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:

The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

Next Pattern:

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