Shapes cut from a variety of cream-colored felted sweaters are pieced together to create a 3 1/2-by-5-foot blanket.
First, learn how to transform wool into felt.
Choose knits of a similar weight, but vary the patterns. Cut out and arrange the pieces so that the patterns point in different directions. Secure with a zigzag stitch (shown here). Order the pieces so that those with hemmed edges form the perimeter of the blanket, or hem the edges.
Felting will also make the blanket machine washable because it can't shrink any (or much) more. If you have sweaters that are similar but not exactly the same colour, you could dye them individually or sew it together and dye the whole thing at once to make the blanket more cohesive or at least complementary.
I don't know anything about felting... but man, that baby is CUTE.
You can felt the sweaters by putting them in the washing machine. The wool shrinks up as the fibers open up and cling to eachother. Then when you cut the sweaters to make the blanket the pieces won't unravel.
what is felting, and how is it done?
Felting will keep the yarn from unraveling when the sweater is cut. It also make a denser, warmer fabric. You can vary the felting by not leaving it in the washing machine too long.
Is it necessary to fellt the sweaters ? I have a lot of old cashmere sweaters and I wanted to do a patchwork blanket out of them, but why does the wool have to be felted ?