Knit, Crochet and Natter 4 - Yarning into Spring

[lazylinguist]

A thread for knitters, crocheters and woollly crafters in general. All welcome, including total newbies! Previous thread here

same here, I like the organising and planning almost as much as the doing

I know what you mean! Choosing new yarn is fun, but I'm also looking forward to sorting through my stash and gathering different yarns to use for the basket. It's amazing how nice all the Ravelry knitters' versions look, considering they're a total mish mash of colours!

So..imagine this, I'm in the kitchen, cooking lovely DP his breakfast (full English by the way) and I hear a loud bang and a bit of effing and jeffing in the other room, walk in to see what's happened..he's only gone and spilt his coffee..all over my bag full of new cotton yarns and my current WIP

At the moment I've just got them soaking in a bowl of warm/hot water and a teeny bit of stain remover..am I right in thinking that 1. I won't get the coffee out and 2. They'll never dry like this, even on top of radiators etc?

Please help me

lazy your poor son. Definitely needs a treat I think. Near my mums is a large haberdashery shop with yarn, buttons, fabric... last time I visited my mum, I wasn’t crocheting so wasn’t that interested in the shop. I’ve no plans to visit for a while, so I might have to ask her to FaceTime me in the shop to pick up some wool for me. I’m 4 hours away from my family so I’m thinking at the minute, I might ask my mum to drive for two hours and we’ll drive for two hours and go for a walk round a country park. So I might be doing a handover of yarn in a random country park car park

Oh no sophs

You're right, they won't dry like that. You'll your DH will need to skein them and hang them up or they'll go smelly/mouldy before they dry.

Honestly, at this point, if the stain hasn't come out, I'd skien them and throw them in a cool wash with bio washing power one at a time while keeping the rest soaking. Use laundry bags if you have them! If you have lots of laundry bags you could wash more than one at once.

You can skein them using a chair back or by wrapping them around any large rectangle. Look at step 4 here on how to tie the skeins so they don't tangle too badly www.spinoffmagazine.com/amp/tying-a-2-yard-skein-by-pat-noah/

Your WIP is trickier, if you can get away with handwashing it I'd do that but still skein the rest of the ball attached to it.

Then your DH can spend the rest of his time grovelling at your feet...

Oh and if you have a friend or family member handy with a upright spin dryer, that'll reduce the drying time by days. Since it's cotton you can wring it out then if it's still damp, roll it up in a towel and stand on it.

Oh no sophs I’d probably try washing them in the washing machine but use a laundry bag so they don’t unravel in the washing machine and get stuck in the drum. I imagine to dry you’re going to have to unravel them all (which might happen in the washing machine anyway). I would probably be making DP unknot all the balls before laying the out to dry and then make him ball them all back up when dry.

@lazylinguist which shop in Lancaster? I went to uni there and adored the place (as did DH when he would visit). Must admit as a student I liked looking at the wool but could never afford it.

Ah sophs I'd be gutted.

If it helps; I managed to dunk the working end of my cardi yarn in my coffee the other day & it came out under running water.

Granted, it was only a little bit but there is hope it'll be ok!

I'm going to message our local yarn shop before I decide whether to head to town on Friday. I want to re-make crochet Errol in ricorumi to see how differently he turns out but specifically want white & possibly a brown for wing/leg details.

Oh thank you so so much everyone!
I'm going to look after my mum soon (she's disabled) so hopefully they'll be alright until later on! 😭
My WIP I've managed to blot the coffee off as it's just a toy so I think that will be okay!

I wouldn't mind but it was all tucked away in between the sofas, bloody man 🙄😂

I'm onto the last three proper rows of cardigan

I've attached a pic of my button-hole. Would you sc into each of the two missed stitches with the black? Or leave as they are?

Oh no, @sophs29 . Fingers crossed for you that the stain comes out!

@lazylinguist which shop in Lancaster?

It's called Northern Yarn . It's been open since 2016 apparently, but I hadn't heard of it until a few months ago. I don't go to Lancaster that often, although it's only 25 mins away. I do really like it though. I've just applied for a job there actually!

That's not very good, Flavia! Hopefully it was a glitch that they've sorted.

Just ends to sew in, stars to attach to the sleeves, and patch when it arrives 😊 I'm very pleased with myself!

That looks great lucysmam!

@lucysmam wow that's so nice! The cable looks great! Bet you're so glad you carried on with it!

Wow @lucysmam! That looks so good. Was it worth all the stress with the pattern?

@sophs29 oh no :( the only time I spilt coffee on crochet stuff it was an almost finished WIP so I just finished it then washed it. Although actually i think I also binned the half ball of yarn because I just couldn't work out how to wash and dry it.

Whoever asked about The Range, my local one sells yarn, but the selection is about a quarter of what they have online and very badly stocked.
My local post office sell King Cole though.

I've been a bit meh again so pootling slowly through things but not really doing a lot

That looks fantastic, @lucysmam!

Aw, thanks all 😊 I'm pretty chuffed with it now it's almost done.

CrochetBug I'm glad I persevered with it, even though it was massively frustrating!

I've learned lots from doing it & figuring out where the pattern wasn't quite right. I even figured out how to add the buttonholes with some Youtube help!

I have very nearly two full 100g balls of the cream & overestimated how much black I'd need though. The dk, doubled up, would have been more than enough 🙄

Tonight's job is those ends & sewing on the stars. Errol has been upgraded to "King Errol" by dd2 so needs a crown as well, if I get to it 🤣

@sophs29 I meant to ask if you've washed any of your yarn yet & how it came out?

That looks great lucysmam

I ended up soaking the balls in water and a tad of fabric softener all day and then I've given them a good wring out and I'm slowly winding them back but bigger so they dry better! Fingers crossed! These ones are done (I've inserted a pic if MN works)..just 6 to go  the coffee has come out though!

Awww @CrochetBug I thought you'd been a bit quiet, sorry to hear you're feeling meh

@sophs29

I ended up soaking the balls in water and a tad of fabric softener all day and then I've given them a good wring out and I'm slowly winding them back but bigger so they dry better! Fingers crossed! These ones are done (I've inserted a pic if MN works)..just 6 to go  the coffee has come out though!

Awww @CrochetBug I thought you'd been a bit quiet, sorry to hear you're feeling meh

Definitely think DH owes you more yarn for the stress caused!

Glad the coffee's come out! Fingers crossed they dry out thoroughly 🤞

Ends all woven in, stars stitched on. Patch has been despatched so hopefully it arrives tomorrow. I have no idea how to give it to dd beyond a pretty bow & quote from "Cardigan" maybe 🤔