Learning how to darn

For the past few months I've been intending to darn something-- a sock, a sweater, something knitted and in need of repair. Reason? I really value my knitted goods and believe that they should last a long, long time. If I'm going to invest hours/days/weeks/months into making an article of clothing then it's only logical that I'll repair that item when needed. Problem? I've had nothing with holes! And in steps the boyfriend with a surprising hole in one of his favorite cardigans. Yes, it's store-bought. No, we're not the throw-away kind of people. This became an opportunity for me to try and learn a skill that has largely been lost on my generation. I don't have any solid knitting reference books (note to self...) and if I searched my old needlework books I might have come up with something. Instead, Google led me to one of my favorite blogs, The Coletterie, and a post about darning. Seriously, check it out right now and my photo sequence below will make more sense. Using a dated leaflet that provided written and drawn instruction I set out to make the repair.

I immediately realized I lacked a darning egg or darning mushroom but a quick look around the apartment for a tennis ball (good idea?) pointed out a forgotten orange that was getting a bit hard. Perfect! I had already picked up some darning thread in a very close color match from Yarn Garden in Portland. I found a nice long needle with an eye large enough for the thread.

I began weaving the needle into every other row of stitching in a vertical line and then swung around at the end of the first column and inserted my needle into the stitches for the second, giving myself just under an inch between my initial stitching and the actual hole (ensuring total coverage).

 

Below you can see that I've put in about 8 columns and reached the hole (but ignore the needle at an angle, that's just where I rested it for the photo). Do the columns extending over the hole seem loose to you? I couldn't be sure what it was supposed to look like and I kept reading that you "stretch" the knitted goods over the darning egg before stitching so I guessed it must be right. (Fast forward, my guess wasn't right. More on that later).

 And below is a photo of the finished lines of vertical thread, the first step for darning. In retrospect, it appears that I missed the potential for a couple more lines in the middle of the hole that would have been extremely useful. Next time around I'll be sure to catch the stitches right next to the rows because more thread in the middle gives more structure, and ultimately I want the texture and weight (thickness) of the darning patch to match that of the sweater.

And referring back to the leaflet again for darning on knitted fabrics, I began my diagonal rows of stitching, aiming to catch the columns as best possible. I found this to be really hard because of how close the threads were in color. There was also a slight halo (fuzziness) to the sweater and thread that hid much of the stitch definition.

 

After getting about halfway through the diagonal rows and reaching the middle of the hole I realized that 1) I didn't have enough vertical lines of thread of the hole; 2) The tension was loose because I had stretched the knitted fabric over the orange to make the stitch definition more apparent, when really I should have kept the fabric much less taught-- not loose, but stretched only a tiny bit past it's normal state. I was worried about getting the lines too tight and pulling on the stitches of the sweater, ultimately leading to extra wear and potential holes in the same spot; and 3) Going back to fix those problems now was an issue.

Much cursing and a phone call later I returned to the work and accepted I'd have to do better. Removing all the stitching was near impossible so instead I tightened up the rows over the hole as best I could, accepting that there would be some loose thread at the ends of columns and rows. I also went back and added two more columns of thread over the hole. I finished the diagonal rows and this is the result:

It's kind of messy. It doesn't imitate the rows of stitching as I had intended. It's far from perfect and that pisses me off. But... after dousing the sweater with a bit of water and drying it so it would regain it's original shape (it was a bit stretched because of the orange) I decided it might do. In fact, it was barely visible from the right side of the sweater. This is a very close view of the hole and repair.

And here's a view of the sweater how it should be. Can you find the spot? Probably not! It's hidden just beneath his right shoulder blade.

In the end he's happy with the result which makes me happy enough to dance. It's not exactly right and it's not the best work I've ever done, and with a bit more practice and additional references on proper darning I think that I'll soon be able to keep my knitted goods in rotation for a long, long time. Just as I wanted.

PS. If you knit a sweater or buy something from the store and intend to repair it down the road, be sure to keep the extra bits of matching yarn from the project or that come attached to the tag of the sweater. If the color had been an exact match then I likely would have been more pleased with the end result.

Washing a Romney Fleece (sheep's wool, not a sweater from a presidential hopeful)

SHEEP!

Last weekend I attended the Madrona Fiber Arts retreat where my brain was blasted with loads of information about wool and sheep and yarn (more to come on that later. I met famous people! Well, at least famous in the knitting/spinning world), where I spied knitters of all level and obsession, and where I fiercely guarded my budgeted pocketbook. As I squeezed into vendors' booths to admire their yarn, fiber and equipment (and eavesdrop on knitters plans for the lovely stuff) I felt overcome by the urge to spend. Knowing I'm approaching poor (remember, farm internship?) I made an entire round without any purchases and just at the end I spied raw wool. My hands began to sweat with anticipation (weird, I know) as I approached Island Fibers assortment of raw fleece.

Raw Romney Wool

If you've never touched sheep's wool before in its natural state I encourage you to add to your life-list. There's something insanely real about losing your fingers in a greasy, smelly mass of fibers and knowing the sticky wool is ultimately what your favorite sweater is made from. Or those high-tech underwear you bought at the outdoor gear shop. Or the fine socks you wear with your best dress. Wool is an utterly versatile fiber that permeates our daily existence. Carpet? Yep. Coats? Of course! Mattresses? If you buy the right type. House insulation? Depends on your location, but it's a naturally flame-resistant choice that's on the market. And it all begins with the lanolin-rich fiber pictured above.

