[mama25]

A friend of mine just knitted me a couple wool soakers for my baby. I have never used wool and she had never knitted a soaker or with wool. So, this is new to both of us.

I just got them today and put them on her with a pinned flat underneath, but when she wet, it wet through the soaker. Should I have done anything to "prep" them first? Also, the stitches are looser than I thought they would be. How loose is normal? Maybe that's why it leaked through...
Can somebody help me understand this whole wool thing?

[SuJo]

Wool needs to be lanolized. I think there is info about it in the Cloth 101, it's a simple process. Good luck!

[survey77777]

If the stitches are REALLY loose it would leak. I think sujo's suggestion that perhaps it hasn't been lanolized is more likely though. The other possibility is that she used a superwash wool or something with acrylic in it.

Here are some instructions for you:
Life More Simply: How to Lanolize Wool

[fostermom24]

also your wool soaker is only good depending on the diaper underneath it..the diaper needs to be quite absorbant..

[mama25]

Okay, here's what's happening now. The one she was wearing that leaked, I went ahead and lanolized(although,according to the floating on top of the water test, it didn't need it). I put the other soaker on her, but this time I upped the absorbancy of her diaper underneath. This time, the outside of the diaper was wet, but the soaker was not!!! So, I guess it was the diaper.

Now another question. My friend(she's a beginner knitter) knitted these using a free pattern online. But the leg holes are not very stretchy and the stitches look stretched right at the thigh. I don't think this is normal, but since I have no clue how to knit, I sure don't know how to tell her to fix it. Do all soakers do this? I thought they'd be stretchier around the legs.

[Kristan]

I have never heard of the floating on water test. But then I never looked for a test. I do know that when I washed and lanolized our longies, they floated before I lanolized them.

If you posted pics it'd be helpful to see what you meant about the stitches. But maybe they're not sized right for your LO, or she had her tension off.

[survey77777]

Are the leg holes ribbed (like the cuff of a sweater)?
I think the test is to see if water beads or is absorbed when you pour it on.

[mama25]

They do feel much better since I lanolized them. The leg holes are not ribbed, which is kinda what I expected them to look like. Would that make them fit better around the legs?
I'll try to post a pic!

[mama25]

Here they are. What do you think? Did she just do they legs wrong? Any better pattern ideas? The pair w/out the drawstring fit better. They stretch more, so it's easier to get them over a diaper.

[fostermom24]

I use wool all the time and I would say that the knitting does look a littel loose..No idea what went wrong with the bottom picture the leg holes don't look big enough..

[survey77777]

Hmmm...do you know which type of yarn she used? I'm really wondering if that's 100% wool. As for the legs...if they're big enough I'd ask her to add on some ribbing for you. It sounds like she wants this to work for you and I'm sure she would hate to have wasted her time on something useless. If she picks up stitches around the leg openings and adds about an inch of 2x2 ribbing it should help.
It's hard for me to tell how loose the knitting is on this stupid screen though.
Good luck!

[SuJo]

Those are adorable!