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:

Knitters are always looking for ways to continue to knit and to wear their knits even when it’s hot outside, so there are tots of great T0shirt knitting patterns to choose from. I love knitting short-sleeved shirts because they feel so much faster than sweaters, and you can wear them on top of dresses or even longer-sleeved items when it gets cooler.

There are lots of different styles of knit tops, from the basic to the more detailed. On the more basic side are things like the Perfect T-Shirt from Originally Lovely, a basic raglan tee with nine sizes and worked in worsted weight yarn; Paper Bloom by Yvonne Hugo (free on Ravelry), available in six sizes and worked with cotton and silk yarn for extra coolness; or Iris H’s Amelia Top, also on Ravelry, a slim fit, DK weight top with nine size.

Jazz it up with a bit of lace like on the Athens Lace Hem top by Sarah Hatton (Ravelry). This otherwise simple project has a bit of lace at the bottom, which is an easy way to make a project more interesting without a ton of work. This one uses fingering weight yarn and comes in nine sizes.

Another simple embellishment is to emphasize the lines of your top with different stitches. The Spring Lines top uses twisted ribbing at the center front and V-neck and along the raglan lines to give it a slimmer fit and more interest. This design from Turquoise Toque Designs has 11 size options and is available on Ravelry.

Silfurberg by Joji Locatelli uses both of these elements, with lace panels at the center front and back and purl ridges throughout to make it a little more fun to knit and to wear. The pattern uses fingering weight yarn and comes in 10 sizes. Learn more on Ravelry.

Keep it simple or add puffed sleeves (and/or long sleeves) to the slim fit Knitty Committee top by Lily Kate France. This one has two length options, waist shaping and optional bust darts to fulfill all your curvy top dreams, and it comes in nine sizes. You’ll find it on Ravelry.

Take it even more romantic with the Daphne Top from Friday Knits, which has puffed sleeves and applied I-cord to emphasize the bust and sweetheart neckline. It comes in eight sizes and uses DK weight yarn.

Or add some sweet flowers with the Gigio pattern from Emilie Luis. This pretty pattern found on Ravelry has cable panels running up the front with the option for adding sweet embroidered flowers. You can also add decorative buttons if you like. It comes in 11 sizes and calls for sport weight yarn.

Next Pattern:

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