Willing evaporation

The Big Pink Thing is done.

It was actually done yesterday at about 5pm, right before I went to knit-night. I put it in the washer with a little woolwash, soaked it for 10 minutes (I would ususally go longer, but time is not on my side here.) then put it on the spin cycle to get it as dry as possible, spread it on my bed (it did not fit. We have a queen size bed. This should tell you something of the bigness.) and left. I was hoping, for reasons that are too optimistic and stupid to believe now, that it would be dry when I got home. Not so much. Today, after sleeping in a damp, wool smelling bed, I have been drying it with a hair dryer while a fan blows over it. I am very, very open to other ideas – as is Joe…who also slept in a big damp bed.

Send evaporation thoughts. Big Pink Thing needs to make the evening courier run to be in it’s new home on time and I am opposed to mailing damp knitwear.

As for what Big Pink Thing is, or why it has been knit…all will be revealed in the fullness of time. (That’s Monday.)

91 thoughts on “Willing evaporation

  1. Dehumidifier, electric blanket(pushed underneath?).
    Sending damp knitwear could cost a lot more, too. If you are forced to do so, ship it with something that smells good, so BPT smells like that instead of wrapping material.
    Good luck evaporating!

  2. I would stick a few of those little dessicant packages that come in pill bottles and nori packets inside the package when you send it. (If you save them that is.) They will attract any residual moisture.

  3. Put lots of lights on it? The heat from the lights may help speed the evaporation.
    Wow, too big for the queen size bed, no wonder you were doubting making any progress!
    Good Luck, I am sending drying thoughts your way.

  4. Crank up the heat in the room along with the fan. (and if it starts getting humid then suck it up for the energy costs and keep the heat cranked up AND the window cracked up and the fan running).

  5. Only thing I can think of is more hair dryers and every fan you can get your hands on. Call your friends and neighbours – tell them it’s a party – and have them bring whatever they’ve got. Good luck. Wondering if perhaps the BPT, now the F(inished)BPT is a wedding shawl??? Since it’s going courier – and not knowing her marital status – could this be for Jaime TWP??? Best of luck getting this dry and gone. Chris

  6. Oh, and, if possible, I’d change the blanket underneath it to a dry one to help speed up the process.

  7. Someone once told me that it’s the last 10 minutes in the dryer that shrinks things, but at the time we were discussing a cotton yarn. Maybe on “tumble dry” until not-quite-dry?
    Good luck!

  8. Unless you’ve got a lot of those little silicone packets that come with shoes (you could throw like 200 of them in the box to mail, and it wouldn’t be wet by the time it got there…) I suppose disposable diapers (clean!) would work just as well!!

  9. Do you have a fluff cycle on your dryer? No heat. Just air and a gentle tumble?
    Other than that all I can think of is lots of moving air (fans or hair dryers).
    Can hardly wait to see what big pink thing is.

  10. Maybe put some towels in the dryer until they’re nice and hot, and then put them under the BPT while you’re using the hair dryer? I dunno, but good job finishing it, and I can’t wait to see what it is!

  11. You have tried everything that I would think of. Does Joe have a leaf blower?
    I’ve seen rice inside of salt jars to keep out the moisture, but I don’t think that it would work in this case!
    If you’re using heat anyway, you could …*gasp* pop it into the dryer for a bit (NOT on high!).
    I know that my DH has put all of our socks, using the BMFA STR yarn, through the washer and dryer (ON HIGH!!!), and they did come out fine. I still ride him about that though!.
    If you have to send it wet/damp, put a few layers of paper towels in between each layer of knit.
    Drying thoughts are with you!

  12. Dehumidifier is my bet, too (in the smallest room available). I had damp clothes in the basement when my dryer had issues and I hung them up down there, put the dehumidifier on and was shocked at how quickly they dried. Good luck, can’t wait for the big reveal.

  13. (You’re gonna hate me but I live in Texas…) Ahem. Air conditioning acts as a dehumidifier.
    Running off madly!!!!!!

  14. Can you put a few heat lamps over top (fairly close to the BPT or it won’t work)?

  15. It’s too late in the day to suggest putting it out in the sun, even if you didn’t fear fading, which you probably do. I like the hot-towels idea. Or can you somehow put it on a screen or rack or something so you get air circulation under as well as over it? When you put it in the mail can you throw in some of those desiccant crystals so it’ll keep drying on the way?

