Update on Stripes for Stripes

The felted crochet cat bed, also know as “stripes for Stripes,” is all done except for the drying!

felted crochet cat bed
One view of the felted crochet cat bed

felted crochet cat bed
An overview of the felted crochet cat bed

felted crochet cat bed
Side view of Stripes’s new feleted crochet cat bed

There were definitely moments when I didn’t think this would work out as I had hoped or planned.

I finished all of the crochet two days ago. Here is what it looked like after ends were woven in and before felting:

crochet project to be felted
Crochet cat bed before felting

Here it is in the tub of vinegar and water I soaked it in to fix the dye:

fixing yarn dye
Cat bed soaking in a solution of water and vinegar

As is my habit, I generously underestimated the amount of time needed to complete the project.

After I had felted the cat-bed-to-be what I believed was a sufficient amount of time, a smidge of despair began to creep in. While the colors looked terrific, the sides were flopping down in a very sad way:

A cat bed of crochet concentric stripes for Stripes after the first hour of felting
A cat bed of crochet concentric stripes for Stripes after the first hour of felting

As is clear, it did not have the hoped for structural integrity at this point. Eventually I set the bed-to-be aside and decided to deal with it later.

Later came in the form of this morning. To my surprise and relief, as the cat bed had begun to dry, the sides were better able to hold their shape. I hoped against hope that a little more felting would do the trick.

A little more felting ended up taking two hours to get done, but I think it was well worth the effort, and hopefully, Stripes will as well.