Maker's Maintenance - Getting the most out of your knitwear and crochetwear
A while ago I ran a poll on Instagram, asking whether anyone wanted to see how I look after my knit & crochet wear. The overwhelming response was "yes", but then WOOSH SeptOctNovBERBERBER happened, there was no light to photograph anything by, the kiddos were off school, etc etc. Here we are in late November (well into the woolly season for us), and I haven't shown anyone a thing.
BUT Lo and Behold we got some good natural light last week. So. Would you like to see how I look after my yarny things?
To my mind, rather a lot goes into "looking after" your clothes, starting from before you even make a purchase (whether that be for a finished item or for the materials to make one). To simplify things, however, let's assume you have yarny things in the wardrobe, and you want them to last. Then, let's make categories:
General care
Fixing problems
Resources
1. GENERAL CARE
It may sound rather obvious, but caring for your yarny items can extend their lifetime significantly. Although everyone has accidentally shrunk a wool sweater in the washing machine at some point, it really is worth taking time to learn how to clean and store things properly.
CLEANING
Before you do anything, ask yourself whether your item really needs washing. Could you air it out instead, or spot-clean with a damp cloth? If only a proper wash will do, try to:
Handwash, or machine wash on the delicate/wool cycle, using just a little bit of wool/silk detergent. Pad out the load with a couple of bathroom towels to prevent excessive spinning.
Tackle stubborn stains with sunlight rather than harsh detergent.
STORAGE
In most parts of the world it's really hard to stop fibre-loving critters from getting into your home, so the best thing to do, at the very least, is to stop them from getting to your clothes. Storing your items properly will also help prevent them stretching or becoming misshapen.
When your items are in use:
Place any items bought second-hand in the freezer for at least three weeks, to kill off any moth eggs and such.
Store sweaters and cardigans flat, not on hangers.
Use lavender sachets or cedar wood (sand lightly every now and then to release the scent) to repel moths.
Riffle through cupboards and drawers regularly, to let in air and light, and to check for pests.
Out of season
Carefully check for signs of damage, fix anything that needs fixing, wash everything, and then store in vaccuum bags or plastic containers with lockable lids.
Use lavender sachets or cedar wood to repel moths.
2. FIXING PROBLEMS
As much as I think it's important to properly look after knit & crochet wear (and all clothes in general), that doesn't mean I'm precious about using them. The only way to honour the resources that go in to producing good yarny items (whether by me or a garment worker) is to wear them. That means, of course, that even with the best care they will eventually show signs of wear. Knowing how to deal with this, and keep items looking good*, is invaluable to extending their lifetime.
PILLING
Lots of fibres pill, from cheap acrylic to super-fancy, hand-dyed merino. I don't think there's much you can do to stop it (besides choosing a hard-wearing fibre, like Lettlopi wool, in the first place) but it is quite easy to solve: get a de-piller. With a little effort, yarny things look like new again (check out the difference on the socks below!). I have a wool comb as well as an electric de-piller. The latter is a bit of an investment, but worth it to me; all four of us wear wool for at least six months of the year, and it also helps me to keep my samples looking fresh for photos and shows. At the beginning of autumn I stick on a podcast and set to work on all the sweaters, hats, and socks. It's strangely therapeutic...
Remember: Gentle does it, even if it takes a little longer. Keep your fabric flat while you depill, and go very easy with fine fibres.
Handknitted stripey socks, halfway through a de-pilling session
HOLES
Again, you can minimise the risk of getting holes by choosing hard-wearing fibres to begin with, and working to a tight gauge will also help. Otherwise, however, holes are kind of inevitable. My kids knock through their knees, I seem to have spikey elbows, and socks especially wear thin quickly. I really don't think a hole should spell the end of a garment's life, so over the years I've collected lots of mending materials as well as techniques. I won't lie; It's rare for me to actually get to the bottom of the mending pile, but I do try to plug away at it regularly.
