One thing that is exciting is finding a secondhand treasure! It’s one of the things I love to do, searching through unwanted clothing to try and find the good stuff. What is not as exciting is when it needs a bit of love and care. But if you find a good piece and all it needs to revive it is some hand washing, I consider that a lucky find.
I recently found a treasure indeed! A coat that is the same age as I am. Yes, I am considered vintage now. Joy! Some things become sweeter with age, I say. Like this coat made in Iceland! I wore her to the forest for her first adventure, and she kept me very toasty in the icy woods.
She is in beautiful condition, there was just a scent that I had to get out. Nothing offensive, just, unusual, and too active for my imagination, I guess it is. When I put the coat on, I went through a full, vivid, visceral story in my head that would in itself be a great little film—a woman walking on city streets, going into her apartment, visiting a cafe and a museum, late 1980s, Midwest, spending time with older relatives, looking at buildings, concrete texture, brick, enjoying some pizza, and I suddenly wanted to watch movies from the 60s taking place in San Francisco. Yes, strangeness can happen when I am around things with a history, and it’s one reason I find them intriguing. Perhaps that was all just my imagination, or maybe it was something more.
Anyway.
After I went on a trip down memory lane with this one I am naming Hilda, I brought her home and placed her in my bathtub for a good refreshing soak! She has new memories to make, with me. And she will show me how to knit a few things I do not yet know how to do: a hood, a standing collar, pockets, and a belt!
I figured I would show you how I washed this vintage wool. It was a very simple case, and it’s always a good workout cleaning wool—it is quite laborious and gets very heavy! There is no damage on Hilda, her wool is in amazing shape, she looks like new. I didn’t want to have it dry cleaned, it can be destructive, I don’t care for the chemicals and to be honest, I bond with my clothes when I wash them. I put love into cleaning and I wanted Hilda to have that love too.
Now let’s see how long it takes her to dry. My guess is six days, even in our dry climate. Wool is a trip.