Most of us have heard stories about oil spills and their effects on wild life. One of our customers, Laura Westlake is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator and she sent us her Soak story.

 These are two birds that she has saved. They are happily swimming and bathing after she has clean the oil and dirt off their feathers using Soak.

We all loved her story and it stirred my curiosity about how exactly the oil effects the birds. Here is a summary of why oil spills are so detrimental and how wildlife rehabilitators are saving these birds. The information for this post was taken from here.

If you’ve ever looked at a feather closely, it has the stem in the middle and little veins coming out of both sides of the stem. These veins are then covered in tiny little barbs. All the little barbs link together to create a water proof barrier to prevent water from seeping in and keeps their skin nice and dry. When their feathers become covered in oil, the barbs don’t link together smoothly and the feathers clump and leave gaps, which essentially strip the feathers of their water proofing nature. Birds will then try to preen their feathers to smooth them out and in the process they will ingest the oil which is toxic and damages their organs. If left too long with oil on their feathers, these birds tend to freeze to death due to their inability to keep the water off their skin.

These wildlife rehabilitators find these birds and clean their feathers with a mild soap or in Laura’s case, Soak. They feed the animals until they are back to a healthy weight and free them back into the wild.

Thanks for the great story Laura!

Grab a coffee or tea and join us each Friday, to learn how these Soak worthy bags came to be. Are you bagged? Send us your favorite bag. If we feature it here, we’ll send you a Soak gift pack, in a pretty bag, of course!

It was an unusually warm winter day in New York, especially for us Canadians. We took advantage of the sunshine, stopping for a mid-morning pear and chocolate tart on the patio. Choosing which tart to have was indeed a challenge, but I always do favour finely sliced fruit, so the pear tarts immediately caught my attention. I’ve even tried to make the likes at home once or twice. If you are in the neighbourhood, grab a bag off the wall, select some delicate tarts and if you forgot your sweet tooth at home, grab some of their delicious salads and sandwiches instead. From baguettes to cupcakes everything looked scrumptious. They also have a cookbook. It was early in the day, with the walking we had ahead, I resisted temptation… but something tells me on my next trip through Soho (perhaps Purl’s grand opening?) I’m likely going to pick it up.

I’m sure many of you are coming down from your Olympic high. I’m not normally a huge sports fan but for the past 3 weeks, you wouldn’t know it. I was filled with Canadian pride while cheering hard for the home team. I’m still pumped about our gold medal wins in both women’s and men’s hockey so it only seems appropriate to dedicate this week’s posting to Canada’s game. 

If you play hockey, or have had the pleasure of living with someone who plays hockey, you can understand how bad the equipment can start to smell. Now my friend’s helmet had about 3 years of sweat accumulated inside of it and smelled so bad that he was considering just purchasing a new one altogether. So I suggested that he give Soak the chance to save the helmet and use the money he saves to take me to dinner. 

Now there are mixed reviews on whether or not you should submerge your helmet in water as some of the adhesive may loosen. So although I did it with much success, please try this at your own risk. I figured, while we were at it, the hockey gloves could also use a good cleaning. In hindsight, we should have just filled up the whole tub and threw in all the equipment.
Now the helmet and gloves just float on the surface so we had to dunk it down every once in a while. You could just put something heavy on top to keep them submerged in water while they soak. 

Now I did read that most hockey gear can be thrown in the washing machine, however, hand washing will prolong its life. Considering how expensive hockey gear can get, the longer you can make it last, the better. 

Look at how brown that dirty water is! To think, all that was from his helmet and his gloves! GROSS! 

Now although soaking it did get rid of almost all of the stench, if you sniffed really closely, you could get a hint of some lingering odors. A second soak may take care of this, but compared to how awful the helmet and gloves smelled beforehand, I’d call it a great success. Try it for yourself and tell me about your success stories.
 

Here he is wearing the clean helmet and ready to hit the ice!

