ramen yarn
25 Dec 2018 10:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cimoreneWhen you unravel a knitted object, it's called "frogging".
Yarn holds the shape it dried in after the last time it was wet, and if it was frogged from a knitted object, that shape is usually zigzags from the rows of stitches. (People frequently describe this shape as ramen-like.)
There's nothing wrong with this yarn (at least, in principle, and not this time): it's not worn out; all you have to do is wet and dry it again. The problem is that I've got all the ramen yarn in balls, and it can't be wetted and dried in them. Some people unspool it out and soak it or wash it, and there's a more recent tip going around about steaming it - hanging it in loops and going over it with a steamer or running it slowly through a steady source of steam like a stovetop kettle. I don't have either of these devices though (and the electric kettle shuts off automatically), so I think I'd have to actually unwind it and soak it and then hang it, which is a lot of trouble.
I can knit with the ramen yarn - it's not really DIFFICULT, per se, it just means that you can't see what the fabric will look like until you wash and block it once it's finished. It should then look fine, but...
...knitting with the ramen yarn just doesn't feel good!
I want to enjoy the texture of the yarn as it flows through my fingers and be able to admire the object as it comes along. At this point, I can't even get a clear idea of what the texture I'm making is going to look and feel like because it's all wavy and bubbly from being made out of crimping! It's totally killing the joy in creating, too, which is very bad for productivity. It has sown doubt in my mind and I'm considering frogging the quarter sweater I've knitted in broken rib stitch and starting over in plain stockinette.
Yarn holds the shape it dried in after the last time it was wet, and if it was frogged from a knitted object, that shape is usually zigzags from the rows of stitches. (People frequently describe this shape as ramen-like.)
There's nothing wrong with this yarn (at least, in principle, and not this time): it's not worn out; all you have to do is wet and dry it again. The problem is that I've got all the ramen yarn in balls, and it can't be wetted and dried in them. Some people unspool it out and soak it or wash it, and there's a more recent tip going around about steaming it - hanging it in loops and going over it with a steamer or running it slowly through a steady source of steam like a stovetop kettle. I don't have either of these devices though (and the electric kettle shuts off automatically), so I think I'd have to actually unwind it and soak it and then hang it, which is a lot of trouble.
I can knit with the ramen yarn - it's not really DIFFICULT, per se, it just means that you can't see what the fabric will look like until you wash and block it once it's finished. It should then look fine, but...
...knitting with the ramen yarn just doesn't feel good!
I want to enjoy the texture of the yarn as it flows through my fingers and be able to admire the object as it comes along. At this point, I can't even get a clear idea of what the texture I'm making is going to look and feel like because it's all wavy and bubbly from being made out of crimping! It's totally killing the joy in creating, too, which is very bad for productivity. It has sown doubt in my mind and I'm considering frogging the quarter sweater I've knitted in broken rib stitch and starting over in plain stockinette.
