Mid-Summer Tune-Up
“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
Dear One,
I know I've hit the outer limits of my summer cooking mojo when I start making chicken salad from rotisserie chicken. And last night---to accompany the chicken salad---the side dish was cherry tomatoes with basil and olive oil. Talk about the quintessential lazy summer dinner! Not a single degree of heat was generated...in either Fahrenheit or Celcius.
I find that I love summer more if I carefully choose the right tasks (and entrees) to suit the daytime high temps. Lately it's been consistently in the 90s here (and humid to boot), so I am drawn to reorganizing cupboards, purging lone mittens and gloves from the mudroom bins, and finishing the jigsaw puzzle my mother-in-law loaned me in May.
I'm a little embarrassed to tell you that I am also, just now, getting around to washing my winter handknits. In my defense, it was a slow, cool spring in Minnesota and I was still wearing some of these beauties well into May. But I also got distracted by life.
Now---with the air conditioned, humidity-controlled interior of my house available to me---is the perfect time to wash and gently block my sweet sweater collection.
Of course I'm using Soak Wash throughout this process. It's gentle, it requires no rinsing, and it conditions the yarn while it cleans.
My superwash wool sweaters get Soak + delicate cycle + air drying. My traditional wool sweaters get Soak + handwash (or handwash cycle) + air drying. I can have two at a time basking on my kitchen table and still leave room for the two of us to eat.
And then they're fabulous-looking again. And they have the softest of good scents (unless you use Scentless Soak Wash). And I'm ready for whatever autumn throws my way.
I realize I've been writing this as if you are a sweater knitter like myself. But Soak is your friend for taking care of commercially made sweaters as well. And workout gear. And swimsuits. Especially swimsuits!
So grab a bottle of your go-to scent and breathe new life into all of your stretchy garments. Future you will be oh, so grateful.
Gaby
