Stash/Sample Sale Going on Now

Are you looking for a Valentine's Day present for a loved one or maybe yourself?  Love a good discounted price?  You've come to the right place.  I'm having a Stash/Sample sale right now.  You'll see a link over on the right hand navigation bar or follow the link below.  I'm cleaning out older items in my studio and you get to benefit from these deeply discounted prices.  If you see something you want, simply leave a message below the FB listing or you can send me an email at melkristdesigns@gmail.com.  Thanks for taking the time to look.  Please do share and help me get the word about this sale.  I'd love to clear these out and send them on to new homes.

Stash/Sample Sale

~Melody

Washing and Blocking Wool and Other Animal Fibers

Need some help washing your wool garment? Or maybe you have something made of other natural animal fibers, like alpaca, llama, cashmere, etc ?  Here are a few of my top suggestions and a few links to help you learn more about the process.

What kind of detergent to use? My preferred wool wash is a brand called Soak. A few drops into a basin are all that's needed. It doesn't require any rinsing and it comes in pleasant scents, including scentless. Other popular wool washes are Eucalan and Kookaburra and can be found online or at your local yarn store. 

In a pinch, you can also use baby shampoo.  Just be sure to rinse your knit carefully.  Run the water into the basin and then put your handknit into the water.  Water should never be poured over or water ran from the spigot straight onto your hand wash only knits.

Here's a link to a post I did about washing wool.  This is more specifically geared towards washing wool diaper covers, but it details the specifics of how to be delicate with your knits and how I roll out them to dry in a towel. Please use COLD water for your most delicate handknits.  

Tin Can Knits has a great simple guide to washing and blocking as well.  

Here's a quick video if you are more of a visual learner. 

(She's missing the part where you roll the item in a towel before laying out to block. I also don't roll my knitwear around in the water. A simple push down into the water is enough.)

A few last tips on washing.

   * Handknits don't require washing with every wear.  I often wear a handknit for the entire season before washing.  After wearing allow your handknit to air out a bit before putting it away.  

  * A bottle of wool wash will last for a long time, so don't let the sticker shock scare you from buying a bottle.

A few last tips on blocking.

    * Always use rust proof pins to block. Quilters T pins or daisy top pins are great so you can see them.

    * It takes a bit of time and space to block your knits, but its worth it.

    * Lace will look like a mess after its washed. So blocking is required. 

    * You can block on any surface that allows the space to spread out your knit. Many people lay a towel on a spare bed and block there. Rubber interlocking mats are inexpesive, easy to use and store. The cheapest ones are the ABC mats found in the children's section.  An ironing board is a great surface for a small item.  Just remember that it may take some time to dry your item.

   

Hope these tips help to de-mystify hand washing and blocking wool handknits.  While there is some time and effort required, it's a very simple process and a worthy investment in the life of your handknit.  

~Melody

I'll be writing about how to store your knits next!

Time for a Revival

Wow its been 2 years since I last published a post here on this blog!  So much has happened in my personal life. We added a new family member, our son Eliam, just before Thanksgiving 2015. Much of 2016 was spent being a caregiver to my in-laws while one of them had a major life saving surgery and follow up minor procedures at a hospital 8 hours from our home. My grandmother also needed some extra care. It was trying times with a young baby and a 3 year old to care for as well. We travelled a lot and stayed in more hotel rooms than I can remember. Understandably, I took some time off from my design business to focus on caring for my family. I got back into the swing of things shortly before my baby's 1st birthday.

I'm going to be loading a few new things to the blog over the next few weeks, including a portfolio of my designs and links to my online sales.  I hope to get back into the swing of things soon.  I suspect that process may take some time.  If life has taught me anything, it's that I just have to give myself grace sometimes; grace to not be perfect, grace to expect delays, and grace to not consider everything a failure. Sometimes the best things come from trial and error.

Here's my favorite picture of my boys from our wonderful photographer at McSween Photography .

See you soon,

~Melody

  

Inspire Me: Celtic Cables

Here's a screenshot I took from one of my latest Google searches. 

I've been focusing a lot of time learning about these beautiful intricate looking celtic cables, sometimes called knotwork.  Its been quite the math lesson to learn how to design the perfect cable.  Last week I was reading articles from a mathematician and this week I've been focused on geometry and how that applies to the symmetry I so love in my designs. It is positively hilarious that I used to hate math. In high school math made me miserable. Now I know its because I didn't fully grasp how those concepts could apply to a real life situation.  I'll be honest, sometimes math still baffles me.  I do have to take a few breaks between my studies just to let my brain rest.  Every time I have a "breakthrough ah" moment, I say a quick mental thank you to all the math teachers I've had over the years. (Ms. English would be so proud.)

Isn't it strange how easy it is to discredit something that's super challenging in the moment? More often than not, we just focus on the difficulty and not what future rewards it might bring. Tonight I'm thankful for all those difficult days and nights studying mathematical concepts and what seemed like endless hours of completing problems that surely no one would ever need to use again.  Now all the hours I put into figuring out a problem end in the joy of finishing my knitting. Challenges can indeed bring joy in the end.

A Housekeeping Note: I'll making a few changes to the blog.  Inspire Me posts will now be made twice a month instead of weekly.