yeah! I've gotten some unsolicited compliments on my Shibori scarf. The only funky comment was an enthusiastic women in the elevator who said she loved it, " it looks homemade". Can't say that didn't sting a little. A Colleague asked me for the pattern. So after writing it all up on email I thought I should just post it here too. My long "How to Shibori" notes:

You must use a wool yarn to felt. It can have some alpaca but that's about it, no silk, cotton etc. The store owner said not to use a white wool because the bleach they use to whiten doesn't felt. I made mine during a machine knit class so only took an hour to knit! The fact that it was so easy to knit doesn't break your heart if the experiment goes awry. The yarn was a no 5 gauge. I cast on 40 (my teacher casts on 25 for a skinnier look) and to get a very loose stitching you should probably use no. 8 or 9 needles. Knit in stockinet until the length measures anywhere from 110 to 140 depending on how long you want it. For felting the stitches must be loose to allow the hot water and agitation to work. With a lot of slack, bind marbles with rubber bands (like ones the grocers uses to bind green onions). Design a marble wrapping pattern of your choice along the whole scarf. I did sort of an argyle pattern 3 across, then 2 across. My teacher had 4 across then 3, hers turned out a little less puckered than mine, which I like better. My classmate did a zig-zag pattern and hers ended up having a ruffled edge look. To make it have texture on both sides I wrapped the out side marbles from one direction and all the inside pattern marbles from the other. my classmate wrapped all the marbles from the same side and I think it didn't look so good.

Here's the experimental part: Fill a top loading washing machine with a small load setting on SUPER HOT. Add a tiny amount of detergent. Put your scarf in and close lid letting the machine agitate. Check the scarf every 5 minutes. DO NOT LET THE MACHINE START TO SPIN. Take out when you've achieved the desired amount of felting. Cold water rinse. Roll the wet scarf in a towel to remove excess water. Then untie all the marbles and let the scarf air dry.

Every yarn and washing machine is slightly different so the wash time varies. The washer I used was super hot and it only took my scarf 10 minutes to felt. My teacher had to wash hers through 2 whole cycles. Many of my marbles fell out during the wash. It wasn't because I tied the rubber bands too loosely. It was because the knit fabric stretched while wet and agitating so the marbles slipped through the loops. Try to leave enough slack so the fabric won't stretch and allow the marbles fall through. Maybe try big marbles? I used small ones. Another idea we had was to try rubber balls.

happy experimenting!