BAG DISPENSER / RECYCLER
Base:
With 2 strands of A held together, and using the green loom, wrap 5 pegs.
Row 1: Reverse direction, wrap 6 pegs. Lift the bottom wrap over the top.
Row 2: Reverse direction, wrap 7 pegs. Lift the bottom wrap over the top.
Repeat, adding one stitch to the end until there are 10 total.
Next Row: Lift end stitch off its peg and place on the adjacent peg, then lift the yarn over
to decrease one stitch. Continue to end of row.
Repeat until there are just 5 stitches left. You will now have a flat piece that is roughly round.
Position the round piece over the pegs of the knitter, inserting the pegs through the edge stitches
and there is a stitch on each peg. This is the base of the dispenser.
Sides:
Rnds 1-6: knit
Rnd 7: Bind off 12 stitches, remove them from their pegs and continue around.
Rnd 8: Cast on the 12 empty pegs and continue to knit
Rnd 9-15: knit
Rnd 16-21: Change to 2 strands of B, knit
Rnds 22-34: Change to 2 strands of C, knit
Rnd 25-64: Change to 2 strands of A, knit
Bind off: Starting at the beginning of a round, wrap a single peg. Lift the bottom
row of yarn over the wrapped stitch. *Lift the stitch and put it on the adjacent left peg. Lift the
bottom row of yarn over the stitch just moved. Wrap the peg and lift the bottom row of yarn over the
wrapped stitch. If you do not want to make the handle / hanging loop, continue until there is one
stitch remaining, then cut yarn, leaving a long tail and pull through the remaining stitch and
tighten to secure.
Handle
If you would like a hanging loop for your dispenser, bind off until 5 stitches remain. reverse direction,
wrap and knit, continuing until strap is 4 inches in length. Bind off, leaving an end of
approximately 8 inches. Using the large-eyed, blunt needle join the knitted strip to the dispenser
at the point where it started to make the loop.
FELTING
Felting is a process whereby the wool is deliberately handled so that it is matted into a fabric.
Wool fibers have scales and are also crimped. When these fibers are wetted and softened and then
rubbed together they grab each other and are permanently bound together. This happens when you put a
wool item in a washer and agitate it -- it comes out much smaller and also denser, because the
fibers have bound together.
Finished dispenser size depends on how much the piece is felted. Keep in mind
that you can always felt more, but once felting is done, it is not reversible.
Wash by machine on a hot wash/cold rinse cycle with detergent and several pieces of clothing to
agitate. At the end of the wash cycle measure the dispenser. If you like it, stop! Place it
flat to shape and let dry. If it is larger than you want, you can felt it additionally, if you dry
by machine on a regular setting until almost dry. Remove from dryer and lie flat to shape.
Steam if desired.
If the dispenser is still too large, you can felt it additionally by washing again. Felting is
often improved by adding about 1/2 cup baking soda to the wash water to increase the alkalinity.
More
about felting
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