Lanolizing superwash

[Frisbee]

So...I have a big stash of Knitpicks shine superwash and have been thinking about making some soakers. Now, I know superwash is coated so it doesn't act like wool, but it's just about the only thing in my stash that is soft enough for baby. And I have a lot of it that I want to use up.

Has anyone had any success with lanolizing superwash and thereby restoring its wooly superpowers? Thanks!

On a related note, I also have a ton of 100% wool Brown Sheep worsted, but I think it might be too scratchy. Has anybody used this yarn, or had any tips for any kind of processing that might make it less itchy?

I just put myself on a yarn diet (as the yarn harlot puts it) so buying more yarn for soakers is well, not ENTIRELY out of the question, but certainly shows lack of willpower and/or creativity on my part.

[leerypolyp]

I had one superwash soaker. I lanolized it and it worked pretty well, though not as well as non-superwash. It would get damp on the outside with a really wet diaper. We used it for summertime as a bottom by itself, because it was thinner, lighter, and that way we didn't have to worry about wicking.

[mehndi mama]

I used superwash for a couple of soakers - this thing I noticed about them is that they're "flabby" and will stretch out of shape and show the holes in between the stitches a lot more. I think if I were to use superwash again, I'd double-strand it to help give it a bit more body. Lanolizing superwash is just like lanolizing regular wool. It doesn't make the wool waterproof, but it will help keep moisture from absorbing right away and will help keep odors down, which is why we use wool for diapering in the first place!

[feebeeglee]

You can use the Brown Sheep for the body of the soaker and the Swish for the waistband and cuffs. I've done that with some Lion Fisherman's for the body and Cascade superwash for waist and cuffs and it worked great! I went pretty tight in terms of gauge for the superwash. I think I used size 2 or 3 US needles, for teh same reasons stated above - it won't tighten up and bloom like regular wool does. I'm a loose knitter in general though, i usually have to go down 2 needle sizes to get gauge.

HTH!

[Frisbee]

An update...I knit my soaker with the superwash wool, using the curly purly soaker pattern, using size 2 needles for the tightest gauge (it is a strange pattern in that the "increases" are done by changing needles rather than increasing stitches). Then I lanolized the heck out of it with a ton of lansinoh. So far it has been working! It is pretty stretchy, but has retained enough tautness to work so far. I did have to wash it once with baby shampoo to get some poo out, and threw it in the dryer after that to shrink & felt it a little.