I went out on a limb and bought the remnants of this Romney fleece for multiple reasons, but mostly because I was attracted to the beautiful natural colors in this particular wool, appreciate learning the characteristics of various breeds, and because I'm afraid of washing raw fleece. It was time to face my fear. In spring of 2009 I took a spinning class where I washed my first fleece and under the guidance of my instructor it was a 2-3 day process involving overnight soaks, various temperatures increasing over time, etc, etc. It was arduous, scary, and no fun at all. After reading a few books* and spending a few hours in the forums of Ravelry reading about how other spinners clean their fleece -- for example, in a top loading washing machine-- I determined this shouldn't be as scary as it seemed. Ultimately I felt I needed to do ~5 soaks to get this wool in usable shape and I needed the water to be as hot as my tap could handle but not over 145 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 1: Test the temp of my tap water. 125 degrees. That should do unless you have a very fine wool with loads of grease. I read somewhere that lanolin "melts" from the fiber at 140 degrees but 125 worked just fine in this case.
Step 2: Fill the tub and add appropriate amount of Unicorn Fibre Wash.**
Step 3: While tub is filling, load wool into bags but do not pack tight. I want water to penetrate the wool.
Step 4: After tub is filled gently submerge the wool, pressing lightly on the laundry bags until the water covers them. Take extra caution not to agitate the wool because hot water + agitation = felt (a spinner's enemy). Let soak undisturbed for 15-20 minutes.
Step 5: Gently left laundry bags out of water, allowing excess water to run off while you drain the icky, icky, bathtub. Taking care not to agitate the wool, I did carefully press the laundry bags against bathtub side to squeeze out water.

Repeat! I did 2 Unincorn washes, 2 water rinses, and 1 Unicorn Rinse. Ultimately the water should run clear and that will signal when your washing is complete. Be sure to keep the water hot during this process-- you may need to turn up your water heater or heat some extra water on the stove as I did just in case. Also, never shock the wool by taking it from hot to cold-- that will surely cause felting. Keep the temperature a nice, even hot.

Washing raw wool

After the wool is clean very carefully remove it from bags and lay it in a well-ventilated area to dry, on a screen or rack of some type that allows air circulation around and through the wool. I had to get creative for wool drying and rested a broom on shower curtain rods, over which I laid my clean/scrubbed oven racks. The wool dried nicely in this setup with the aid of a dehumidifier in the bathroom. I was able to bathe without incident for a few days though showering would have been an issue...

I was overjoyed to find my wool in great shape after 3 days of drying. No evidence of any felting and it feels soft, supple, and looks lovely. It smells great too! Soon I'll pick the last bits of plant and fecal matter from the wool and prepare it for spinning. I'm excited to see what it becomes.

PS. I bought 1 pound 7 ounces of raw wool. This sheep didn't have too much dirt or lanolin; after washing it weighs about 1 pound 2 ounces. They say that fine wools with heavy grease can lose up to half their weight with washing.

* The books I referenced and found helpful were Start Spinningand In Sheep's Clothing
**Unicorn Fibre Wash & Rinse are my favorite wool products but you could use dawn dish soap or another wool-scouring soap as you please. In the Seattle area I purchase my supply at Acorn Street.

Edited to add: the amazing author and instructor (see upcoming post) Deborah Robson posted earlier this month about washing wool. Check it out!

Knitting: Merino/Bamboo Kerchief -- Brass & Steam

About a month ago I mentioned some delicious handspun merino/bamboo blend yarn that initially displeased me but ultimately consumed me (and my time for a short period), so here we have a quick summary of the project Bumblebee Brass & Steam. Excitingly, this is my first hand-knitted project using my hand-spun yarn. Yippee!

Using a (free!) pattern written by Orange Flowers and shared publicly on Ravelry, I cast on the Brass & Steam scarf using size 8 needles. I made a few minor mistakes due to distraction and poor counting of rows/stitches but quickly made up for it with repairs and fewer errors. :) This was a quick and easy roadtrip project that I played with on our trip last fall for a beautiful farm-stay at Monteillet Fromagerie. I don't have much to say because if you can knit, purl, and y.o. (yarn over) then this project is easy peasy. Do it if it interests you! Easily a weekend project if you're dedicated.

PS. I quit my job to be a farm intern. In about a month I'll abandon Seattle for the small, strongly Scandinavian town of Poulsbo, WA (population 9,200), where I'll live and grow organic vegetables and chase chickens through the end of the year on an awesome small farm with a strong CSA that sells regularly at area farmers markets. A new adventure and loads of excitement (and compost). I'll tell you what... farms smell like home. I interviewed at a few different places around Puget Sound and the farm I chose just felt like the right place to be, where I can feel comfortable, productive, excited and relaxed. Someday I'd like some farm experience with more animals like ducks, pigs, sheep, goats, rabbits, etc but for now this is a good start. And there are resident children, cats and a dog. Yay!

PPS. I love my life. So many great people, places, things to be thankful for.