Have You Put Your Sweaters Away for the Season?

My guess would be that for most people in the Northern Hemisphere, we are coming out of sweater season. Through the cold weather I don’t wash my sweaters every time I wear them (because they don’t need it) but it’s always a good idea to make sure everything is clean before you store them away for months. Sweat and skin particles on your sweaters can attract bugs, and it’s just nice to know when sweater season comes around again that everything is fresh and clean.

If you happen to have a top-loading washing machine, it’s actually really easy to bulk wash your handknit (or storebought but in need of hand washing) sweaters. Hunter Hammersen has a very detailed description of how she does this on her Patreon (you can view it even if you are not a supporter). I think this is brilliant, and if I still had a machine like this I would definitely do it this way.

I don’t though, so I use buckets. I have a bunch of five gallon buckets, though I still tend to only wash one sweater at a time. I fill them with lukewarm water and a couple of pumps of baby shampoo (if it’s good enough for human hair it’s good enough for sheep hair). Then I add the sweater and let it sit 20 minutes or so.

I drain the water and rinse in the sink, then press out as much water as I can by hand and then by rolling the sweater in a towel.

I have enough drying racks that I can wash four or five sweaters in a day, so working around drying times and when I need my dining room table, it takes a few weeks to clean everything at the end of the season. But it’s really satisfying when you know everything is clean.

Do you have a system for washing sweaters and other cold-weather stuff at the end of the season? I’d love to hear about it!

[Photo: Hunter Hammersen.]

Next Pattern:

Why should the fireplace get all the fun? Instead of knitting stockings this year, why not whip up a pair of Christmas themed socks? These Christmas sock knitting patterns are lots of fun to make and you can wear them to holiday gatherings for years to come.

For our friends in the southern part of the world, there are the Christmas in July socks from the Kiwi Lodge – Kylie (Ravelry link). These shorty socks are covered in Christmas trees and have bright pink heels and toes for a tropical feel. There’s also an option to make a longer sock if you celebrate somewhere it’s colder.

Twin Stitches Designs (Ravelry) has a fun pattern with mix and match colorwork motifs you can use to build your own cozy Christmas socks. From the sample socks I see Christmas puddings, trucks hauling trees, Santa belts, ornaments and a couple of different borders. There may be more patterns included but the listing doesn’t say. Make a pair that matches or use different motifs on each foot for extra holiday cheer.

If you want to stick to Christmas puddings on your holiday socks, check out this cute pattern from Stone Knits. These lovely socks feature a band of puddings around the leg and a bit of holly by the toes.

These vintage holiday light socks from Grey Owl Knits by Sarah are classic looking and lots of fun at the same time. I love this color combination but of course you can make your lights and stripes whatever colors you like or have on hand. They’re worked using stranded knitting.

And if you’d like even more of a mix of patterns for your socks, try Barbara Ceglédi’s Christmas Chaos socks, a free pattern on Ravelry. The pattern includes 25 little motifs you can choose from, ranging from snowflakes and Christmas trees to elf hats, reindeer and hearts.

Next Pattern:

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