Recently, I've noticed a lot of posts and received a lot of comments about washing woolen products and, especially, handknit socks.  Many people shy away from wool and handknit socks because of the maintenance involved in keeping them comfy, wearable, and clean, so I figured I'd write up a post about how I've cared for the socks I make and what I've found best.

My stock yarn is 85% wool, 15% mohair, traditionally not something that's machine washable.  My husband wears these socks exclusively, and hand washing 4+ pairs of stinky woolen socks by hand every week just isn't in my schedule.  So what do I do?  I chuck them in the washing machine.  Every time I mention that, I see several people recoil in absolute horror, so hang on those of you who are cringing and crying for socks long lost.


Check your washer setting.  Many washers, especially now, have tons of different washing programs -- some even have a wool setting!  I'm not lucky enough to have one of those magical machines, and always look for a few keywords when using a foreign machine: gentle, lingerie, sweaters, hand wash.  These cycles have little agitation, one of the big killers of non-superwash wools, and are what you want to select.  

Check your water temp.  My washer has four temperature programs: hot/cold, warm/warm, warm/cold, and cold/cold.  Cold/cold is the way to go.  Changes in temperature can 'shock' woolen products and cause fulling, and warm temperatures will make your non-superwash wools shrink to child size in no time at all.

Ditch the detergent.  There are several fine fiber, no rinse products on the market today (SOAK and Eucalan, for example) that are wonderful for woolen products, but I'd recommend, for machine washing, a regular bottle of shampoo.  Yep, shampoo -- I use an old bottle of TRESemme that someone left in the guest bedroom.  Regular detergents are harsh on clothing, and wool is hair, right?  Since I've switched to using shampoo in the machine, I've noticed that even my most felt-ready pieces maintain their structure and texture much, much, much better.  Guess those conditioning elements really do prevent tangles!

Bag 'em.  Rather than just throwing your socks in the machine, stick them in a lingerie bag or mesh washing sack.  These will not only prevent Missing Sock Syndrome, but it will keep them from rubbing, shedding, and commingling in the washer, which can increase the chance of fulling.  I use the Honey-Can-Do, multiple-compartment, lingerie bags, so I can fit four or more pairs of socks with one zip and I don't have to try and juggle a bunch of little bags when doing the laundry.


Avoid the dryer.  Even if your dryer has a no-heat tumble cycle (mine doesn't), the tumbling can be pretty hard and encourage fulling.  Either hang or lay your socks flat to dry.  Tops of dryers, drying racks, countertops, whatever work great.  I put a small fan on high on top of the dryer where I dry my socks, and they dry in a few hours and don't stay damp for too long. 

I use that regimen for all of my socks, including cashmere, alpaca, and other delicate blends (and my bras, fancy undies, etc...), and it works out pretty well.  I know everyone has their favorite method, but I figured I'd share mine for anyone interested in handknit socks but who've been turned off by the presumed maintenance.  

As you might have noticed, I did a bit of tweaking on the website.  I changed the layout and color scheme to something a bit less stark.  

I liked the 'clean' look it had, but I realized that wide expanses of white with a touch of black and orange probably wasn't the most welcoming.  I hope the red and gray is somewhat warmer.  I still need to go back and redo the colors of some of the text to make them match the new color scheme better, but that can wait a little while.

The Shop section also now has a full range of custom listings, where you're able to pre-purchase a pair of socks and then communicate with me on the colors.  I have a few other ideas for making that slightly more user friendly, but it'll do for now.  Depending on how well I'm able to maintain stocking my etsy, 1000markets shops, and consignment sales, I'll probably add some pre-knit items there, as well.  More organized than it currently is, hopefully!

It looks like incoming custom orders are about finished for the Christmas shopping season, and I'm breathing a big sigh of relief.  I have a few more to finish up, and I'm then going to tackle a few holiday gifts for my loved ones.
I got in a rather fat shipment of yarn today, and I'm resisting the temptation to rip into it and knit up a storm.  I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the year to use up some yarns that have been hiding in the back of my stash, and I realized that I needed to ramp up on that before rolling around in my new lovelies.  The recent stash busting has yielded two more large pairs of my Simple Luxury Alpaca socks in a nice, subtle buff color (found here and here), and a nice, cushy pair of super thick, large, graphite tabi (found here.)

Exciting news: After the holidays, twiddletoes will be joining hands with Leslie from CoolEastMarket, where my handmade tabi will accompany her extensive offerings of tabi.  Leslie has been fantastic and upfront, as we've hammered out details, and I hope this relationship is lucrative for the both of us!