Finishing Projects and Washing Wool

Hey Everyone!

Earlier this week, we had a few very hot days (90 – 96 Fahrenheit / 32 – 35 Celsius). Because it was so hot, I took advantage of the heat and washed a wool shawl I had finished a while back as well as the three pairs of socks I had done and needed to be washed.

Earlier this month I had gone to a couple stores searching for this white wash tub to use to wash shawls. I found it at the second store I had gone to. The first store had nothing similar which I found odd, because I would have expected Fred Meyer to have these types of tubs. Maybe I was looking in the wrong areas, but I looked in the bath sections, the kitchen sections and the cleaning sections, and nothing. I found what I was looking for at BiMart. That’s what I like about BiMart, besides being a locally owned chain of stores, they have a lot more in the way of “old school” household basics that other stores don’t carry, and for a decent price. BiMart is the place to go locally for canning /home preserving supplies and for the essentials.

I had washed my shawl using the Laundress Wool and Cashmere Shampoo. It has a really nice cedar scent, and I love using it to wash bigger items that I only wash when necessary, which is not nearly as often as socks. I had pulled out my blocking wires, T-pins and blocking mats to dry my shawl. I had put the wires through the increase holes that are along the edges, as well as the bound off edge. I realized that at some point I need to get another box of blocking mats, as I don’t have enough to properly dry these larger projects.

 

Earlier this week I had finished up my pair of Hollyberry colored socks. The yarn I used for this particular pair of socks is the Stroll Fingering yarn from KnitPicks.

This pair I had worked really hard on to finish up by this past Wednesday, so I could get them washed up and dried outside while it was so hot outside.

The past few pairs of socks I have been knitting with a longer knit leg, just to try something different and see how I like this pattern, and if I like it any better than the shorter all ribbing leg. I do like the fact that with the longer leg, they protect more of my ankle and lower leg from getting blisters when I wear them with my hiking boots.

These are the three pairs of socks that I washed the other day. The hot pink pair and the grey pair are both knit up of KnitPicks Palette Yarn, the pink color is called Rouge, and the Grey is called Finnley Heather. The darker red, cranberry color is the pair I know up from KnitPick Stroll in Hollyberry. The Hollyberry color reminds me of Christmas. Its name is aptly fitting as it is similar to the color of the color of the berries on the Holly bush. It is also similar to the color of Cranberries.

I had also finished up the second (the longer one) of these two dishcloths this week as well. I had finished the first one a couple of weeks ago. The yarn I used for this was one of the balls of the KnitPicks Dishie yarns I had bought. The colorway is called “Cabin”, which is fitting since the colors are a bit more rustic and fitting for a cabin. I had enough yarn leftover that I probably could have made the first dishcloth a bit longer to be about the same length as the second one. But you don’t always know how something is going to work out when you are using a particular yarn for the first time.

Wool Washes I Currently Use, and Where to Buy Them.

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As I have had time to use different wool washes on different projects and types of projects, there are three that have stood out to me.

My Top 3 picks are:
1. The Laundress Wool & Cashmere Shampoo (can be found here)
2. Eucalan Wrapture and unscented wool washes both can be found here (Wrapture can also be found here) (unscented can be also found here)
3. Kookaburra Tea Tree Wool Wash (can be purchased from here, here or here)

I prefer the laundress wool and cashmere wash for items such as shawls, hats, and scarves, that you don’t wash super often. It has the Cedar scent which helps protect the wool from bugs and moths going after it and damaging the garments. I also store all these goods in airtight containers with cedar blocks.

I prefer using the Eucalan for when I wash each pair of socks for the first time. I like the consistency of the wash for getting into the socks and helping pull up the excess dyes, waxes and other chemicals that the yarn was treated with, in the dying and spinning process.

