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shadowfoot
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 23
Location: Holyoke, MA
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 Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 4:42 am Post subject: possible socks from handspun wool |
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I haven't made socks from any type of yarn, but I did go to a class last year on knitting socks and the teachers talked about knitting wool socks. One of them had done up a sample square, washed and dried it to see how much shrinkage there would be. Then she planned accordingly for when she knit the socks. Worked perfectly the first time.... then she washed and dried them again, and there was a tiny bit more shrinkage. She can still wear them, but sometimes they creep down her calves a little bit. So she recommends making up the sample square and then washing and drying twice.
Hope this is helpful!
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PanIdaho
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Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 158
Location: Idaho
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:12 am Post subject: |
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Yes, that is definitely helpful! I wouldn't have thought to do that. I will be sure to wash and dry twice when I start on my socks, just to be safe. Thanks for the tip!
Teresa |
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Maggie
Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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| PanIdaho wrote: | Hi Maggie, sure, I'd love to try some angora! Can I trade you something for it? I have some bamboo and some inego silk fiber, lots of superwash roving and laps, and some raw alpaca. Does any of that interest you?
Teresa |
I have a lot and I also have a bunny shedding more every three or four months.  I've never tried bamboo, though, you can stick a little of that in an envelope if you have enough!
Maggie |
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Maggie
Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 2:57 pm Post subject: Re: possible socks from handspun wool |
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| shadowfoot wrote: | I haven't made socks from any type of yarn, but I did go to a class last year on knitting socks and the teachers talked about knitting wool socks. One of them had done up a sample square, washed and dried it to see how much shrinkage there would be. Then she planned accordingly for when she knit the socks. Worked perfectly the first time.... then she washed and dried them again, and there was a tiny bit more shrinkage. She can still wear them, but sometimes they creep down her calves a little bit. So she recommends making up the sample square and then washing and drying twice.
Hope this is helpful! |
Raising hand for honesty time. I don't wash swatches for socks. All of my socks so far have been made from commercial yarns made specifically to be machine dry and machine wash. Haven't had any problem with them at all. I have made one pair from my own spinning of superwash wool, that roving is also treated to be machine wash/dry.
What is really important is to know what wool one is using and how is should be treated. To guess at what happened to the teacher I'd have to know how she did the washing and drying.
Maggie |
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shadowfoot
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 23
Location: Holyoke, MA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:15 pm Post subject: |
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Right, sorry, should have been more specific. When I was talking about wool, I was specifically referring to non-commercial, non-superwash wool. I wouldn't expect those to have a problem, but since Teresa was talking about what to do with some of her handspun stuff, some of which sounds like it might be from untreated wool, I wanted to put that info out there 
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shadowfoot
Joined: 21 Mar 2007
Posts: 23
Location: Holyoke, MA
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry, forgot to respond on the teacher's socks. Regular wool, not superwash. Dried in hot dryer for maximum shrinkage. I believe she anticipated that someone in the house might not realize that the socks shouldn't necessarily be put in the dryer so she was trying to head that off at the pass.
My dad did that once to one of my mom's wool sweaters, a beautiful dark purple rib knit. You know how you're supposed to either dry clean them or lay them on a drying rack? He just tossed it in with everything else. It shrank so much that the ribbing almost disappeared, and at first we were all looking at it trying to figure out how a kid's sweater got into our apartment's private laundry room... went from an adult size to something suitable for a 6-7 year old.
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Maggie
Joined: 03 Apr 2007
Posts: 17
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| Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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| shadowfoot wrote: | Sorry, forgot to respond on the teacher's socks. Regular wool, not superwash. Dried in hot dryer for maximum shrinkage. I believe she anticipated that someone in the house might not realize that the socks shouldn't necessarily be put in the dryer so she was trying to head that off at the pass.
My dad did that once to one of my mom's wool sweaters, a beautiful dark purple rib knit. You know how you're supposed to either dry clean them or lay them on a drying rack? He just tossed it in with everything else. It shrank so much that the ribbing almost disappeared, and at first we were all looking at it trying to figure out how a kid's sweater got into our apartment's private laundry room... went from an adult size to something suitable for a 6-7 year old. |
Ack. I know people would do that--everyone is used to machine wash/dry!
And that is called "felting" when done on purpose! LOL!!!!!!!!!!!! Happened here too once or twice. I have since learned not to put anything that will shrink in the general laundry basket for just that reason. It's easier to remind myself than to re-train the rest of the household. I have just finished a shawl of handspun Gotland with a merino/silk edging, also handspun. I wll hold my breath when I wash it to block it, that one is not going anywhere near the laundry basket because I found that Gotland felts if I looked at crosswise.
Maggie |
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Seannachaidh
Joined: 23 May 2009
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 4:41 pm Post subject: Re: need sources for woad dye |
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| PanIdaho wrote: | Hi, I'm trying to find a source for powdered woad dye. I found one in the UK, but it's pretty pricey. Thanks!
Teresa |
I live in the UK, do you still have the link to that site? |
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PanIdaho
Site Admin
Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 158
Location: Idaho
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:56 am Post subject: Re: need sources for woad dye |
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| Seannachaidh wrote: | | PanIdaho wrote: | Hi, I'm trying to find a source for powdered woad dye. I found one in the UK, but it's pretty pricey. Thanks!
Teresa |
I live in the UK, do you still have the link to that site? |
Hi, yes, I found it - thanks!
But even better, I found out that woad is a nuisance weed here, so I'm going to go harvest some soon and try to turn it into dye. |
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Seannachaidh
Joined: 23 May 2009
Posts: 14
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| Posted: Wed Jun 03, 2009 6:13 am Post subject: |
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| I meant for me. Nevermind, google will find it eventually. |
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PanIdaho
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Joined: 09 Jan 2007
Posts: 158
Location: Idaho
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