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Question:

When you plan to felt how much bigger do you have to knit it?

I want to knit a purse and felt it but I'm not sure how much bigger then the size I want I need to make it

Answer:

Annealing is a thermal process which removes strain from a materialA metal in the annealed state is at its softest and most ductileThe process involves heating the material above a transition temperature (the austenite or austenite-cementite temperature for steels), and then slowly (rapidly for aluminum and some others) cooling itRapid cooling can lock in strains and is used as a hardening process with many materials.
There is no way anyone can tell you thatIt all depends on several things, and you are the only one that will knowYou should knit a small sample of the project (a small purse is good, since it can be used when finished) and process it as you would normallyBut measure it all before you start the felting!! You want pre-felting measurements, and post-felting measurementsThen you will know that with this yarn, and this knitting pattern, and this felting process, I will get this much feltingAll yarns will shrink at a different rate, and some won't shrink at allYou won't know until you do itOnce you have an understanding of this yarn (use it for all your projects from now on), then you will have a very close idea of how much it will shrinkOf course, you can control it to some extent by watching carefully and stopping the process when you get the size and kind of fabric you wantedYou can always continue it again, if you decide it's not quite what you wanted when it is dryBut you cannot reverse any felting, so go slowly at firstBe aware that not all wool will felt the sameIt has to be an animal fibre, you know that, and I find dyed wool felts better than naturally coloured woolRemember to use a looser stitch if it is knitIt's a lot of fun, no matter what happens.
This Site Might Help YouRE: what does annealing mean?
Annealing is a heating process that can apply to all types of material, metal, or semiconductor or insulator alikeIt is commonly used in semiconductor industryIts purposes can be to activate impurities in the substrate or repair crystal damageBTW, this is NOT a cooling processIt requires energy to carry out the annealing.

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