Grab a coffee or tea and join us each Friday, to learn how these Soak worthy bags came to be. Are you bagged? Send us your favorite bag. If we feature it here, we’ll send you a Soak gift pack, in a pretty bag, of course!

What can be better then supporting the home team with close friends by your side and knitting needles in hand?

Jacqueline, Chris, and Karen piled into the car, all wearing matching Soak baseball caps and bags full of yarns and needles, and headed to meet up with all the other knitters for a fun filled afternoon.

Stitch N’ Pitch is an event that happens worldwide. Whether you knit, crochet, cross-stitch or needlepoint, you are sure to have a great time cheering on the home team and working on your piece.

After a day of hotdogs, cheering and gossip, we came to these conclusions.

Stitch N’ Pitch is a great excuse to make Soak baseball caps.

2 out of the 3 of us are not coordinated enough to knit, chat and watch baseball at the same time.

Any event where they give out goodie bags is a-okay in our books.

People who love needlearts and baseball also love mini-soaks, as evidenced by the extraordinary number of thank you notes we received after the event.

This year we had wonderful booth neighbours. Louet NA on one side, and Chameleon Colorworks on the other. This is how we met Nancy, the owner of Chameleon Colorworks. Nancy instantly fell in love with our newest scent, Unleash, and quickly snatched up most of our supply.   

Chameleon Colorworks is a dyeworks and fiber studio that offers stunning and interesting colorways in a variety of yarns and fibers. Nancy will be at Stitches West in Santa Clara from Feb 25-28. Visit her in booth 837 to get your paws on a bottle of Unleash.

Won’t be in the area? Many yarn stores are now stocked with pieces from the Soak Worthy Collection Inspired by Everything Ravelry. Here is a list of stores that currently have all or part of the collection.

Prewashing helps to avoid unexpected color bleeding, or shrinkage.

We would highly recommend prewashing your fabrics if they are very deep or vibrant in color. You wouldn’t want those dyes to transfer on to the surrounding fabric.

Another issue is shrinkage. Different fabrics will shrink differently. This is an issue when using many different types of fabrics in one quilt. Your finished quilt may pucker around the seams if the fabrics are not prewashed. Some quilters prefer this look and opt not to prewash for this very reason.

We’ll admit that we are not always diligent with our prewashing, however when we do choose to prewash, you can bet that we reach for Soak. Wash like colors together either in a washing machine or soak in a basin.

This is one of the many beautiful quilts that Jacqueline has laboured over.

Grab a coffee or tea and join us each Friday, to learn how these Soak worthy bags came to be. Are you bagged? Send us your favorite bag. If we feature it here, we’ll send you a Soak gift pack, in a pretty bag, of course!

On our many trips to New York City we try to visit stores and friends alike. On a recent trip to New York, we ventured outside the city, crossed the river and into the hip town of Hoboken, New Jersey.

There, we found our friend Patricia, owner of Patricia’s Yarns. If you stroll through the shops and streets, you are sure to find delightful stores, cafes and other treats. During our last visit we were lucky enough to be there on the shop’s birthday. Many hours, tea and cupcakes later, we left to head back towards the city, with a lovely new bag filled to the brim with knit projects and yarn related treats in hand.

In Patricia’s bustling boutique you’ll find a wide range of sophisticated fibers, patterns and tools, and of course, an ample stash of Soak.

Check out her blog as well.

http://patriciasyarns.com/

http://pyknits.blogspot.com/

Soak was first launched in the knitting industry as a way to care for your hand knit pieces. Knitters quickly realized that Soak was also great for blocking, felting and finishing their knit and crochet projects.

Blocking is a term that most knitters have heard of, and know that they should do. However, many are guilty of skipping this step. Blocking allows for the piece to be stretched and shaped into the right dimensions. This is especially important if you took the time to create a beautiful intricate lace pattern. Blocking will help to “open up” the designs to show it’s true potential. Below we show a beautiful scarf that Chris made with only the right side having been blocked.

