A Weekend of Spinning and Washing the Results.

After spinning a whole lot this past weekend, I tried a new method of washing and setting the yarn. Before, I would have used a just a generic baby shampoo, but I had some Soak on hand so I decided to try that.

It was easier on my hands, but I worried that because of that, it wasn’t removing all of the dirt and grease from the fibers. And while, I did have to run it through 2 times ( I suspect my extremely hard well water), it did a nice job of preparing the skeins to be hung, weighted and dried. On their website, they recommend cool water. I’ve always used blistering hot, so that’s what I used; and just soaked the yarn until it was room temperature, I was surprised at how little bubbles it produced (again, the hard water, although they do tout this as a low suds formula), and what the water looked like when I removed the yarn. Yuck! (Another reason I ran it through twice). It is also formulated for machine use, but again, I’ve always washed my yarns, and wools, by hand, so I didn’t try the machine.

I used the unscented, as I’ve found some scents to be too overpowering. Again, I worried that the finished objects would still have that “wet wool” smell, but they didn’t. Have any odor at all. I liked that. I didn’t have to rinse, I liked that also.

Soak isn’t organic or all natural. I didn’t like that, but Soak is environmentally friendly. It is biodegradable and packaged in recyclable bottles which are printed with water-based inks.

Soak comes in 3 size options- Full (425mL), Bullet (130mL) and Mini (6mL).

I have a few other brands to try too, but I definitely will purchase more of this. You can find retail locations on their site, http://www.soakwash.com/Stores.asp. You can also order directly from them online.

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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