  16. the only thing I could think of besides the hair dryer is to hang/lay it outside and let the fresh air get to it

  17. Can you put (many) absorbent towels under BPT on the floor, place more towels on top of BPT, then gently walk on the towels? The weight (my weight anyway, which is probably much more than yours!) squishes water out of the item into the towels, which you can change and walk on some more. Sounds weird but works.

  18. Congratulations on finishing The Big PInk Thing. I am quite curious. You could try rolling it in towels, but with the size that could be tricky.

  19. I think BPT is begging for a joy ride. Take it out into the countryside, with clever, responsible people holding corners/edges in the car, and let the pink behemoth trail in the breeze, para-sailing style in the wind. Oh, what a lovely way to dry out, the wind whipping through it’s fibers, the air perfuming it with the scent of spring and sunshine. I assure you this would be a perfectly acceptible use of fossil fuel.

  20. It’s nothing that hasn’t been said already by people with first-hand experience, but I’d pop it in the dryer on Fluff Air (no heat) with a towel or two to absorb any extra moisture. Good luck.
    I’m guessing a lace bedspread. I was thinking “curtains” but it seems to be one thing and not pairs of things.

  21. I say find someone with a sauna, maybe a fitness club and get that baby in there. That’s dry heat. It should dry a lot faster. You might need a friend to help you hold it up.

  22. As scary as it sounds, I second Katie K with the low oven idea. It’s warmer/bigger than a hair dryer but doesn’t have the agitation problem of a clothes dryer. Unless you need it to be open to dry….
    Sending warm (drying) thoughts your way 🙂

  23. Seriously, how was the weather there today? dry? if so outside would’ve gone a long way towards drying, but since you’ve not done that or mentioned it… I’ve always wondered when ‘fullness of time’ was, so it’s Monday, eh?
    Can you somehow hang it on a dowel and have it hanging in a doorway or ….in the bathroom with a heater on…or….

  24. put large trash bags or something else non absorbing underneath. if nothing else it will help spare you from a damp bed, but it also helps keep the dampness from sticking around. otherwise i second the rest of the ideas.
    we have to wait until Monday?????? You are evil, very evil…

  25. Ask a dog groomer for her high speed no heat blow dryer!!!! They are like a leaf blower but not as big but just as strong.
    Nancy

  26. Turn it over and put something dry, if only lots of towels, under it. That will absorb some of the moisture and you won’t be trying to dry the bed out, too.
    If you have air conditioning and it’s warm, run it (or the heater if it’s cool) because it’ll reduce the humidity of the air. Things dry more quickly in dry air. Keep the air moving, too. Several fans blowing across it will help a lot.

  27. I love the the fullness of time is Monday. Taken out of context, that’s just a beautiful concept.
    Godsspeed, Big Pink Thing.

  28. If you want to continue with the hair-dryer idea, you could prop it up with some things – like cans or piles of towels if you want to prevent stretching – to allow for air-flow on both sides as you dry it – so you’re not drying the bed at the same time…Doesn’t help with the damp bed, but one problem at a time, right?
    My SO suggests using the swift (if you have a table-top version) on top a table (like a dining table) and then blow-drying it on that. That’s our 4 cents.

  29. MONDAY?
    Yarn harlot? Nope- you’ve got a new nickname—-“knit-tease”. (for leading us on;)
    Can’t wait to see the pretty pink knit.
    “Whew, whew” — there- I’m blowing on my computer…. that’s about all the help I have to offer;)
    DRY, PINK THING, DRY!

  30. Towels….lots of towels, wrap the Pink in them, you can also apply some pressure on it (step on it – it works) until it is almost dry.

  31. This may sound crazy…but how about kitty litter? four layers: sheet, kitty litter, sheet, Big Pink thing. It’s pretty absorbent (duh) and you can get it without irritating perfumes added. Couple that with a fan? In our neck of the woods you can get it made of compressed pine sawdust, just smells like christmas trees. Then owhen you pack up BPT you can just dump from the sheet into the compost. That’s what what my elderly neighbor used to absorb rainwater under her stuck-open windows for years and her house hasn’t fallen down from rot yet.

  32. Another idea from the SO….wrap it around your hot water heater …it emanates heat…
    You’re going to tell us which of these many ideas work, right? For when we decide to make our own “Big Thing”s….

  33. I once put something on one of those fold up drying racks and then put a fan underneath it blew up onto the knitted item…..dried pretty fast.

  34. Find someone with a radiator (not the kind in the car, but the one that heats a house). I do this all the time since my house is chock full of them. Put a towel over the radiator so your piece won’t have those annoying ridges from the radiator, then lay the piece (fold it in half) over the towel. Crank the heat for an hour. Maybe, given the time factor, a little blow drying whilst it sits on the hot radiator would help. I’m assuming it’s not soaking by now, but damp, so an hour or two would do it.

