Thanks Ro! I'll see what they've got at the yarn store before I decide on bulky or super bulky.
The Russian Bind-off, while intimidating at first, came out quite well I think. I really should try them out before I start on a project...oh well. My foam blocks won't get here by the time I need to have this blocked by so I'm just going to use a towel and stick the pins through the carpet. Any other suggestions?
I really should try them out before I start on a project.
What? no one here does that. ;P
Lots of people block on their carpet or bed. I would actually suggest that you roll your FO in a towel & press to get most of the water out, then stretch out a sheet over the carpet (pin it straight) and pin through that. You'd think the towel would be better because it's more absorbent, but it's actually the opposite. It holds onto water longer, which prevents to FO pinned up against it from drying as quickly. That's why foam blocks are great. A thin cotton sheet will keep carpet stuff from getting onto your FO, but it won't hold onto the water it absorbs the way a towel would.
Oh, yes. Yes, it means finished object. Sorry, it's knitting jargon.
Cool/room temp water is fine. I usually use water that's a bit warm, but I'm also pretty careful with handling my fiber. Gently push it into the water and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. Gently press the water through the fibers; try not to agitate it too much. You can use a product like Eucalan, Soak, or Kookaburra wool wash to clean it, condition it, and leave a nice smell. Those are specially designed for laundering wools and other delicate fibers and are generally no-rinse products, so you don't have to rinse it after the soak. You can also use regular gentle shampoo, but you'll have to rinse that out.
When you pull it out, support the whole thing with your hands. Don't let the heavy, wet scarf hang on itself; wool is more fragile when wet. It's not going to snap or anything, but you can stretch the fibers out of shape and damage them. Squeeze the water out, but don't wring it. (No twisting when you squeeze.) Then you can fold it into a towel and press out any extra water.
DO NOT USE WOOLITE. Despite the name, it is not for wool.
I don't think they had any of those products at Publix, or anything that said wool safe. I looked at the Woolite and thought it sounded mighty deceptive. I'll try at Wal-Mart tomorrow unless that's something I have to go to a specialty store for.
I don't think they had any of those products at Publix, or anything that said wool safe. I looked at the Woolite and thought it sounded mighty deceptive. I'll try at Wal-Mart tomorrow unless that's something I have to go to a specialty store for.
You can do it with just water. Most of the time you have get the wool washes at yarn stores, fiber festivals, or online.
I am consistently amazed by the knowledge of making things with string shown here. If I ever knit something in my life, I am reading this entire thread.
The scarf was very well received, thanks for all the wool washing advice Nuri. I really should have taken pictures after I blocked it, but I'll get some at/after the con on Sunday.
Local yarn store doesn't have any yarn that'll work for the Finland hat. They do have some Panda bamboo yarns that look and feel really cool, but I'm not going to buy any until I've got a project in mind. I'm drawing a line in the sand on this.
Now I just need to figure out how full I want to stuff the TARDIS (after putting it off for three months).
I basically posted about my unfinished Longcat scarf that's in hibernation. It's about 5' long. Jeremy wants the scarf now and I need to make it taller than him and he's 6'4". >___<
Nuri invited me to go to the knitting party at the city bakery! So much cool stuff and good cocoa! My sorry scarf got longer and I had a lovely time. Wish you could have been here Ro. I think you would have dug it! Also, I wear Finland hat a lot. My coworkers said it was so neat!
Nuri invited me to go to the knitting party at the city bakery! So much cool stuff and good cocoa! My sorry scarf got longer and I had a lovely time. Wish you could have been here Ro. I think you would have dug it! Also, I wear Finland hat a lot. My coworkers said it was so neat!
Awwwe, saying things like that makes me contemplate moving to the east coast! -____-
I'm actually making another Finland hat out of the same yarn. I'm going to post it up on Ravelry as that name, even though it's pretty much the Capucine hat pattern it's based off of. I plan on giving that hat much props in my pattern.
Yes. Any interchangeable should fit on any cable they offer. Getting the pack for $84 is a bargain. You really would never need DPNs again really. I love my set. I had to buy more cable needles in various sizes.
To all you knitters out there, what would be the very basic starting equipment someone would need to begin knitting? Have you found any book or website to be best for teaching absolute beginners? The wife is going to be spending several weeks at home this summer with the baby. At this early age though it's really just a cycle of seat/sleep/poop/sleep/cry/sleep, so I think she will need a hobby, coming from 12 hour workdays. I think knitting falls in the category of "things I think she will enjoy even though she doesn't realize it yet" so might get her some stuff as a present and see if it takes.
Comments
Ro, could you link me to the pattern you used for the Finland hat?
If you are using bulky yarn and not super bulky let me know. I have the pattern for that as well but haven't uploaded it onto a pdf document.
The Russian Bind-off, while intimidating at first, came out quite well I think. I really should try them out before I start on a project...oh well. My foam blocks won't get here by the time I need to have this blocked by so I'm just going to use a towel and stick the pins through the carpet. Any other suggestions?
Lots of people block on their carpet or bed. I would actually suggest that you roll your FO in a towel & press to get most of the water out, then stretch out a sheet over the carpet (pin it straight) and pin through that. You'd think the towel would be better because it's more absorbent, but it's actually the opposite. It holds onto water longer, which prevents to FO pinned up against it from drying as quickly. That's why foam blocks are great. A thin cotton sheet will keep carpet stuff from getting onto your FO, but it won't hold onto the water it absorbs the way a towel would.
Cool/room temp water is fine. I usually use water that's a bit warm, but I'm also pretty careful with handling my fiber. Gently push it into the water and let it soak for at least 30 minutes. Gently press the water through the fibers; try not to agitate it too much. You can use a product like Eucalan, Soak, or Kookaburra wool wash to clean it, condition it, and leave a nice smell. Those are specially designed for laundering wools and other delicate fibers and are generally no-rinse products, so you don't have to rinse it after the soak. You can also use regular gentle shampoo, but you'll have to rinse that out.
When you pull it out, support the whole thing with your hands. Don't let the heavy, wet scarf hang on itself; wool is more fragile when wet. It's not going to snap or anything, but you can stretch the fibers out of shape and damage them. Squeeze the water out, but don't wring it. (No twisting when you squeeze.) Then you can fold it into a towel and press out any extra water.
DO NOT USE WOOLITE. Despite the name, it is not for wool.
I chose sun buttons because the color scheme Nuri made was called "Helios". Seemed very fitting.
The scarf was very well received, thanks for all the wool washing advice Nuri. I really should have taken pictures after I blocked it, but I'll get some at/after the con on Sunday.
Local yarn store doesn't have any yarn that'll work for the Finland hat. They do have some Panda bamboo yarns that look and feel really cool, but I'm not going to buy any until I've got a project in mind. I'm drawing a line in the sand on this.
Now I just need to figure out how full I want to stuff the TARDIS (after putting it off for three months).
There is also a Twitter hash tag of #2KCBW to see people's post. So far there are 280 individual posts and counting.
So if you're interested in reading just click on a blog and go!
I basically posted about my unfinished Longcat scarf that's in hibernation. It's about 5' long. Jeremy wants the scarf now and I need to make it taller than him and he's 6'4". >___<
Also, I wear Finland hat a lot. My coworkers said it was so neat!
I'm actually making another Finland hat out of the same yarn. I'm going to post it up on Ravelry as that name, even though it's pretty much the Capucine hat pattern it's based off of. I plan on giving that hat much props in my pattern.
The dress! My first homemade dress!