Adventures with the washing machine

So the sweater grew substantially during month of (near-)daily wear
since I finished it. 'Twas looking grubby, too, so I decided to wash
it today; this is possibly a mistake, as I'll be wearing it at the
retreat this weekend and it will undoubtedly become grubby again, but
anyhow.

Since the thing IS a bit on the large side and grew so much in wear I
decided to give it a bit of stirring up while I washed it. So I
filled the washer with hot water, squirted in some of the cheap
shampoo I love to scour FOs with, and hit the "go" button on the
washer.

5 minutes pass with no appreciable change in the character of the
fabric. 8 minutes and I can see a bit of happy-making fullness coming
into the stockinette on the sleeves. 10 minutes and *POOF* the cables
down the front were standing at attention.

I spun that puppy out and now have it on a rinse soak. It doesn't
look any smaller, but it does look as if it'll hang together better.
Next time I wash it I will probably give it just a little more
agitation.

You go careful or it may end up as a lapel pin.......lol.

cheers.....cher


Slinky wrote in message
...
So the sweater grew substantially during month of (near-)daily wear
since I finished it. 'Twas looking grubby, too, so I decided to wash
it today; this is possibly a mistake, as I'll be wearing it at the
retreat this weekend and it will undoubtedly become grubby again, but
anyhow.

Since the thing IS a bit on the large side and grew so much in wear I
decided to give it a bit of stirring up while I washed it. So I
filled the washer with hot water, squirted in some of the cheap
shampoo I love to scour FOs with, and hit the "go" button on the
washer.

5 minutes pass with no appreciable change in the character of the
fabric. 8 minutes and I can see a bit of happy-making fullness coming
into the stockinette on the sleeves. 10 minutes and *POOF* the cables
down the front were standing at attention.

I spun that puppy out and now have it on a rinse soak. It doesn't
look any smaller, but it does look as if it'll hang together better.
Next time I wash it I will probably give it just a little more
agitation.


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And adding insult to injury - today was a clear dry day with a nice
breeze (ok, a force 2 wind) but the sweater wasn't dry when I wanted
it to go out to run errands earlier this evening. It was *almost*
dry, just dampish in the armpit area, so I chucked it in the dryer on
low heat for 20 minutes with a dryer sheet.

I really do mistreat my handknits, don't I *g*

Well factory yarns seem to be just a teeny bit more tolerant to this kind of
treatment, than your hand spun yarn...
Cheers.....Cher


Slinky wrote in message
...
And adding insult to injury - today was a clear dry day with a nice
breeze (ok, a force 2 wind) but the sweater wasn't dry when I wanted
it to go out to run errands earlier this evening. It was *almost*
dry, just dampish in the armpit area, so I chucked it in the dryer on
low heat for 20 minutes with a dryer sheet.

I really do mistreat my handknits, don't I *g*



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You are not nearly as hard on them as a real Inishman would be.

A Inishman did not care if his sweater is a bit damp when he put it on, if
his first task of the day was to row through the surf. Many of the sheep
owners in the "Western World" had stock on several different islands, so a
day of working stock might involve braving the surf several times.

Think about holding a small boat in knee deep water with waist high surf,
while someone places a couple of sheep in the boat. Then, rowing a half
mile, and holding the boat in the surf while the sheep are lifted out of the
boat. That is a sweater that is "damp under the arms" :-)

"We respects the sea, we do, and are only drowned now and then."



Aaron


"Slinky" wrote in message
...
And adding insult to injury - today was a clear dry day with a nice
breeze (ok, a force 2 wind) but the sweater wasn't dry when I wanted
it to go out to run errands earlier this evening. It was *almost*
dry, just dampish in the armpit area, so I chucked it in the dryer on
low heat for 20 minutes with a dryer sheet.

I really do mistreat my handknits, don't I *g*

Well and good, but until I've done something irreparable to this
sweater I'll be treating it somewhat gently - it took me nearly a year
to knit, after all! *lol*

I really admired your courage to wear it.

Your Aran should be worn very gently until you have the replacement --
ready to show off. I think it is traditional for new Arans to only be worn
to church services (Sunday mass, Weddings, Baptisms, and Funerals) for the
first year of their life.

I was just pointing out that "damp" is a relative term. I believe that the
Aran patterns developed to allow "damp" jumpers to "dry" while being worn
under oil skins.

Aaron



"Slinky" wrote in message
...
Well and good, but until I've done something irreparable to this
sweater I'll be treating it somewhat gently - it took me nearly a year
to knit, after all! *lol*

Delurking just for a comment.

