Last year, I stashed this free pattern because although I hate the idea of taxidermy, this fauxidermy of the deer head is cute.
It's my official first felting project. I've felted small knitted balls for Bagel to play with before but never followed a pattern to felt in the end. I swatched the yarn and put it through my front-loading washer to see if it even felts because I heard that front loaders aren't really good for felting. The swatch felted up beautifully.
Unfortunately, the project itself hardly felted. It shrank a lot and I like how tight it looks but the stitches are still very visible. Could it be because I stuffed them too much? I followed the instruction in the pattern, so I stuffed the pieces first, and put it in the lingerie bag just in case the stuffing came out, and then threw it in the washer with a couple of towels.
It still looks cute like this but I'm going to try again! It would make such a cute holiday gift.