Friday, September 14, 2012

Fiber Arts Friday: Shaving my Woolens

It's no secret that I like to make hats.  One look at my Ravelry project page reinforces that assertion.  But of all those hats I've made, only one is mine.

I wear it a lot during the spring and fall.  It's not really warm enough to wear in the heart of winter.

It was very enjoyable to make... a loosely spun merino single... very squooshy and I love the color, but it had become very pilly.


I started plucking it, but then I decided to try shaving it.


Which worked much better.

How do you keep your woolens looking polished?

Happy Fiber Arts Friday.

16 comments:

Claire Davenport said...

*Looks down at favourite (slightly bobbly) jumper* I had never thought of shaving woollens! *reaches for razor*

Carol said...

Brookstone makes a wool shaver that is great. I use it on a number of my wool sweaters,

Paula @ KnitandSeek said...

My mind is boggled. I had no ide you could do that. Cool!

AllyB said...

Wow, you got a great result. That's a cute hat. Have a great weekend! I hope it's still raining there.

Voie de Vie said...

I would not have thought of the shaver either ... but of course, it's pretty much the same principle as "knit" shavers. It looks like a whole new hat!

Vivian said...

I would've never thought of using a razor to shave woolen, I'd be too afraid of, what, tearing it apart? Come think of it, I'm not sure what I do with my sweaters. Sometimes I pick the little balls off, and they end up all over the house.

Amanda said...

I use a little fabric shaver that I bought in the laundry section of Target. Works like a charm on all sorts of fabrics not just handknits.

MarmePurl said...

Wow...what a difference a little shave makes. (if only, only, only I could convince all 3 of my 20something year old sons that a shave sure does look a whole lot better!)

Kathryn Ray said...

Oh my gosh, you guys are making me laugh. I figured you all would be like , "Yea, we know that." ;-)

Ginx Craft said...

Didn't know that you could shave wool. Very interesting.

Cathy Johnson said...

I never knew you could shave your woollens! Thanks for sharing, I've got a lot of shaving to do :P

WonderWhyGal said...

hmmm, I don't think any of my hats or scarves have pilled like that...maybe it's the Alpaca content?

The razor is a great idea to use though.

Spinster Beth said...

KKnitpicks just sent me an ad for a "Jumbo shaver." Guess I shouldn't have deleted so fast!

Heather Woollove said...

Wow...what a difference! I know that others shave the 'hairy bits' from finished felt, but since I
'oh-so-love' a wild look, I've never tried it! Giggle.

katie metzroth said...

Haven't tried anything yet, but I'm off to shave a scarf in one hot minute! thanks!

Chris said...

Ok, I admit to being slightly worried when I read the title of this post. What a cool way to ditch the pil! I have a hat that I may just try this on, thankyou! ;)