Lastly, I prefer the Kookaburra tea tree wool wash for washing socks. Beings that I wash my socks after each time I wear them, I like that the Kookaburra tea tree wool wash contains tea tree oil which helps to get rid of microorganisms that get in the wool and can harm the wool itself or cause skin issues on your feet. It is also biodegradable, which also makes it good for taking along on the trail when hiking, or while travelling, so if I were to need to wash a pair of socks while I was out, and it couldn’t wait until I got home, this wash is more environmentally friendly. There is a lavender scented one as well, but I prefer the tea tree scent, as it is more woodsy, and would blend in better while out hiking.

Next Up: Cyan Socks

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This past week, after completing the Finnley Heather socks, I cast on a pair of Cyan colored socks. The variety of colors that the Palette Yarn comes in, is one of the things I love about the Palette line of KnitPicks fingering weight yarn. There are more colors to choose from than I have ever seen in any one line of yarn before.

I had started the Cyan socks before finishing up the pair of Hollyberry Stroll socks that I am working on. Once I got the leg going on the Cyan socks, I have been focusing on the Hollyberry socks as I am trying to get them done by the end of the day tomorrow (Tuesday), as Wednesday is supposed to be the hottest day of the next 10+ days. When you are looking at having a day with a high in the mid-nineties, here in Portland, Oregon, you take advantage of it.

You work your rear end off to try to get as much stuff done as you can, so you can wash it and put it outside to air dry. I never put my hand knit items in the tumble dryer as it tends to ruin whatever it is that I knit, I always air dry (and 99% of the time, hand wash) my handknit goods. Highs in the nineties is not an often enough occurrence here in Portland, that when it happens, you take advantage of it. As it is I have a shawl, and two pairs of socks done, that is all ready to be washed. I am hoping to make the Hollyberry socks the third pair of socks I am able to wash on Wednesday and put outside to dry.

Celebrating Five Years!

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I can’t believe that it has been five years since I started this blog! This blog has seen the ups and downs of my life as well as various phases of my life.

There have been times when I was working full time away from home, or even full time from home and didn’t have hardly any time to knit, to being in between jobs and having so much more time to knit.

I have learned so much about knitting and tried new patterns, tried out different yarns, made hats, scarves, wraps, shawls, fingerless gloves, and socks.

I had stocked up on sock yarn and worsted weight wool for shawls until I have it coming out my ears. I love knitting, I never want to stop knitting. I definitely want to work on my blog and devote more time to it.

I also want to say thanks to all who have been following me since the early days, it means a lot to me.

Here’s to another five years and to seeing what live brings my way.

Finnley Heather Socks

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Last night I finished up the pair of KnitPicks Palette Finnley Heather socks I had been working on for a while.

With all the sock yarn I have stashed away I am trying to work through it this summer. I am trying to stash bust my sock yarn. The finished socks are easier to store than balls of yarn. They are also wearable, versus just taking up space.

This upcoming week is supposed to be down right hot, and I want to take advantage of that. I am trying to get as many pairs of socks done before it is hot enough to dry socks outside, so I can wash them and put them out to dry.

I have one more pair that I want to get done before next weeks heat wave.

I also have started the next pair of socks, for when I get the Hollyberry Stroll socks done.

The Lonesome First Sock Club

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I have gotten two socks done using two different colors and different kinds of yarn.

I have one Finnley Heather sock knit up using KnitPicks Palette yarn done as well as one Hollyberry Stroll sock done.

They are both sitting while I make progress on their respective mates.

With the Finnley Heather sock, I have made it longer than the other socks as I am trying to use up as much yarn in one sock as possible. Each ball is 50 grams, and it takes about 30 grams of these particular yarns to make an individual sock. So I would have to buy two balls of yarn to get a pair of socks anyway with the old pattern. Now I am getting way to much extra yarn sitting around, that isn’t enough to make another complete sock on its own. So I decided to lengthen the leg to help use up more of the yarn in each ball.

I usually am only working on one pair of socks at a time, but I wanted to see how the newer pattern worked using the Stroll Yarn and the Palette Yarn so that is why I have these two pairs going at the same time.