Caring for Your Hand-Knits (and Crochets) By Yvonne A couple of weeks ago, one of our regular customers came in with news so distressing that everyone on the couch gasped collectively. She had, apparently, through a series of unfortunate events, lost her Malabrigo scarf while driving. When she went back a day or so later, there the scarf was, a sad, muddy, sopping wet pile in the middle of the street. She retrieved it and came to us for advice on cleaning it. After giving her my instructions, Anna asked me to write about my method. My thoughts on cleaning have often sent customers and coworkers into heart palpitations, but the method has worked for me without fail. I've gleaned my knowledge from several sources, including Stephanie Pearl-McPhee and Franklin Habit, both well-respected knitters. What You Need: Small wash tub (you can use your sink, if you're sure nobody will mess with your knitting) Wash of Choice (Eucalan, Kookaburra, liquid baby wash) Wooden spoon or other stirring stick Dish soap (Dawn, Joy) (only if your item is really dirty) Colander Many clean towels Method: Fill basin with hottest tap water available. (This is the part where the customers and coworkers start gasping for air. I must urge you, if you are not comfortable with using hot water, then DON'T. If you think your knits will be agitated, if your kids will run cold water into your hot water, then DON'T USE HOT WATER. Anna suggests using tepid water.) Add cap of chosen washing medium. If your item is really dirty, add 2 – 3 DROPS of dishwasher soap. Agitate with wooden spoon to get some suds going. You're looking to stir around the washing medium, not fill your tub with suds. Lay knitwear ON TOP of suds and walk away. Don't stir it, don't touch it. The weight of the water as it absorbs into your knitting will cause the knitting to sink. Let cool for about eight hours. If you check on your knitting after about two hours and notice that it hasn't all sunk into the water, you can poke the dry parts into the water, but do not agitate/stir/mix: just kind of gently press the knitting into the water. After the eight or so hours, drain your knitwear into the colander. (If your item was really dirty, you will want to repeat the above washing process.) After the cleaning/draining process, roll into a towel to get the water out. I like to use a ShamWow, plus a couple of towels. You will have to repeat the rolling-into-towel dance a couple of times to get the most water out, so have many towels at the ready. Lay flat to dry. Again, I would like to reiterate that one should not use hot water if they aren't comfortable with it. And if you do use the hot water, don't agitate your knitting at all or add cold water into the hot water unless you want a felted item. Coming soon: our series on caring for your handknits continues as we discuss choosing yarn for children's garments and washing your precious baby items.

What’s New Opal Hand-Dyed for 2010, new from Opal, the base yarn you love in hand-painted colors Back in stock! More copies of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Green Sweater Pattern New books from Martingale Publishing, including Nature's Wrapture and Charlene Schurch's Sock Club A big box of goodies from Lantern Moon, featuring fun stitch markers and gorgeous colors of silk Knit Out Boxes

Second Annual Valentine's Day Weekend Book and Pattern Sale We know you'll be visiting the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Show on the weekend of February 13 and 14 to stock up on yarns you can't get anywhere else. But what are you going to do with all your gorgeous yarn? While you're out and about, stop by our Second Annual Valentine's Day Weekend Book and Pattern sale. All books (including books from the pattern companies like Berroco and Classic Elite) will be 25% off and all loose-leaf patterns found in the binders will be 50% off! In addition, all patterns already on sale will be marked down an additional 10%. This sale is February 13 and 14 ONLY. If you've got a yarn crawl planned that weekend, make sure you stop on by Natural Stitches for some sale-priced inspiration! Happy Valentine's Day!

Picking Up Dropped Stitches Part 2 By Carla Last time, Carla explained how to pick up a dropped stitch in stockinette stitch. In the second part of this series on fixing mistakes, Carla shows us how to pick up stitches in garter stitch. So we arrive at the garter stitch. I warn you, this is the hard one. As we've discussed before, get something into the stitch so it doesn't run any further, such as a locking stitch marker or Handi Tool. Decide if the stitch you are holding should be corrected as a knit stitch or a purl stitch. Look at the stitches on either side of the dropped stitch to figure out what they are – this is easier to determine if you stretch your knitting out a bit. If they are seated as purl stitches, latch up the dropped stitch as a purl stitch from the wrong or non-public side. If the stitches on either side are knit stitches, then latch up your errant stitch as a knit stitch from the right or public side. (Please refer back to the first part of this article for the explanation of picking up knits and purls if you need more clarity.) Now check to see that the stitch you just made looks like the stitches around it. If the bumps don't line up with the stitches on either side, then undo your fixed stitch and use your crochet hook or Handi Tool to grab it the other way (as a knit instead of a purl or as a purl instead of a knit.) Once you have figured out what that first stitch is supposed to be, you can work up the rest of the ladders. The hard part here is that you must do it as one knit row and one purl row, because that is how you created it (even though it is garter stitch!). What I do is correct the first stitch, push the hook to the other side of the work (this is where a Handi Tool is invaluable because of its short length) and latch up the next ladder from there. What you need to do is keep passing the crochet hook from one side to the other, turning it as you go, and fixing one stitch on each side until you are back up to the level of your knitting needle. You then place that stitch back on your knitting needle and continue as before. I'd also like to make mention of something else you may run into, which is dropping more than one stitch (not multiple rows but multiple stitches). Again, don't panic. Follow the steps above for getting something into them then follow the directions for the pick up one stitch at a time. In other words, latch one stitch all the way up, then do the next, and the next. Breathe deeply! You can do it! I have a suggestion for you. Get out some scrap yarn and make a swatch in stockinette stitch and garter stitch. Drop a stitch or two and knit on a few more rows. Then go back and using the above methods, pick up the dropped stitches. Try it in both stitch patterns and from the purl side and the knit side. Keep doing it until you do it right. It is the best way to learn and you won't be messing up a project. The best way to learn to fix mistakes is to make them and fix them. The fixes I have talked about are only good if you are doing stockinette stitch or garter stitch. If you are working in pattern (lace), increasing and/or decreasing, they may not work as easily. If you are able to read your knitting (know what a purl stitch looks like and what a knit stitch looks like) you could still use the same methods just being sure that you make the stitches correctly in pattern. But I advise you to bring the project into the shop before you do anything drastic. I have seen some remarkable fixes done by our staff and we may be able to help you with yours. [Ed Note: in our next newsletter, we will talk about some quick fixes to correct mistakes in basic lace knitting.] Want a little hands-on help? Make your swatch and bring it to the shop. We will talk you through all of it. Remember: practice makes perfect even if you are talking about mistakes.

From the entire staff of Natural Stitches, we wish you happy knits, creative crochets and splendid spinnings. And, as always, if there's anything we can do to help, just let us know!

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