Bathroom Rug

So you know how I mentioned that I would be knitting and felting up a bathroom rug? Well I went ahead and knitted up a gauge swatch (something I rarely do). I knit it up on size 19 needles. The yarn, Plymouth Italian Fingerpaints, calls for size 17 on the label. But I have always heard that you have to "leave room" for felting, so I went up a size. The swatch I knit up was 5 1/2 inches by 4 1/2 inches.

Here it is after felting. I hand-felted it in the sink.














Finished size here is about 4 1/2 by 3 3/4. Now, although I am happy with how the colors all look mushed-up together, I think I need to go back down to the size 17 needles. Because you can still see spaces in between. Maybe the difference between a 17 and a 19 is too great. I imagine that if it was the difference between an 8 and a 9, it would be fine.

Behold:















So I am going to start knitting this for real very soon. Fo' shizzle, yo! My mom already gave me permission to use her washer to felt this. I have a front loader and it just won't work to felt a big-ass rug like this.

Crossing my fingers....