Gift Idea: Soak Wash

This is not a sponsored post or anything I earn any money on, I just know that you might be looking for things to put on your wish list, or for things to gift to other knitters or crafters this holiday season, so I thought I would share some fun products that I use and love that you might love as well.

I am pretty much always cold, so I wear a lot of sweaters. Most of my sweaters are either handknit from wool or alpaca or purchased sweaters with wool or other fiber content that shouldn’t be machine washed.

So I have something on the drying rack pretty much all the time in the fall and winter, and what I wash all those sweaters (and any other handwash garment) with is Soak.

Soak started out as a laundry wash made specifically for knitters and crocheters, but has expanded to target all people with things to hand wash. (Check out their tips for washing knits.)

What I love about it is that you don’t have to rinse it, though I usually do a little bit. I know it comes in lots of great scents that actually smell good, but I use the scentless variety and let me tell you: it smells like nothing. Not like soap or vaguely floral or whatever regular wool wash smells like. Nothing. It’s fantastic.

It’s a little on the spendy side — I just paid $16 for a 12 ounce bottle, but even as much as I use it, it takes a long time to go through a bottle. And to me it is well worth it to have a product that is great, that really is unscented and doesn’t come with an ingredient list a mile long, doesn’t have artificial colors or other stuff you wouldn’t want on your skin.

Do you have a favorite wool wash or a favorite scent of Soak? I’d love to hear about it.

[Photo via Soak.]

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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