I’m just coming to the end of a week off work and you’d have thought (well, I thought) that I would have quite a bit to show in the way of knitting progress, yet things haven’t quite turned out that way. The little progress I have made has been on my sock where I am past the heel and just starting down the foot. Considering that I can knit a pair of socks in a weekend if I really push the boat out, half a sock in a week is not what I’d call stellar output.
However, though actual stitches have been a little lacking, it has been a very yarny week inside my head, not least because I got a nice gift voucher to spend at my local yarn store as a birthday present and there’s nothing like the prospect of stash enhancement to get me dreaming. Alongside this, an invesment in some new clothes has led me to re-think what I deem “at work” knits as opposed to “leisure” knits. Two of my staple winter “work” sweaters – the blue lace-panel sweater and the Helsinki sweater – are perfect with my new “leisure” dresses and so now I expect my next couple of projects will need to be for work-wear. For me, that means different colours to the ones I wear at home and basic, hard-wearing yarns that don’t need to be babied. Of course when I browsed in my local yarn shop I was particularly drawn to exactly the type and colours which I always crave and so my gift voucher is staying firmly in my pocket for a while.
As Sunday is traditionally a day of confessions, I have to admit that I have ruined more than one well-loved hand-knit recently with inappropriate washing. There was the navy blue tank top that I only wore a couple of times, my lovely grey Burr cardigan – a wardrobe staple – and, just recently, my Coconut Ice sweater. All too small now to wear comfortably, though Burr and Coconut Ice are tantalisingly close to being an okay size. I am a lazy caretaker and my natural inclination is to bung hand-knits in the washing machine on the wool/delicates wash and trust they will come out okay. Often they do, but occasionally they don’t and then I berate myself because hand-knits take a long time to complete and I want to wear them for years.
This past couple of days I have been indulging in some swatching in order to determine the ALL (Anticipated Laziness Level) of certain yarns – what level of abuse they will be prepared to put up with. I didn’t see any great change in them when I took them out of the washing machine and I think the problem only rears its head if I’m silly enough to wash something I care about.
Now, back to the sock.
I’m not sure if the moss stitch heel flap is going to be too loose a fit, but I think it looks quite nice. I am definitely enjoying the colour progression in this sock yarn and it feels just the right weight, neither too thin nor too thick. When they are done I’m going to be very happy with them
I hope everyone has seen at least a little progress in their various projects and can approach the coming week with their head held high.
Pam Alison Knits 
I am heartbroken about your miswashed garments. I love those sweaters and enjoyed watching you knit them. Did you totally lose it, or are you taking it in your stride?
I get annoyd with myself, but move in. I feel I did have a decent amount of wear out of the Burr cardigan and I also have what I need to remake it so although that was my favourite I’m not heartbroken. Coconut Ice is interesting because part of me is thinking I could take apart the seams and add an insert to make it wearable again. And the tank top has become a cover for the back of my desk chair as a makeshift solution to a longstanding problem.
I always use the cold wool cycle, even on cashmere and had no mishaps until now. But some problems with socks and shrinking to kids size on a 30degree normal cycle. I hope you can salvage some of it.