Okay, so you end up with wonderful, lovely woolen hand knits either by hand knitting yourself or someone honors you with the gift of a lovely piece and how do you take care of them to keep them wonderful and lovely? As with everything else for every knitter out there, there is an opinion as to how to take care of your hand knit natural fibers. Whatever you do, DO NOT DRY CLEAN!!!! Yes, that’s right I said, “DO NOT DRY CLEAN!!!” Dry cleaning uses chemicals and high heat that can damage and ruin you natural fiber creations. Nothing is more heart breaking than to spend hours and hours knitting a one of a kind piece only to have some uneducated soul ruin it either by throwing in the washer and dryer or sending off to the cleaners to be abused with chemicals and high heat. I remember watching a patient of mine many years ago spend hours and hours (nearly 2 months) knitting her husband an Aran sweater with lovely wool with the lanolin still in it with all those cables and honeycomb patterns. Since she was in a rehab facility and was paralyzed from the waist down, she had no way of washing and blocking, so smart husband took the sweater to the cleaners. Totally ruined the sweater; the lanolin was totally stripped from the wool fibers, the sweater was stretched and out of shape and the color was no longer the lovely warm cream, instead it was a streaked yellow and brown tinged in places. How sad for both of them. It broke my heart to see what the cleaners had turned the sweater into. He wore it, but it was not the lovely sweater she had knit.
So, what do you do with your wonderful natural fiber hand knits? Like I said there is a “right” way for every knitter out there. There are special soaks you can purchase at yarn shops and other specialty stores and online for a pretty penny and they are good, I have used them and really liked the ones I tried; I do try to keep one or the other on hand. Some people swear by good ole Fels Naptha bar soap (if not available in your local grocery, check online or the local feed store). Here is just one online source; I am not recommending it just letting you know it is there. http://www.soapgoods.com/Fels-Naptha-p-779.html One thing I learned from a co-worker’s mistake all those years ago when I first learned to knit: DO NOT USE WOOLLITE. Yep, you read that right DO NOT USE WOOLLITE. . Yes, it is advertized for delicates and woolens, but you do not want to use it on your hand knits; it totally ruined my co-worker’s garment among other things it felted the garment. The last time I had a hand knit to wash, I used just a tiny of bit (less than a tablespoon) of the organic HE laundry soap (ECOS brand I get at WHOLE FOODS a very good deal at $14 for 210 ounces – only takes one ounce for front loaders and 2 ounces for top loading washers) I use in my front loader washer. I love the nice light scent and it has just a titch of fabric softener included. Not that I can honestly recommend that you go that route, but it worked for me in a pinch (it was mid-night and that is all I had). I do try to keep one of the specialty soaks I originally told you about, but I was out and that was my best option. I have a friend that hand dyes yarn. She uses baby shampoo when she is rinsing the excess dye out of the yarn. So, in a pinch, I would say you could probably use baby shampoo, if you have any around.
Okay, so all this talk about WHAT to use to wash your natural fiber hand knits, but HOW do you wash them? Good question since your yarn labels most always don’t give much more instructions other than posting the temperature of the water and telling you to “Hand wash. Lay flat to dry.” What the heck does that tell you? Not much that I can tell. So, I will tell you how I do it including my LYS owner’s suggestion for squeezing out as much moisture as you possibly can when you are through washing.
1. Measure garment(s) in all directions.
2. Fill sink or large bowl (enough to cover the item) with suggested water temp or just barely take the chill out of the cold water, if no recommended temperature is available.
3. Add the smallest amount necessary of mild soap and swish around to disperse in the water (if using Fels Naptha just swish the bar around in the water for a bit to get enough dissolved into the water).
4. Put the item into the water and make sure it is totally immersed into the water.
5. Let sit and soak for 20 to 30 minutes. There is no need to rub or agitate in any way. Agitation is one of the causes of felting.
6. Drain water and rinse with running just barely warm water (same temp as you soaked in) until all signs of your soap is rinsed out.
7. Squeeze as much water out as possible. DO NOT WRING item.
8. Now here is the cool thing my LYS lady shared. Put a pad of towels down on the floor (about 4 thicknesses), place the wet item down on the pad sort of laying out like it should be. Cover with another pad of towels. Now, walk, stomp, dance, whatever you prefer to get as much moisture squeezed out of your item as possible (LYS lady holds onto the back of a dining chair to keep her balance). I usually change the towels next to the wet item at least once to make sure I have dry thick towels to wick the moisture away from the hand knitted item.
9. When as much moisture as possible is out, pick up the hand knit item and block to original measurements on a blocking board or pad (refer to yesterday’s post for more detail on blocking).
10. Run the towels through the washer (no soap required) and then the dryer.
11. Allow your hand knit item to dry totally before moving.
12. Fold and lay flat on shelf or in dresser drawer. DO NOT HANG!!!
While on the subject of caring for your natural fiber hand knits, I just want to say that when I learned to knit I knit wool sweaters and other items for my kids. They were always hand washed and laid flat to dry. I remember when my oldest son was through with a lovely red tennis sweater, it was passed to a friend of a friend. The next time I saw that sweater, it would have maybe fit a newborn, but I am not even sure of that. It was heart breaking to me. It was like having a part of me cut out. On that note just let me say, if you are not a knitter (or crocheter) and someone makes you a lovely item whether a garment or table runner or other such thing, please understand that it isn’t just a “thing”, it is a part of the person that made it. There is a lot of time and expense (even cheap yarn is not cheap) put into any thing that is hand made; we put part of our soul into each and every item we make. I always make sure that I put plenty of prayers into the items I make to pass on to those I love and sometimes to strangers (you would be surprised how a hand knit scarf, hat or whatever can touch a person’s heart and soul when they are given something and told you made it just for them). Please remember that person with love and respect as they have so lovingly poured out their soul for you and/or your children.
I haven’t knit for a couple of days. I have a cold and don’t really feel up to much more than just sleeping. As soon as I am feeling better I will make up for lost time; I always do. Today is Wednesday afternoon knitting, but not sure I will get there. It will depend on how I feel at the end of my work day. Yesterday, I came home and went right to bed.
I want to thank each of you for your support of this blog. I have never blogged before mostly because I never thought I had anything to say that anyone would be interested in. Your reception of what I have had to say the past few days has been encouraging to me. Thank you.
I pray you are all always happy, blessed, loved and healthy.
Have a God filled day,
V
