[SallyintNorth]

I'm getting on great with the spinning now, and have spun, plied and knitted my first hat.  Soooooooo proud!!!! 

Anyways, now I am thinking about next project, which I fancy a wool bodywarmer to wear under my supposedly waterproof outer jacket for warmth and additional waterproofing.

I was wondering about weaving it on a pegloom, which I don't yet have and have never done  , so in the interests of actually getting to a finished article, maybe it would be better felted.

I've never done that either, but understand I can knit it oversize and then felt it? 

Advice please on how much larger I would need to knit in order for it to shrink down to size when felted.  Also, when I get to that point, I'll need advice on actually felting it! 

[Fleecewife]

Well that's the $60,000,000 question    Lots of books show you how to knit a piece to turn into a bag, where the eventual size isn't critical, but I couldn't find anything for actual clothing.  A while ago I did try it with some mitts.  I knitted them about half as big again as I wanted them to be, and they ended up fitting my husband but not me.  In fact it partly depends on the type of fleece/yarn you are using - definitely not Superwash which won't felt.
It might be worth your while knitting up a swatch and trying felting that.  You can stop the felting once you reach the correct size, but eventually the piece won't felt any more.
It might be worth knitting each piece of the body warmer and felting it before you sew them all together...?  That way you can felt them flat on the table, as you would any piece of felt and have good control of the size and shape, as opposed to having to do it on some kind of former, which you would do with a hat.
I do think felted knitting is the way to go with this project, and I will be watching with interest so I can copy you 

[smithycraft]

It's a difficult question as shrinkage depends on the wool.  If you are felting by hand rather than in a washing machine you have more control over the size.

When I'm making hats, I generally try them on as I go along which isn't the best idea as they are soaking wet and very hot.

The best way is to knit a test swatch, measure it, felt it and then calculate the difference.

I knitted and felted the gilet below and then needle felted it.  You can't really see the size difference in the pics but the unfelted version was huge and we had to felt it in a dustbin (that was before I got my twin tub).

If you want the pattern, I can scan it and email it to you.

[jaykay]

I think you have to knit quite a big swatch, felt it and record the shrinkage - and the felting time, temp. etc.

I think Fleecewife's idea of doing each piece separately and then sewing the gilet together from the felted pieces is a good one.

[woollyval]

LOL.....you must do a sample as some wools will felt to a fraction of their original size....and some not at all!  If felting anything that has been pegloomed make sure the warp is the same wool or you will get interesting results 

[SallyintNorth]

If you want the pattern, I can scan it and email it to you.

Looks great, yes please I'd love to see the pattern 

[Lesley Silvester]

Smithycraft, that is lovely.

[ellisr]

LOL.....you must do a sample as some wools will felt to a fraction of their original size....and some not at all!  If felting anything that has been pegloomed make sure the warp is the same wool or you will get interesting results 

Val you have just given me an idea of something to make on the loom, I will have to use the wool from my commercial types as Ryeland wool is not good to felt with.