This past Christmas I got a few gift cards to my lys so that was more than
enough to keep my little hands busy not typing.I ended up doing a lot of knitting on that Indigo Banded Cardigan from Knitscene with this machine washable acrylic/wool blended yarn from my lys as well as finished knitting Greg's manly boyfriend sweater. Pics as follows on the left side...and yes...my bookshelf is horrendously cluttered with way too many books and knick-knacks for my own good.
I'm pretty proud of the boyfriend sweater (on right) the most...even though I've not managed to get a picture of it on the boy since I made it but it fits him pretty good. It's bit too big on me though.
Hehe. I used the Checks and Balances Sweater from the Son of the Stitch'n'Bitch book.I've been in a huge debate over wool washes as of late between Eucalan wash and Kookaburra Delicate wash. I've managed to work with both on my knitting and regular clothes and frankly I'm sort of on the fence on either product as my mainstay for washing and blocking. Both are excellent for giving my woolies a good wash without a rinse cycle. An absolute-must for my lacey shawls.
The nice thing about Eucalan is that it's easily available at every lys I've been to in the lower Wisconsin area. It comes in a few diverse fragrances: unscented, grapefruit, lavender, and eucalyptus. I've played around with all but the unscented fragrance and my favorite is the eucalyptus with grapefruit as a close second. I only wished that the scent lasted longer than a few days. The lavender isn't horrible but it's actually manlier and muskier smelling to me than the eucalpytus and for me it just seems to last twice as long in my fabrics than either the eucalyptus or the grapefruit combined. On the bright side, Eucalan does have lanolin in it that's supposed to be better for your woolies' longevity and leaving it feeling so soft.
As for Kookaburra Delicate...I have to admit that I love this stuff a whole lot when I use it. I was a little skeptical with the stuff because it's not as thick as Eucalan. Case in point, when I used it for the first time, I ended up pouring in way too much because I was so used to the slow-pouring, thick Eucalan. Thank goodness the stuff is rinse-optional and I ended up using it as an opportunity to just toss in a few extra undergarments into my knitting soak as well just so I wouldn't waste all the cleaning liquid.
The Kookaburra Delicate scent is just so soft and yummy to me and the fragrance lasts almost forever! I've a few pieces that I've washed over a week and a half ago that still smell as fragrant as when I first washed it. Some people may be turned off to the regular Kookaburra Wool Wash smell who feel it might be a bit too medicinally for their tastes because of the tea tree oil in it but it's all subjective to your fragrance preference and thankfully the Kookaburra Delicate has a touch of lavender in it that smells amazingly better than the Eucalan Lavender. The nice bonus of the tea tree oil is its natural anti-bacterial and anti-fungial properties which isn't a bad touch for socks and undergarments. My knits and undergarments actually feel softer after a wash in the Kookaburra than they did in the Eucalan and overall smell better for longer. I do love the stuff to death that I'm ordering the large 16 oz bottle from Knitpicks along with my mom's needles to squash the shipping costs.
The only negatives with this stuff are I've never seen it for sale at any lys I've been to in the lower Wisconsin region nor does it come in as many different scents as Eucalan. It pretty much means I've resorted to ordering it through Knit Picks online alone. Not that that's a bad thing at all but in those cases I usually wait around until I'm buying other stuff on there as well just to really maximize with free shipping rates. Still, as an impatient knitter, it can be a bit of a pain to have to wait around for it to arrive in the mail. Also, Kookaburra Delicate doesn't have lanolin in it which is a double-edged sword all its own. On one hand, it's great for folks with allergies to be sans-lanolin in the wash but on the other hand, you're lacking in the benefits of re-infusing your wools with it because it does restore a bit of luster to your woolies. However, if you use Kookaburra on your dainties, then it doesn't really matter too much without the lanolin boost.
In the end, Kookaburra or Eucalan, I really am on the fence. I like to keep a bottle of both in my knitting supplies because there will be always a situation to call for either depending on if you need to give your wool a luster boost, do some lace blocking, or even just hand washing bras and panties.
Speaking of hand washing your lingerie...I kid you not, your lingerie will thank you with a longer lifespan by doing handwashing in either Eucalan or Kookaburra just by eliminating the rinse cycle alone. The goods actually come out softer and silkier than when I first bought them none the less keep their shape better than machine washing.
