So who is learning to knit soakers? - Page 5

[MamaMonica]

Yeah! I got the pattern and am going to buy wool today- so how do I dye the wool? I hope this hasn't already been answered- my kids are pushing the computer buttons and I can't look right now...

[abigailvr]

Originally posted by hapachick
I had the exact same result as you did. So I threw mine in the hot wash and it came out beautifully! Shrank down to just the right size.

I think I'm also supposed to put it in the dryer as well to really felt it, but I was afraid it would end up being too small, so just left it as is. Anyway, am very happy with the result.

But since I don't know what I did wrong in the first place, am a little worried about the second soaker.

I used it a couple of times for naps, and it worked well, so now I'm hesitant to do anything to it! Thanks for the tip thought.

[Aurora]

Monica~try this.

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...threadid=74201

[MamaMonica]

Thank you!

[panda]

I have one soaker finished (from a free online pattern) and one LTK soaker halfway done. I liked the free pattern, but it was only one unspecified size, and it seemed kind of big. I like that the LTK pattern has such specific sizes (though I'm a dork and am too lazy to do gauge swatches )

ANYWAY, once a soaker is knit, do you lanolize it then? I'm using pre-dyed 100% wool, so I'm pretty sure it's quite processed.

[abigailvr]

I lanolized mine once it was knit, and it has worked well the few times I I've used it. I only use it for naptimes, though, not overnight.

[MamaMonica]

I have more wool dying questions. My wool yarn should be here this week- it is in skeins- to dye it, I need to unroll the skein right-and re-roll it into a ball? Could I just knit the natural wool and dye the soaker later to make this easier- or is there an advantage to dyeing the yarn first?

[baileysmommy]

It really depends on the look you are going for. If you want a varigated yarn look you need to dye it before you roll it into the ball before you knit. You can do kind of a tye dye look after knitting. You can also do a kind of molted look with lights and darks before knitting. If you want one solid color, either will work but I have found that the color is solid if you have enough KA to completely cover the yarn or soaker. hth, ymmv.

[MamaMonica]

Thanks, Mindy. Now- one more super dumb question- if I choose not to pre-dye it, can I knit right from the skeins (Lions Fisherman's wool) or should I ball it anyway?

[baileysmommy]

I knit it right from the skein. I think some experts would suggest you not do that because it could mess up your tension because that ball just unwinds by itself. But what I do is just pull up on the yarn to unroll some of it and knit until it is tight agian then pull up again. I have never had any problems you just have to stop to do that. However, I am sure it takes less time than winding it into a ball by hand. IMHO of course.

[MamaMonica]

OK- that makes sense with the skein. That's what I've been doing knitting my practice swatches and it seemed to work OK.

[liya]

Learning here...just got a kids book today....lol tommorow i will get the supplies ready to go....I want to try Jen's pattern first for my little niece coming...

[Mothernature]

I was trying to gather supplies before I purchase the LTK pattern and I was wondering if anyone could share with me what size needles I need. My grandmother has given me her entire stash so unless I have to knit on the round I'm probably covered. I realized that the Lion's Fisherman's wool I bought is only 20% wool and 80% acrylic. I'm a little bummed about that, but I guess for practice it will do just fine. Is dying acrylic out of the question? I only spent $2.50 on it so I guess it doesn't matter. I like white covers anyway (I know boring, but it matches everything.) Where is the best source for 100% wool yarn? I'll bet that question has already been answered so I suppose I'll do a search. Thanks.

[baileysmommy]

The acrylic won't take the KA dye, so I don't think it would work very well. Yes you will need circular needles for the LTK pattern. I don't have it so I don't know what size but I know it is knit in the round. I can say that for soakers most people use a size smaller than the recomended size for the yarn weight. I use 7 for worsted weight fisherman's.

Is the wool you bought wool-ease? The lion's brand fisherman's is 100% virgin wool. I can buy it locally at Hobby Lobby, Joanns, Michaels, or Hancock. Another brand that i really liek is Plymouth's Galway wool. I use it if I want a color that I can't dye like black. It is a little more expensive, $6 for 210 yds. Fisherman's is $8 for 465 yds. I have to get the Galway at the local (well 1 hr away) yarn store or order it online.

BTW, I only use about 150 yds for a medium sized cover.

[egoldber]

I just started the LTK pattern today. So far, its going pretty quickly. (I would call myself an advanced beginning knitter...) The pattern calls for size 4 and size 6, 16" circular needles. I had to go to a specialty store to find that size, my local craft stores didn't have them. But the size needle YOU will need depends on your gauge.

And I think its a law of nature that a knitting pattern will call for a size needle that you don't own.

[SerenityScott]

I'm into my second soaker now! I am SOOO thrilled with the yarn I dyed. I used Tropical Punch, Orange, Oh Yeah Orange Pineapple, and Incrediberry - it's absolutely beautiful! I felted my first soaker since it was so big on the kids and it's going to work great. In fact, I put it on Cymbre for the first time yesterday evening and she crawled into bed at 6 or so while Eli and I were resting - and she slept until almost 9 this morning and the felted soaker kept everything in.

I prefer a ball to a skein but I agree that it probably doesn't matter much more than preference. . ?

[Mothernature]

Thanks for the pointers. I guess I'll just have to order the pattern first then and assess my needs from there. I just like to have everything ready to go when I get a pattern so I can sit down and dig in, especially when I know I'm going to have to study the pattern for a while. I guess I learned my lesson. I'm taking back my (yes: ) woolease yarn for the real deal. I'll be keeping the white for practice since I hopped right in and started practicing with it. Thanks for the words of experience.

[Knittin' in the Shade]

Hey mamas :0 Jumping in to give a little tip about the fisherman's wool skeins. you don't need to rewind them into balls, but don't knit from the othside either (you know, so that every time you pull the yarn it goes flying across the floor all wonky from unwinding)

Instead, before you start to knit, stick your fingers into the center of the skein (from one of the ends, you can see where the yarn kind of winds into the middle) and grab the big *glob* of wool in there. The end should be pretty accesible from that glob, and then you can knit from the center of the skein, the yarn will move easier and you won't have the skein flying all over the place. Plus, as you get further along on the knitting, the yarn will move even easier since you're loosening the skein

[cassdarrow]

Another "digging" tip:

When you pull some yarn from the middle, if there is one strand going back into the skein, you do have the end in your hand. If there are two, you do not, dig again.

[MamaMonica]

Thanks for the skein tips!