Soap Nut Vessels by Kristen TenDyke

Soap Nut Vessels

This pattern can be found on pages 22-24of Knitting Green: Conversations and Planet-Friendly Projects, by Ann Budd with contributions from some of the knitwear industry’s leading designers.

Instead of using laundry detergent, Kristen TenDyke throws a few soap nuts in her washing machine. Soap nuts are the shells of berries that grow on trees in India and Nepal. The shells contain a large quantity of saponin that acts as a gentle detergent when agitated in water. Simply place a porous bag containing four or five soap nuts in the washer and enjoy three or four loads of clean clothes without chemicals, perfumes, or dyes. Kristen improved on the look of her original pattern (and made it easier to find the bag in a load of whites) by knitting this verison in a lacy pattern with renewable hemp yarn.