Like cashmere

Colby decided to dress-up today as Mike for "Hero Day" at school. He wore: a button-down shirt, v-neck sweater, blue jeans and brown suede ankle boots. Mike was certainly flattered by Colby's gesture. Later he remarked that it was fortunate Colby had chosen Dad over Mom. Mostly because Mom as 'hero' might have made for a rather funny outfit. I know perfectly well that Mike was just mitigating his newly announced title;). Actually, if Colby had dressed as me today he would have worn a grey turtle-neck sweater and jeans. Not too crazy, although the ballet flats might have been odd.

It made me think of how much our manner of dress has evolved from the days of "Ozzie and Harriet." Jeans are now such a staple item that if my mine were to suddenly disappear from the closet, so would practically all of my wardrobe options. But even with as many pairs of jeans I've continued over the years to cycle in and out of, I still don't think I've ever found "the pair." Never mind though, that's another topic in itself. It is weird to think that a clothing article that started off as attire for railroad workers somehow morphed into a symbol of youthful rebellion, and then to early 80's status symbol, and now includes an entire spectrum of expression from totally destroyed to perfectly business-like. I'm as guilty as anyone when it comes to the 'jeans uniform' but I still kind of wish I'd lived in the days when skirts, dresses, and cashmere cardigans were more the norm. I know, I know--- there are women who staged sit-ins to gain the right to wear pants. I'll stop whining now.

I do have the few pairs pictured above that fit and function relatively well most days--- and in my book, that warrants treating those babies like cashmere. Here's my method: Turn jeans inside out, cold water soak, skip agitation, skip rinse, straight to spin cycle and a line dry.

For this ritual, I use a wool wash called Eucalan, made from lanolin (oil obtained from sheep wool) and eucalyptus oil. It's phosphate-free, petro-chemical-free and it saves water consumption because there's no need to rinse it out. You only need to use 5ml of wool wash per gallon of water and a 500ml bottle costs about $11. I found Eucalan shortly after I started knitting and I've used it on everything from cashmere sweaters to wool coats with acetate lining, dry clean only wool trousers, silk dresses... you name it. I haven't had a need to send anything to the dry cleaners in years.


Here is a Pre-Rav sweater I'm getting ready to post on my finished objects page. It's made from Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere and a Tricoter shop pattern. The only adjustment I had to make to the pattern was the typical for me, lengthening of sleeves--- in this case, I added almost four inches. Gorilla arms, I know. I also dipped this in wool wash a few days ago and with it's bulkiness, it took over two days to completely air dry. Ahhh, the cold and damp of springtime in Seattle.





I've abandoned the Audrey gloves for now since I've tried two different yarns already with unsatisfactory results. Here is the replacement project I'm currently struggling with; from "Lace Style" by Interweave Press: Long Long Lacy Gloves.


I haven't done lace knitting for a long time and reading the chart has been a challenge for me. I think the ol' eyes are going bad... need to get used to wearing glasses to knit. I've torn out my work five times already in an effort to get the lace portion correctly completed before tomorrow's Knit Night with friends. As long as I get the tough part out of the way now, I'll be able to enjoy the conversation and a glass of wine without completely torquing the project! I'm knitting the gloves in wool-silk sock yarn I've had in my stash and tiny size 2 needles. If I can't have the 'skirt and dress look' every day, then I'm determined to get those elbow length gloves! Wish me luck and patience.