Remember to refer to the yarn’s ball band for care recommendations before soaking it in the water.

How to block

1. Use cool water when blocking or your piece may shrink.
2. Add your low-suds detergent. Remember to use only one teaspoon per gallon of water. Don’t let the lack of bubbles tempt you into adding more.
3. Soak your piece for 2 to 15 mins depending on the yarn type. Most yarn washes do not contain harmful ingredients so do not fret if you accidentally leave it in for longer.
4. Remove excess water by gently squeezing the piece against the side of the sink or wash basin. Avoid lifting a soaking knit piece out of the water as the weight may distort the shape of it.
5. Roll the knit piece in a towel absorb the rest of the excess water
6. Block your piece by laying it flat on a towel or blocking board and shaping it as you go.

Lay it flat to dry. Try to find a place with good air circulation on all sides. Flip the piece over half way through the drying process to help keep the shape. This picture compares an unblocked piece to a blocked one. Notice how the piece lays flat and the stitches are evened out in the blocked square.

Click here for the full article on blocking and washing hand knits from Knit Simple.

Grab a coffee or tea and join us each Friday, to learn how these Soak worthy bags came to be. Are you bagged? Send us your favorite bag. If we feature it here, we’ll send you a Soak gift pack, in a pretty bag, of course!

Meet Carrie and Phil. The newest members of the Soak family.

Carrie is a fun-loving multi-tasker. She is as happy carrying towels to the beach and toys to the park as she is keeping your yarn stash and other neat stuff, tidy at home.

Carrie has quickly become the favorite bag of choice for travelling knitters, companies hosting retreats and swimwear shops preparing for spring. Her bright personality and durable structure make her an immediate success on both a functional and emotional level. She has displaced baskets, soft bags and the occasional tote in many wardrobes, living rooms, playrooms and closets.

Carrie, in a smaller, daintier version, made a brief appearance at The National Needle Arts tradeshow, playing host to a limited edition Soak worthy kit inspired by everything Ravelry. The kit included one of our newest patterns, yarn and a bottle of Unleash. A limited number of these kits are still available; email us, for details if you’d like to purchase one.

Phil is bright and indispensable. Phil loves protecting hand-washables from the rest of the laundry and relieving the sink of its duties by providing a safe haven for soaking. Phil, while not the most adventurous traveler, prefers the ‘stay at home’ life, shifting from bag to wash basin to storage basin on demand. He also occasionally provides a squishy and safe home for the kitties (usually with sweaters as pillows). Phil meets hand-washing with enthusiasm, and has truly become a close member of the household. Phil is eager to meet the summer sun (we live in Canada after all) so he can migrate to the cottage, filled with ice and drinks at the beach, or keeping snacks and treats sand-free.

While Phil and Carrie slowly make their way to stores near you, you can always call or email us to order them (both for yourself or for your shop). Like all great bags, once you get your hands on them, you’ll never let them go.

Soak, while designed for all fine fibers, is the perfect (and generally preferred) solution for hand-washing lingerie.

Ask lingerie expert Jennifer Klein, from Secrets from your Sister, who recently answered the age old question- how to hand wash bras, on sweetspot.ca.

On February 18^th we head off to NYC to our semi-annual tradeshow, CurveNY. There, we spread the word of Soak to lingerie boutique and department store buyers world-wide. We start with our basic hand-washing techniques, move through our delicate fragrances and talk about our award-winning packaging and designs. We’re also introducing Carrie + Phil, the latest members of the Soak collection.  Phil loves protecting hand-washables from the rest of the laundry and relieving the sink of its duties by providing a safe haven for Soaking.  Phil or no Phil, hand-washing lingerie on a regular basis prolongs its life and keeps it looking clean and stylish longer.

This pictorial review of Soak, said to ‘explain the phenomenon that Is Soak’ does just that, so, enough from us, get SOAKing.

http://brokeandbeautiful.com/