Tag Archives: knitting

Care and feeding

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A few years ago the choir members at Mr. Aitch’s church gifted him with a beautiful sweater, tie and dress shirt.  The dress shirt is 100% cotton and not the wrinkle-resistant kind of cotton.

Though I appreciate the gesture, I do not like the extra work involved.  I have a love-hate relationship with that shirt.  It takes me twice as long to iron it than any of the other shirts.  And I don’t mean a quick press or touch-up.  I mean IRON.  As in dampening the shirt and using spray starch.  I really dislike the care and feeding of that shirt but it does look so nice when I’m finished with it and Mr. Aitch wears it.

Finding the right yarn for a project also means looking at the care and feeding of the finished item.  Acrylic?  No problem.  Cotton?  “Most” of the time it can be machine washed BUT dried flat after reshaping.  Wool?  Depends on if it is superwash or not.  Superwash can be machine washed and dried but best to dry flat after shaping.  Not superwash wool?  Hand wash gently in cool water, roll in a towel to get as much water out, reshape and dry flat.  Of course ALWAYS check the label to see how to take care of the finished item(s).

So when I needed a superwash wool yarn for my special project, I had to go out and buy some as I know the recipient (and his wife) would appreciate an easy care item over a handwash item.

I always include care and feeding instructions with my handmade things be them knitted or sewn.

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Do you take those into consideration when gifting something you’ve made?

New LYS

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I don’t know if you remember that the one and only local yarn store (LYS) closed last year. The nearest one after that was 75 miles away. I bought some great yarn at great prices but one can only knit from stash if one has the right yarn for the project.

I’m on a yarn diet but I did need to buy some yarn for a special project and though I tried to use some from my stash, the yarn wasn’t the right yarn for the project.

Now there’s NEW local yarn store!  Frostburg Fiber Depot is 20 miles away but that’s better than 75 miles.

The husband of one of the co-owners raises alpacas and so it’s a win-win-win for her, him and yarn lovers.

I only found out about this new yarn store when I received a gift certificate from there earlier this year. While running some errands last week, I decided to check out the store and use my certificate for some yarn for the special project.

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I found the special yarn and some Cascade 220 in yellow to knit myself something to go with my new winter coat which, by the way, is yellow!

That’s when I discovered they carry Malabrigo yarn!  I have one hank of Malabrigo that a blog friend gifted me a few years ago when I commented on her blog about never having seen, touched, squished, or smelled said goodness.  It’s beautiful but the wrong color.  And now I can find more and it’s only 20 miles away!

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I couldn’t wait for better light as I wanted to get knitting right away!

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Special project…   And more true to life colors.

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It is such a treat to knit with this yarn.  I’m in love.  ❤

 

 

Finally, a new sweater

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My grandson’s rabbit has been topless for so long and I finally broke down and knit a sweater for him.  It gets cold in Colorado!
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I’m embarrassed that it took me so long to knit it up when it only took a couple of hours.  Better late than never???

The “other” mitts

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The Shaadi Mitts got the better of me so I decided to knit another pair of Shirl’s Mitts for my daughter.

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I started them while waiting for our plane to take off on our way to visit her and finished them a few days later. It’s hard to knit with three grandkids all wanting one’s attention.

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Cleckheaton Country 8 ply yarn in color 2250. They call it light green but I’d call it pistachio. I believe this color has been discontinued.

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