I have my share of shrunken sweaters, mostly as a result of pure laziness. I
hate hand washing, hate using cold water, and hate covering my living room
floor with a sweater instead of a rug. And they take so bloody long to dry. I
tried shrink a sweater on purpose once, though, to get a sweater into shape. At
that time, however, I was a neophyte in the ways of sweaters, and didn't
realize that the yarn contained acrylic. The sweater stretched to my knees. To
my KNEES!

You are flirting with catastrophe.
Dora

Slinky

So the sweater grew substantially during month of (near-)daily wear
since I finished it. 'Twas looking grubby, too, so I decided to wash
it today; this is possibly a mistake, as I'll be wearing it at the
retreat this weekend and it will undoubtedly become grubby again, but
anyhow.

Since the thing IS a bit on the large side and grew so much in wear I
decided to give it a bit of stirring up while I washed it. So I
filled the washer with hot water, squirted in some of the cheap
shampoo I love to scour FOs with, and hit the "go" button on the
washer.

5 minutes pass with no appreciable change in the character of the
fabric. 8 minutes and I can see a bit of happy-making fullness coming
into the stockinette on the sleeves. 10 minutes and *POOF* the cables
down the front were standing at attention.

I spun that puppy out and now have it on a rinse soak. It doesn't
look any smaller, but it does look as if it'll hang together better.
Next time I wash it I will probably give it just a little more
agitation.

Dora , do you now use it as a dress or a coat ???
mirjam
On 04 Feb 2004 03:47:10 GMT, ospam (Bungadora)
wrote:

Delurking just for a comment.

I have my share of shrunken sweaters, mostly as a result of pure laziness. I
hate hand washing, hate using cold water, and hate covering my living room
floor with a sweater instead of a rug. And they take so bloody long to dry. I
tried shrink a sweater on purpose once, though, to get a sweater into shape. At
that time, however, I was a neophyte in the ways of sweaters, and didn't
realize that the yarn contained acrylic. The sweater stretched to my knees. To
my KNEES!

You are flirting with catastrophe.
Dora

Slinky

So the sweater grew substantially during month of (near-)daily wear
since I finished it. 'Twas looking grubby, too, so I decided to wash
it today; this is possibly a mistake, as I'll be wearing it at the
retreat this weekend and it will undoubtedly become grubby again, but
anyhow.

Since the thing IS a bit on the large side and grew so much in wear I
decided to give it a bit of stirring up while I washed it. So I
filled the washer with hot water, squirted in some of the cheap
shampoo I love to scour FOs with, and hit the "go" button on the
washer.

5 minutes pass with no appreciable change in the character of the
fabric. 8 minutes and I can see a bit of happy-making fullness coming
into the stockinette on the sleeves. 10 minutes and *POOF* the cables
down the front were standing at attention.

I spun that puppy out and now have it on a rinse soak. It doesn't
look any smaller, but it does look as if it'll hang together better.
Next time I wash it I will probably give it just a little more
agitation.

LOL Mirjam, what with Slinky's sweater down six sizes as well, this is a
real opposites thread ...lol.

Mirjam Bruck-Cohen wrote in message
...
Dora , do you now use it as a dress or a coat ???
mirjam
On 04 Feb 2004 03:47:10 GMT, ospam (Bungadora)
wrote:

Delurking just for a comment.

I have my share of shrunken sweaters, mostly as a result of pure
laziness. I
hate hand washing, hate using cold water, and hate covering my living
room
floor with a sweater instead of a rug. And they take so bloody long to
dry. I
tried shrink a sweater on purpose once, though, to get a sweater into
shape. At
that time, however, I was a neophyte in the ways of sweaters, and didn't
realize that the yarn contained acrylic. The sweater stretched to my
knees. To
my KNEES!

You are flirting with catastrophe.
Dora

Slinky

So the sweater grew substantially during month of (near-)daily wear
since I finished it. 'Twas looking grubby, too, so I decided to wash
it today; this is possibly a mistake, as I'll be wearing it at the
retreat this weekend and it will undoubtedly become grubby again, but
anyhow.

Since the thing IS a bit on the large side and grew so much in wear I
decided to give it a bit of stirring up while I washed it. So I
filled the washer with hot water, squirted in some of the cheap
shampoo I love to scour FOs with, and hit the "go" button on the
washer.

5 minutes pass with no appreciable change in the character of the
fabric. 8 minutes and I can see a bit of happy-making fullness coming
into the stockinette on the sleeves. 10 minutes and *POOF* the cables
down the front were standing at attention.

I spun that puppy out and now have it on a rinse soak. It doesn't
look any smaller, but it does look as if it'll hang together better.
Next time I wash it I will probably give it just a little more
agitation.











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