From Yarn to Felted Scarf...

I finished the Noro yarn scarf.
I started with this beautiful "Oh my. I think I'm in love." yarn.

Rolled it into a beautiful ball of amazing color that changes magically as you knit or crochet.

 I crocheted the yarn, starting with a granny square, and then I triple crocheted half of the length of the scarf. I made two of these pieces and attached them to form one whole piece.
 This is how the scarf looked before felting...

Pretty but very open and loose. I chose crochet because I wanted to keep the pattern from disappearing when I felted it. As it turned out, I could have made a much shorter scarf because I didn't get the shrinkage in the length that I expected.
 I threw the scarf into a mesh bag. Set the washing machine on the lowest water setting and the hottest water. Tossed the bag in with a pair of jeans and an old towel. Added some liquid hand soap and agitated everything for just 5 minutes.
The scarf softened up but nothing happened.
Another 5 minutes... nothing.
At 15 minutes I started to see the wool tightening up.
Another 5 minutes. and the pattern was really pulling together.
It's fun to watch this happen and it was happening very fast.
(Again I didn't take photos. I'm always so involved in the process I forget to do this... and I was fixing dinner at the same time. Too much multi-tasking for this old lady.)
Finally at 25 minutes I pulled the bag out and checked the scarf for the last time.
It was done, baked... finished.
If I had continued for another 5 or 10 minutes the scarf would have tightened up to the point where the scarf would have been this skinny piece of wool that wouldn't look like the crocheted scarf that I worked so hard on. You have to be very careful not to over felt. You will lose all your hard work and all the colors. The pattern will blend together and disappear.
I took the scarf out of the bag and rinsed it in cool water. Then gently squeeze to get the water out. I rolled it up into a towel, laid it on the floor and stood on it to get as much moisture out as possible.
The whole scarf was very fuzzy and needed to be "cleaned up".
This is done with very sharp scissors and a steady hand. Because this is now a felted fabric, you can trim the edges and cut the fuzz off and it will not unravel. You have to be very careful though. You want to rid the scarf of the fuzz, not cut through it. I have used a razor for this on solid pieces of felting. It works well and is faster than scissors. I also have a lint shaver that I bought online at knitpicks.com This is a nifty little battery run, hand held defuzzer that can be used for anything that needs to be cleaned up or an old sweater that has pilled and looks awful. It's only $3.99 and well worth the price. I still like scissors for edges.
So, here is the finished felted scarf...

The scarf is very long. I really thought that it would shrink up, lengthwise, more than it did, so it's a very long scarf. It's an Isadora Duncan scarf, not silk of course, and not long enough to get caught in the wheels of a convertible car.
It's safe... and warm.
I'm very pleased with it. I stretched it out, pulling and shaping it as it dried, to show off the pattern.
Love the colors. Loved using a granny square on the ends.
Now... what do you think?
Buttons?

Two matching buttons in the middle of the granny squares?

Four buttons.. one on each corner?

Big and gaudy?

Vintage?

One big, one small?

Or no buttons at all.
Tell me what you think.
Maybe this scarf doesn't need buttons.
Maybe it's wonderful just the way it is.