Warning: Banana Silk Hell.
Originally published at Soapturtle Knits. Please leave any comments there.
So, after posting Sunday, I decided to go ahead and finish up my scarf. I figured it was just stockinette in the round, I should be able to knock it out quickly and have a fabulous scarf for knitting group on Monday night.
I was so very very wrong.
I finished the scarf, and then went to wash it in the sink. The black banana silk proceeded to produce copious amounts of dye. COPIOUS. AMOUNTS.
This is the 3rd sink full of water.
After 6 sinkfuls, and several stints and just allowing the water to run, I left it overnight to just soak and hope that would loosen the rest of the dye up and then I could go about hanging it up to dry. And then, another sink full of water looked just as ink black as the one above and I said “fuck this” and threw it in the tub. I ran two tub fulls of water. I ran water between those tubs full. All inky black. Finally, I just left it in the tub to work on while I was in the shower. I hate wasting water, but I sure as hell can’t wear the damn scarf if it’s going to pour black all over me when it rains. Two showers later, and it’s still running black. I have given up and put it on top of a load of black T-shirts that need to be washed in hopes that the washer will handle it and all the extra black will help the more faded of the Ts.
What once was a fabulous scarf is now a hated knit item that has not behaved as it should. So basically, don’t buy black banana silk. It’s not pretty. It may seem pretty, and it may feel nice, and you may have neat ideas of simple items done well in it. But don’t give it. It’s lying to you. And just so you aren’t fooled, I dug through the intarwebs and found a picture of the same exact brand I used so you won’t be fooled by it in its natural habitat of the yarn store.
So, yes, I have a finished item, and no, I may never actually get to wear it, much less model it for the blog. Yes, I am unhappy about this, and no, I will never be tempted to buy Banana Silk again.
I can only pass this lesson on to you and hope that you can take this kernel of truth and use it for the good of your stash budget.