Here is a 5 year old pix of some knit wear including a sweater supporting a pool of water.
It was 12 oz cup about 2/3 full, so that is about 8 oz of water pooled on that sweater.
And yes, the cement was dry when I picked the sweaters up.
Try it with your sweaters!. Then, make a knitting sheath; get, or make some gansey needles, and knit a good tight swatch. Wash it, oil it with lanolin, block it/ dry it. Then, try pouring water on your swatch. The water will pool on it. Another test is to face a bright window, and hold the fabric about an inch from your eye. If you cannot distinguish the edge of the window, then (if oiled) water will pool on the fabric and the fabric will keep you warm.
Left to right the yarns were Winghams gansey, MacAusland, and the old LB Fisherman's Wool. The socks and balaclava were knit from MacAusland. All of those fabrics will hold a pool of water. The 6-strand sock yarn that I use these days produces a fabric that feels softer, but is even more weatherproof.
A competent knitter can make a functional knitting sheath in half an hour. (Functional, not pretty!) A competent knitter can make a set of needles from music wire from the local hardware store. Use a firmly spun yarn, and in a long afternoon, you can prove to yourself that knitting with a knitting sheath will produce fabrics that cannot be reasonably knit with hand held needles. Yes, such fabrics can be knit with only hand held needles, but it is very slow and hard on the wrists. Been there, done that, which is why I went looking for a better way. With a knitting sheath, knitting such fabrics is fast and easy.
Anybody with an interest will try the technique. It works. Anybody that does not try, is not really interested. I do not have time for people that are not interested.
For the folks that are interested, I have time to give pointers and tips on how to make better knitting sheaths, better needles, and develop better technique.
Boot socks knit n 2015, each supporting a nice pool of water. In some places water has run off sideways, but each sock is holding a pool of water- e.g., the water is not draining down through the fabric. Nevertheless, these socks all allow water vapor to pass though them, allowing the feet to dry.
It was 12 oz cup about 2/3 full, so that is about 8 oz of water pooled on that sweater.
And yes, the cement was dry when I picked the sweaters up.
Try it with your sweaters!. Then, make a knitting sheath; get, or make some gansey needles, and knit a good tight swatch. Wash it, oil it with lanolin, block it/ dry it. Then, try pouring water on your swatch. The water will pool on it. Another test is to face a bright window, and hold the fabric about an inch from your eye. If you cannot distinguish the edge of the window, then (if oiled) water will pool on the fabric and the fabric will keep you warm.
Left to right the yarns were Winghams gansey, MacAusland, and the old LB Fisherman's Wool. The socks and balaclava were knit from MacAusland. All of those fabrics will hold a pool of water. The 6-strand sock yarn that I use these days produces a fabric that feels softer, but is even more weatherproof.
A competent knitter can make a functional knitting sheath in half an hour. (Functional, not pretty!) A competent knitter can make a set of needles from music wire from the local hardware store. Use a firmly spun yarn, and in a long afternoon, you can prove to yourself that knitting with a knitting sheath will produce fabrics that cannot be reasonably knit with hand held needles. Yes, such fabrics can be knit with only hand held needles, but it is very slow and hard on the wrists. Been there, done that, which is why I went looking for a better way. With a knitting sheath, knitting such fabrics is fast and easy.
Anybody with an interest will try the technique. It works. Anybody that does not try, is not really interested. I do not have time for people that are not interested.
For the folks that are interested, I have time to give pointers and tips on how to make better knitting sheaths, better needles, and develop better technique.
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