  35. Lift it up (if possible) on a mesh/sweater dryer thing so air can flow all around it.
    If that’s not possible, try putting something dry underneath it — the damp bed stuff helps to keep it damp, and you end up having to wait until the bed dries, too, for everything to be dry.

  36. I would also try the oven. I know it sounds crazy, but I used to bake my pointe shoes (back in my ballet days) on about 200 to 250 degrees F, for about 20-30 minutes. You obviously would want to keep a watchful eye on the BPT (maybe do a couple of 20-30 minute sessions, refolding it each time). Use a clean cookie sheet and put it on a rack low enough so the BPT has enough clearance to fit in the oven. Just make sure the wool doesn’t touch the heating element if you have an electric oven. Best of luck!

  37. My trick when I need to quick-dry wool knits: a warm oven. I haven’t done anything quite the size of your Big Pink Thing, but I don’t know why it wouldn’t work. Just heat the oven to a low temperature, yet quite warm. Put the Pink Thing on a clean cookie sheet or in a dutch oven sort of thing – whatever is large enough to hold its size… and refold it every once in a while. This has worked very well for socks and scarfs that had to be wrapped for gifts. Leave the oven door open an inch or two (or what’s that… ten cm or so?). Good luck getting it dried quickly! Looking forward to finding out its true identity and purpose. 🙂

  38. DRY….DRY….
    Can’t believe you’re making us wait till Monday…I can NOT think of anything that large (other than a bedspread, but the thought of a Big PInk Thing bedspread is a little weird).

  39. call around to your nearest laundry place. See if they have a non-tumble dryer (the kind with a drying shelf in it.) or something like that. You’re going to blow a fuse if you try to do it all with hair dryers. Do NOT put it in a tumble dryer. Good luck!!

  40. Somebody beat me to it – the dog groomer blow dryer! They are great! We have a store here that lets you wash your dog and dry it yourself. Maybe you have one like that and you could just go there… Either that or hang it outside… Hope it dries. Cannot wait to find out what in the heck it is!

  41. Fan and hair dryer were going to be my suggestions as well, barring a clear sunny day and somewhere big enough to spread it outside. Can’t wait to see it!

  42. I am mentally evaporating big pink’s moisture with the dryness of my wit.
    What’s it made of? Some fibres seem to hold on, and hold on. Any merit to suggesting the sunshine?

  43. Dude — you could iron it dry. I do that all the time with my jeans when I’m too impatient to wait for the dryer. Provided it isn’t acrylic (which I doubt, knowing you), it should be ok. Even probably with wool, if the dryer isn’t too hot and you’re careful.

  44. At the PNE (here in the Pacific, rather than your CNE), they always have those markets where everyone is trying to sell you something. Well, one year a friend of mine wanted to buy those “miracle shammies” (those yellow clean up towel things that soak an amazing amount of water), but wanted to get “the deal” (buy 2 now and get 2 free!), but she didn’t actually need 4 giant towels, so she gave me one. To this day, I still roll all my knit wear in it. It absorbs A. Lot. Then quickie blow dry with the hair dryer on max. They might sell those “miracle shammies” at Canadian Tire – or they might have a similar product if you’ve got a Canadian Tire nearby. 🙂
    Goodluck!

  45. Does your dryer have an air dry setting? Mine has one that’s no heat, just tumbling. Although from the glimpses we’ve seen, BPT looks like it needs to be pinned out while drying…yikes…we’re sending dry thoughts your way!!! 🙂

  46. Obviously it’s gone in the courier now, and I’m completely certain of your ability to have your way in the face of tremendous odds and pressure. So how did you get it dry? Move the bed onto the sidewalk? Scream “dry faster!” at it until it dessicated under the heat of the fury of your gaze?

  47. I’m thinking heat rises…it is always hotter up toward the ceiling. Olde fashioned drying racks used to suspend from the ceiling in front of the fireplace. Maybe get it suspended…suspend a net and stretch BPT in that…so BPT doesn’t stretch from weight. Get all the chairs in your house in a big circle, throw/tie some cross pieces across them and layout BPT…heat from above and below. My friend in hawaii has dehumidifiers and they work wonders…freaky strange things. Heat rises…that’s my big thought. Best of luck. That sounds really really BIG…can’t wait 🙂

