-to-be-official sister-in-law. Then I made another one for a friend and a fifth one for me!