2: Needles &
Accessories (cont.)
28.I
collect Magic brushes. That was the brand name on my first brush and
so that’s what I still call them. Each version works in a slightly
different way. They usually have a padded velvet surface with the
fibres set at an angle to brush across the knitting and remove lumps
or fluff. The padded head can be reversed for brushing in the
opposite direction. Unfortunately, some yarns pill or fluff,
whatever you do to stop it happening, but this only shows up after
the start of the knitting. It is so annoying. You will often find
that knitting disturbs stray fibres and the resulting fluff has to
be brushed away and that’s the end of it. That’s if you are lucky.
Some yarns require brushing every time you wear the garment. It’s
such a wonderful thing to find a stable yarn, especially if there is
a big range of colours, and you can use that yarn for many projects.
I have also found some fluff removers with a slightly sticky surface
that collects all the debris, but the surface becomes useless quite
quickly and has to be replaced constantly. One great find was a
remover that has a little sticky cylinder that can be washed when it
clogs up, but it is too small to be really useful. At a pinch, I
wind sticky tape around my fingers, active side out, and brush away
with that.
A lot of yarns need surgery and then you
have to bring out the big guns. I can use yarn de-pillers, which are
a bit rough on some yarns, and even have a thing with a handle above
a flat sandpaper surface that, held at the correct angle, lightly
scrapes off and removes fluff and pills. This is essential for all
the knitwear that, after some wear, develops balls of fluff down
each side or under the arm. When fibres used in the yarn are short,
they work their way out of the twist with any friction: moving arms,
holding things against you, a handbag swinging at your side, or just
wear.
The last weapon in my armoury is a safety razor. Place the fabric on
a flat surface, and lightly drag the blade across it. This will cut
through the fibres holding the fluff and pills on the knitting and
then they can be brushed off.
I know I seem obsessed about fluff and stuff, but there is a reason
for that. I have three cats. I adore them, but they are all hair-
shedding machines. One is white and black, just the thing if you are
a black clothing wearer, one is black and white, great if you wear
pale colours, and the third is a tabby, so his fur shows up on any
colour. I have a constant battle with hairs on every surface in my
apartment and the combination of clothing and seats is deadly. I
often find that I have to brush my knitting because hairs float in
the air. I can see them in streams of light, dancing around, ready
to land on my work. I convince myself that the brushing motion
exercises my arms.
NEXT PAGE>>
chapter page: 1 |
2 | 3 |
4 | 5 |
6 | 7 |
8 | 9 | 10
| 11 | 12 |