  48. Ok i’ve done this..it may sound crazy but! it works.
    Fold it up and put it in the oven. ( i put a teatowel on the rack but mine was a sweater not a giant thing)
    Put the oven on at 220 F or so and leave the door open a bit. I took the sweater out for refolding every 15 mins or so but it worked and no shrinkage.
    Good Luck!
    ps if your oven isn’t at it’s cleanest maybe you want to put in some pot pourri or something

  49. I’m guessing the big pink thing is a Chuppah, ya know, a wedding canopy.

  50. If you have bath towels under BPT, change them every few hours.
    Try to convince Joe that you need a ceiling fan in the room with the biggest bed. That may not be a problem now…

  51. I just remembered something. Don’t put it in sunlight if it’s wool (or cashmere or alpaca or, I think, angora). I don’t know what happens if you do, but almost all the labels on wool yarn say not to dry it in sunlight, there must be something terrible in store if you do. After all the work you’ve put into it, don’t risk it.
    Like sheep never get wet and dry out in sunlight, of course. Maybe it’s just superstition, but all the same….

  52. I lay my stuff across a laundry rack positioned right in front of the (gas) fireplace. Hot dry air circulating up and through it is a very good thing.
    Fans??

  53. You should send it over hear, my room is ridiculously hot due to the sun shining right in my window. I had a bar of chocolate on my bed the other day and it melted into goo and the blinds were closed with the window open!! I half expect my glass of water to evaporate as soon as I enter the room! I’ve actually been getting a tan just by sitting at my desk!
    Hot wishes,
    EtSu

  54. You said ‘knitwear’… so Big Pink Thing is a garment. And it’s time-sensitive. Wedding shawl?

  55. OK. I admit defeat. My first guess (empahsis on the deadline) was wrong. So it’s NOT baby related, unless it’s a baby elephant.
    So it MUST be a chuppah. Mazeltov to the exceedingly lucky couple!
    Here in south Louisiana, where we know all about humidity and wetness, somtimes things don’t dry fast enough even with the air conditioning on.
    Place eye hooks in the wall all around the room, about 6 inches apart, a foot or so below the ceiling, or just below the ceiling fan if you have one. Put one in each corner as well.
    Run strong fishing line lengthwise through the edges of the knitted thing (assuming it is flat) and secure the ends of the fishing line in the corners of the room.
    To support the center, use fishing line to run a tic-tac-toe grid through the thing, and secure those ends to hooks along each wall. Adjust tension accordingly by spreading the knitted thing along the length of the lines, and secure with plastic clips placed along the edges of the knitted thing.
    If the thing has lace points, you can run a piece of line from each point to a hook, lacing it from point, to hook, to another point, to a hook — much in the same way that traditional Plains Indian and Northeastern tribes dry animal skins inside a hoop or frame.
    If it is nice enough to do this outside, you can use porch posts or saplings to secure the lines.
    It will look like your knitted thing is caught in a web.
    It only take about 20 minutes to set your thing up like this (unless you have a LOT of lace points).
    It really works.
    See my blog post of July 8, 2005 to see a shawl being blocked using the outdoor method.

  56. Send it this way, if it passes over upper michigan, the warm, dry air will surely dry it… and maybe it’ll help with the forest fire. Not a good year for Lake Superior, already.

  57. “What are you reading, Love?”
    “Oh, its just the Harlot talking about her pink thing — how big it is and how it’s still too wet”.

  58. Perhaps it is a Big Pink Sail for a lucky female sailor?
    Lots of towels above and below, and lots of rolling around, walking on and squishing of the Big Pink Thing. And what about those little space heaters? The portable room-sized ones? That might save your breakers a bit from the hair dryers.

  59. I put my felted Pirate hat (knit-like-a-pirate!) over my food dehydrator to dry. The gentle heat & fan did the trick!
    Can hardly wait to hear the Rest of the Story!

  60. Never dry knitwear on something absorbent. Always dry it on a sweater rack, or plastic (like trashbags). That way your moisture doesn’t soak into your surface, like your bed, and take twice as long to dry.

  61. How about newsprint paper? Not the kind with actual news on it, but the blank sheets you get from the storage/packing store? You could keep changing it until BPT is dry.

  62. Well I hope everything worked out and that you were able to get it shipped – dry! Can’t wait to see it!

  63. I’m assuming you have the heater in your home turned to full blast. I’m also assuming you don’t have a tanning bed in your home. Or a dehydrator. All family members with hair dryers doing syncopated circling of Big Pink Thing for ultimate in drying power and dorkiness? Sounds fun, actually. My guess: large dog house cozy. Or canopy.

  64. place it stretched out in all of her glory in the sun for old fashion air dry. cecilia

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