My favourite techniques for yarny items are:
Darning - Probably the most time-consuming and fiddly fix, but I love how it looks. I use thrifted darning wool and leftover sock yarn, and don't worry about matching colours at all. It becomes a little creative outlet in itself.
Patches - Much as I love darning, really big holes on elbows and knees are sometimes just easier to patch. I like these knitted patches by Purl Soho, although I often use leftover bits of woven fabric as well. Etsy is a great place to buy ready-made wool patches.
Swapping out parts - For very frayed cuffs, the easiest fix might well be to simply swap them out. You can buy ready-to-sew ribbed cuffs, or make your own. For the kids fleece below I plan on using the legs of a pair of holey wool socks that I just didn't feel like darning. I’ll let you know how that goes!
Embroidery - More of an embellishment than a fix, and definitely not a quick one at that, but very fun to do.
STRETCHED/MISSHAPEN
Sometimes the reason an item is shoved to the back of the cupboard is because it's got so stretched it just doesn't fit anymore. No amount of de-pilling is going to make it look good. I find it intensely frustrating when this happens, because the cause of the stretching is often precisely the item having been so well-loved.
If the item is only a little stretched or misshapen, the first thing to try is to re-block it. If the item was made with a fibre that has "memory", such as a non-superwash wool, that might be enough to save it. If not, it's time to get creative (and a little brave, probably).
Reknit/crochet the problematic portion - Depending on how the item is constructed, you might able to work straight into the edge. I covered dealing with stretched hat brims previously. Otherwise, you will have to unravel or cut off a part, pick up live stitches, and re-knit/crochet from there. There are some good tutorials to be found on Pinterest for this.
Get the sewing kit out - Sometimes the best option is to look at the item from a tailoring point of view, and take in hems/seams or add a thin elastic.
Alter the thing completely - If taking in seams is likely to add too much weird bulk where it shouldn't be, and reworking a portion is just too hard, go for the chop. Re-work it into something totally new. The photo below shows a top and skirt that started life as a (shop-bought) above-the-knee dress. A very well-loved dress, until the bottom part stretched too much for its length. I didn't think I'd be able to take in the sides, nor re-knit the cabled bottom in a way I'd be happy with. So I cut it in half at the waist. The bottom half became a below-knee skirt, for which the A-line shape was perfect. I then added a couple of sections to the top-half, to make that part wearable too. It did take a while and tested all my sewing/knitting skills, but I now wear both items regularly (again).
3. RESOURCES
HOW TO WASH WOOL - a more detailed blog post from MamaOwl, with great tips and a few FAQs
HOW TO GET RID OF CLOTHES MOTHS - another useful post from MamaOwl
VISIBLE MENDING - a beautiful, clearly-written book by maker Arounna Khounnoraj
MODERNE BRODERI - a GORGEOUS book on embroidering knitwear and clothing, by Warunee Bolstad (currently only available in Norwegian, but the Plystre site has kits and a short tutorial in English too)
BUYING SECONDHAND - though not related to caring for your knits, I had to include this series of Instagram stories by Africa from The Vitamin D Project. Her IG account is like an ode to all things woolly, she’s recently launched a website, and I love it all.
Do you have any tips for getting the most out of you knit & crochet items? Is there anything I’ve mentioned that you particularly love doing, or struggle with?? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
* I want to add a note about the cultural sensitivity associated with wearing clothes that look "good". I'm fully aware that, as a thin white woman of obvious economic means, there is no danger in walking around in clothes that have been visibly patched up. Quite the contrary - "visible mending" is incredibly trendy and I would be lying if it didn't do my career any good; More than once I've been paid to mend or alter items for friends, after they've seen what I'm wearing. I very much doubt that would be the case if I were Black, or plus size, or visibly disabled, given all the tropes around wealth and skill that surround these marginalised groups.
I'm also aware that doing all of the things I've listed takes resources. Time, money, skill, in some way or form. Not all of us have them, nor can we be expected to obtain them. Do what you can, if you can.
