Rules For Caring For Summer Yarns…

This is taken directly from Handknitting.com’s newsletter, here: http://www.handknitting.com . Be sure to sign up, lots of good stuff!

If your yarn is a natural fiber, you should be able to avoid dry cleaning completely if you want, because all natural fibers have been processed with water somewhere along the production process.
Don’t put it in the dryer unless the ball band specifically says to do this. Even then, don’t put it in the dryer with anything that will cause friction (heavy fabrics like jeans) or snagging (velcro, bra hooks, big buttons, etc). Never use “hot”–the “low” setting is best for knits.
When machine washing any knit item, always turn it inside out.
For best results use a mesh lingerie bag, on gentle cycle, at the stated temperature. The temperature you see on ball bands underneath the washing machine symbol are in Celsius degrees. 20 degrees = cold water, 30 degrees = warm water, and 40+ = hot. If its going in the dryer, keep it in the bag.
Always set your rinse cycle to cold.
If your yarn is synthetic or silk, you should follow the laundering instructions on the ball band. Silk should never be put in a washing machine.
If you want to machine wash and/or dry you must do a gauge swatch, and then launder the swatch as you plan to launder the finished item. Even in preshrunk yarns, there may be some change in the gauge.

Not too long ago I did a test knit for another designer that was for a cabled cardigan. It’s really cozy and nice but it just about broke me in a ton of different ways. I couldn’t get gauge, which I suppose is my own problem, but mainly I was somehow both bored and forced to pay attention at the same time.

Because it used the same cable all over, I always had to know what row I was on, but nine out of ten of those rows, nothing in particular was going on. So I couldn’t stop paying attention, but what I needed to attend to was boring.

It may have ruined me for knitting cabled sweaters, but maybe I just need something that’s more engaging. Like this Modern Aran Cardigan pattern from Lion Brand Yarn.

This is a reworking of an old pattern from their archives, and you can tell that form the classic look of the cables and the oversized feel (nothing cropped about this one!). It has allover cables, but like a classic Aran sweater it’s not the same cable, so you’ll have to pay attention to what row you’re on and what cable turns happen for which cables on that row.

Because of this, it’s considered an intermediate knitting pattern, but if you’re comfortable working from multiple charts at once it shouldn’t be a problem for you. There are three different charts and seven different cable moves.

Also because the pattern is so big and boxy there are only two sizes available, with a finished chest measurement of either 49 or 63 inches (that’s 124.5 or 160 cm). It’s up to you to decide how much ease you would like and whether that will work for your body.

The pattern uses worsted weight yarn (and calls for another classic, Lion Brand Fisherman’s Wool). It calls for six buttons and includes pockets to make it extra cozy.

This one looks like a great winter project to make and to wear if you’re up for a bit of a challenge. You can grab the free pattern or buy a kit with the yarn needed direct from Lion Brand Yarn.

[Photo: Lion Brand Yarn]

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