Dawn Brocco's Life & Design Blog

Got most of the family room doors, baseboards and window done the other day. Have more to do today, if I can get these shoulders unkinked!

Am working up the 2nd sample for one of the designs for an upcoming design collection booklet.

I had the perfect yarn in feel, but it was a tad thin for the gauge I needed - BUT as it is a very soft wool, and millspun, I gave all the hanks a hot water bath with Dawn dish liquid, letting them soak awhile initially, then giving them a good dunking then rinsing same temperature water. I then spun the water out of the hanks in the Spin-Only cycle of the washer and laid them on top of towels on my steam radiators. Et Voilá! What were once 240 yd / 4 oz hanks are now approx. 200 yd / 4 oz hanks, and is giving me the fabric I wanted. And though I thought the yarn would have felted, in order to lose the 40 yds, it hasn't - the plies are still discernible and able to be separated.

This technique might not work as well with wools that are coarser. This is a Rambouillet Merino and easily shrinkable! My only additional suggestion is to wash and dry all the hanks at the same time. I did 1 hank initially, before doing the others and it only went down to 220 yds, but I resoaked and rinsed and it is on the rad drying as I write.

Printing and Gazette fulfillments continue every day, as they come in. And I started photographing the finished designs.