Must Keep Knitting: Wash Day

Since I work in a yarn shop, I get the question a lot: "Is this machine washable?" And I always tell people the ins and outs of wool and water, but more importantly this: If I go to the effort to hand knit it, I am going to hand wash it. This is especially true of items that only need washing once or twice a season, such as mittens and hats. Anyway, it's not like hand washing is that hard: Stick it in the sink with some suds, forget about it, then rinse it out when you remember later. Although I must say that the other day, when I did a major bedroom cleaning, I produced a tremendous heap of socks (they're all hand-knit at this point) all needing a good washing. And then I searched around and found a couple pair of Keith's (that he seems to think don't need washed ever). And then began the multiple stage sink washing extravaganza. Last time I had this many socks all at once, I capitulated and threw them in the wash on gentle. And I regretted it. Yah, they were super-wash, but as I am constantly explaining to customers, that doesn't keep them from fuzzing and pilling. And they did. Besides, several of these pair this day were not super-wash. This mega-wash tested my love of hand-washing. But, when all was said and done, I was thrilled (yes, I am a square) to look at all those beauties blowing in the autumn breeze, picking up that fresh air smell, you know? I think that socks are, hands down--feet down, my most favorite knitting. I cannot hope to ever have anyone read this blog if I ramble on so about washing socks, but there it is.

So the stash excavation continues. There was a brief and slight slip in the "no new yarn" policy (sorry Sara!). Let's just say a goodly amount of Paton's Merino Wool found its way into my cart the other day. If the sun ever comes out again, I will show it to you. But lets not dwell on that. More interesting was a discovery I made today as I dug around for some lovely mitten yarn bought last winter. 150 grams of Wool of the Andes Cranberry and 100gr of Winter Night, and 200grams of the undyed. So, red, white and blue. What were these meant for???? I don't know. Obviously something. Not all together, certainly. I'm not into the red white and blue knitting (no offense, just not my deal) . But what? Very possibly mittens, perhaps the Snaka du Norsk hat. Ultimately I guess it doesn't matter. But it is a testament to the fact that I need to have less, uh, turn around time on the stash.

So, here is my 4yo, and the best picture I could manage between rainy weather and non-compliance. She is wearing her "house-socks" as we're calling them. Too thick for her to cram into her shoes, completely acrylic and oh-so-rainbow. I had bought the yarn cheap in a weak moment. And, as with some plastic yarn, it is very soft. She really wanted socks out of it. They were fun to knit, very fast. And they are all I have to show for the SAL2 knit-along for October. I am burning out on doing so much knitting for sale at the farmers' Market. I'm happy to say I'm selling a lot, but I'm itching to get back to other projects on my mind. One more weekend, then I 'll have a bit of a break before I have to gear up for the Holiday Market. But, I'm ready to get back to socks, vests for the girls and Christmas knitting. E-gads.

This last picture was taken by my 7yo:) I did take a tiny bit of time to finish the mittens I had started last year for my 4yo. They got stalled out because when I closed the top of the first one, I wasn't convinced that they were quite long enough. This year, I ripped it back, added three rows, then finished it. This pattern (not sure if you will be able to see any detail, I may have to retake the picture) is from Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen. A fantastic book of traditional Maine and Maritime mittens. This one is called Salt and Pepper, and the mitten is thick and squishy and super warm, because the entire mitten is double thick from the floats. Knit in Wool of the Andes, in tulip and asparagus. And, she actually wore them today! Okay, the picture just finished loading, and I see it's not one of her most clear photos. Let's try again.

Okay, well that's a lot of odds and sods. Sock washing, acrylic socks, mystery yarn, and wonderful wool mittens. Hey! Wake up, this is fascinating stuff! There's the last mitten photo. Marginally more clear. Any of these pictures can be clicked on to make bigger, just in case you hadn't noticed. (Well, it took me a little while to figure it out...) Well, back to the grindstone. Have a beautiful day.