The Proper Tools (with Eucalan Giveaway)
This Friday and Saturday, I’ll be off clambering over buildings, perching innocent friends on precarious railings, and spending way too much time lint rollering other people. In other words, it’s the photoshoot for KCC3. That means the last few days have been a giant blocking extravaganza here at Chez Violence.
Just because I’m currently going a bit crazy doesn’t mean you should suffer though. In fact, I’ve actually got a little treat for you. Read on for a giveaway of one of my favorite blocking goodies.
(Knitting pictures kept intentionally tiny because while I love you all, I don’t want to give away all my secrets just yet. I’m sure you understand!)
So all this blocking has left me really smitten with three blocking tools. The first is my blocking mats, which I have talked about before. I have these, and I love them because they’re both cheaper and bigger than the ones sold specifically for knitting. I was able to block both of these shawls at the same time on just one set of six tiles. I’ve had mine for over a year now, and they’ve held up quite well.
The second is t-pins. These are a new addition to my blocking arsenal. I had been using regular sewing pins, but I never quite had enough, so I thought I’d augment my stash and give t-pins a shot. Holy smokes are they ever better. They’re much stiffer and sturdier, so you can put a good bit more force on them. They’re also a tiny bit blunter, so you (or at least I) don’t stab yourself quite as much as you reach for the next one. I’m completely taken with them, and I’ve ordered two more boxes (these are the ones I have), because the two shawls you see here used every single pin from the first two boxes.
My third blocking friend is a lovely bottle of some sort of yummy smelling wool wash. This time, that wool wash is Eucalan in their new Wrapture scent (which they were kind enough to send me to try out). Now some folks will say this is more of a luxury than a necessity. I suppose the good smell part might possibly be considered a luxury, but I’m not sure the wash part is. I don’t know about you, but I don’t always manage to wash my hands before I sit down to knit. And I’ve been known to wad my works in progress up and shove them in all sorts of places (cupholders, purses, movie theater seats) that might not be the cleanest spots around. By the time a project (especially a big project) is done, it’s sometimes ready for a bath. And even if your project is not quite dirty (because I’m assuming you guys are all much more tidy than I am), pretty much every project will benefit from a nice wash to get any leftovers from the spinning/dyeing process all whisked away before you start using it. Eucalan’s no-rinse formula is marvelous for that.
As for the yummy smelling bit, I know that will be a matter of personal preference. I’ll be totally honest and say that I was a bit leery when I heard this new scent was jasmine based. I tend to wrinkle my nose and make funny faces at a lot of floral scents. But I found myself pleasantly surprised. It smells like the actual flower, not like your great aunt Mildred’s perfume (which I’m guessing is because Eucalan uses essential oils, not synthetic fragrances). I’m not quite sure it will replace the Eucalyptus scent as my personal favorite, but it is a lovely addition to the line up.
The nice folks at Eucalan have three bottles of their new Wrapture scent to send off to three of you. If you think one of them should find you, just leave a message telling me what you’d most like your freshly-washed woolens to smell like. You can leave a comment through Sunday night, and I’ll announce a winner on Monday!
Meanwhile, if you’d all do your best to make sure the weather is photoshoot-suitable (cool, overcast, not too windy) in these parts tomorrow and Saturday, I’d very much appreciate it!
Ooh…Eucalan! On the wish list!
I love the look of that shawl(?) on the left!
Looks like it should be scented with cinnamon 😉
Have fun on the photo shoot!
I love floral scents – I’ve been using the lavender scented eucalan and would LOVE to try the Jasmine.
i love eucalan lavender- i even have my groomer use it on my standard poodle. great stuff
I’ve used Soak exclusively, so I’d love to try Eucalan. I like light scents, and I’m particularly enamored by lavender and lemon.
I’m fairly new to knitting and haven’t tried Eucalan yet. I like that fresh cotton smell, but would that be weird for wool?
I love their lavender scent. Can’t wait to see the new book!
Right now I use Eucalan’s lavender scent, and I love it. I’m now anxious to try their new Wrapture scent – sounds amazing!
I love the smell of lavender. Those things you’ve got blocking look pretty amazing…
For Autumn and Winter blocking, something spicy like cinnamon and cloves would be lovely. For Spring and Summer, either cucumber or violet.
Oh my gosh I love jasmine. It’s fate. It’s meant to be. Please come home with me? I adore florals and would be perfectly happy to have my knits smell like jasmine.
Handknits that smell like lavender are my favorite. Lavender or spruce or floral. Thanks for the giveaway and good luck with your photography adventure!
Their new scented wash is on my wish list!!! The jasmine scent would be amazing! I’d like my knits to smell like baby powder or light floral vanilla. I just love the smell of baby powder or what they make cabbage patch dolls smell like….mmmm lol. Thank you for the chance!
I like spicy scents like Sandalwood, Cinnamon, or Clove.
I like it most, when I can still smell the sheep.
Right now my scent of choice is Soak’s Lacey scent, which is floral + bergamot. It’s super yummy. I LOVE jasmine and will definitely be trying out this scent the next time around! Also, I am super excited for KCC3 – I just need more hands so I can keep up!
Oooh jasmine sounds lovely! Can’t wait to see the new knits
I pretty much like the scent of any REAL essential oil. Not a fan of too many synthetic fragrances. Eucalan sounds nice-a luxury yes, but one of those half-way necessary ones=).
Oh my geez. These are beautiful. I so want to knit these. I never seem to have enough T pins when I block anything and the wool wash must smell heavenly.
I currently use lavender Eucalan, but I’d love to try something new. Generally my answer to “what should X smell like?” is vanilla.
knits look great! best of luck with the weather!
I have always used the Eucalyptus scent, but would love to try a new one. I tend to avoid overly flowery scents too, but this one sounds lovely! Hope your photo shoot goes well and the weather is beautiful!
I have been using the grapefruit scent, but I LOVE jasmine!
I have Eucalan in Grapefruit and Eucalyptus. I will definitely be giving Wrapture a sniff when I see it next. I love that they are a Canadian company.
I have and use the Eucalyptus and I love it. Your projects look lovely!
I like my knits to have a soft, fresh smell. Since I give most of them away to friends and family I try to stay away from anything over powering.