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distractions
posted 2 February 08 & filed under familia!, spinning
see, i have been knitting. i’ve just run into a few problems with my various projects. for example:
any suggestions on getting an ink stain out? i’ve tried acetone, water, oxy clean – i’m thinking about double stitching over the ink but the new stitches would be pretty darn obvious. or not? help!
in the meantime, some welcome distractions: spinning with my nieces and nephew. nothing like a spinning wheel to make three year olds (and two year olds, and a fourteen month old) curious. kiyra, the oldest, has declared she wants a spinning wheel for her birthday.
thanks for the sweet comments and emails from my last post ~ ~ you all rock. i got back from bolivia on monday and i’m slowly catching up on laundry, emptying suitcases, emails, and organizing photos from my trip. so, don’t worry, there’s a good handful of bolivia-related posts coming up.
happy groundhog day ~
p.s. download a slightly-dark and very short movie of my nieces and nephew in action (5 seconds, 1.5 mb)
Comments
Andrea, have you tried alcohol? I saw in several places that for ink stains they recommend either alcohol or lemon juice. I hope you can get it out; it would be such a pity.
Bentornata!
Such sweet, sweet children!
As for the not-so-sweet stain, I had an ink stain on a shirt. I rubbed the juice of a lemon into it, then hung it out on the line in the sun. Repeated a few times, and the ink stain did come out eventually. However, it was a white cotton blouse, so I’m not sure how this will work for your knit—
Good luck!
Hey Andrea, I’m a chemist. Alcohol is the right solvent for ink and it won’t cause your dyes to bleed. The best alcohol for the job is ethanol, but that can be hard to get. You can use isopropyl alcohol but it will take a little longer, or you can try vodka or the highest proof booze you can get your hands on. Everclear is probably perfect. Anyhow, you want to soak the ink spot in a cup of alcohol. It may take up to 2 days. Then wash gently in regular water. If it doesn’t come all the way out, do it again. I’ve removed sharpie pen from tables, huge ink stains from broken pens in pockets etc. with this method. The only time it might not work is if that ink came from a bottle of India ink which has a different solvent base I think. But if it came from a pen, try the alcohol. It won’t harm the fibers. You may want to use a nice wool conditioner in your final rinse when you’ve gotten the ink out since alcohols are drying. I use regular hair conditioner – only ONE drop in a whole sink of water.
Good luck!
~ janel
that looks like one very happy wheel party the kiddos are having. cuties.
i’m relieved to see good info. on dealing with ink stains in the comments; it’s a little heart-wrenching to see it on your beautiful sweater.
~ meowgirl