Ply and Burl

All that careful washing and shaping and what do I find nesting on my Hourglass Sweater last night, ever so comfy and snuggled in?

8$%@!$&* Iggy! Damnit.

But still, is he not irresistably cute? Aw.

Part deux of the three part series on washing my Hourglass Sweater, made with Elsabeth Lavold’s Silky Wool, nine-months untouched by soap and water.
(See here for Part one, The Prelude..)

Finally, got the tool I needed: a sweater drying rack. Just $7 at Target!

Soap, water, sink to wash it in? Check.

Get the water sudsy, then take the plunge!

While the sweater is soaking, run downstairs and find the vinegar. Bragg’s apple cider, “With the Mother,” as it says on the label.

After draining the soapy water, and giving it a good squeeze out, this is all we’ve got for nine months of grit.

But after the second rinse, the sink came clean!

Final rinse, we (gulp!) add the vinegar and swish swish swish,..

Mmm, smells like “The Mother”

Lay it out on the towel and roll up to squeeze out the water.

Voila, laid out to dry! Shaping is a little tricky because the rack is small, and the sleeves seem to have gotten a little longer (eek!), so stay tuned for part three, when we see how it dried!

My hourglass sweater, poor girl: she hasn’t been washed since I finished her. IN APRIL.

I know that this timeframe seems thoroughly disgusting, but it’s actually a self-moderating cycle. I’m don’t wear her much because I don’t want to get her dirty because I’m too afraid to wash her! I knit her in Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wook and I haven’t, in the past, found good instructions for washing it. My neurosis stems from the fact that the texture of this yarn reminds me of a sweater I owned in high school. Every time I washed that sweater, the sleeves grew an inch and the body shrunk an inch. As a result, I’m a little gun shy. Nine months gun shy, to be exact.

I love this sweater and want to wear it more, so the time has come to confront my fears. I’ve done a little research (read: googled and taken the first result) and I’m ramping up to wash the sweater. Tonight!

What I need? A sweater drying rack. I’m off to Target to buy one this afternoon, so stay tuned for Installment 2!

In the meantime, for those who are interested, here are Instructions for washing Elsebeth Lavold’s Silky Wool from The Knitters Review. For the extended article on this yarn at Knitters Review, click here.

“[Lavold] advises that you turn your Silky Wool garment inside-out before you wash it, and that you use a mild detergent in lukewarm water. She also suggests you add a teaspoon of vinegar to your last rinse to revitalize the wool and silk.

“My swatches didn’t bleed in lukewarm or warmer water. They washed and rinsed beautifully, drying into perfect shape and becoming a soft, fuzzy, cohesive fabric.

“The silk offsets the innate fiber memory of wool, which means you’ll want to give extra care to reshape your garment before letting it dry.”

Maybe this will give me the courage to wash and photograph my final Sunrise Circle Jacket too!