Using and Caring For Hand Dyed Yarn
When you buy indie yarn, you are buying a hand made product.
The nature of any hand made product is that the out put is variable with each creation.
While many of my colour ways are ‘repeatable’ there will always be variances between dye lots and, even within the same dye lot, due to the nature of the application of the dye. If you are using multiple skeins for a single item, please alternate between skeins if you have concerns about any variances in colour layout.
Please remember that what I offer for sale here has been created with passion and pride. I do my best to create my best, every time.
I take all my photos in a professional light box and then, using computer software, make sure I have done my best to represent the colours and the lay of colour as well as I can, so you can make the best purchasing decision.
Most of my yarn is skeined exactly as it is dyed, so that you can see where the dye has been placed and determine how that might work with your planned project. Some of my colour ways are reskeined (mainly tonals) so you can see how it might blend when it’s used.
Where available I also provide images of examples of my yarn knit or crocheted into a swatch or item.
How On Earth Do You Prepare Your New Skein Of Yarn For Knitting Or Crocheting!?
If you’re new to buying indie yarn you may wonder how you easily take the skein you’ve received and use if for your project.
How do you wind if off without it all tangling and the skein falling apart?
If you think you might regularly buy indie yarn it’s worth investing in a couple of cheap tools to make your life SO much easier.
Yarn Swift
A swift allows you to hold your yarn in place while you either spin it into a cake or roll it into a ball.
You can buy them reasonably cheaply from online stores like Ali Express, Amazon or Ebay or invest in a better quality model from the likes of Ashford.
Yarn Winder
A yarn winder will allow you to cake your yarn into a nice tidy, centre pull ‘cake’. It pays to spend a little more on your yarn winder as cheap ones can be endlessly frustrating and make a right mess of your lovely wool. But it’s also well worth checking out the thrift stores. I picked up a very nice quality yarn winder from my local store for $5 and it’s the one I use to wind all my cakes to this day.
Other Options
If you don’t want to invest in any extra tools just yet then the best way to wind your wool without ending up in a tangled mess is to place the skein around the legs of two upturned chairs or use a set of willing and patience outstretched arms. Then start winding!
Unless you are an absolute masochist, NEVER try knitting or crocheting directly from the skein. It’s just simply not worth the grief.
Caring For Your Hand Dyed Yarn
Super Wash Vs Non Super Wash
Most of my yarn bases are super wash. This means you can worry a little less about being too cautious when washing your yarn or finished project and can even put it in a gentle wash in your washing machine (I still prefer not to do this, even with super wash) or wash it by hand.
I also stock a small amount of non super wash and this is the traditional type of yarn that needs you to take car when washing it. You should only wash non super wash yarn by hand in cold water and move it around only very carefully when washing.
Bleeding
When you purchase hand dyed yarn you are purchasing a skein of lovingly crafted, unique yarn.
But there are some intricacies with hand dyed yarn that you need to be aware of when caring for your yarn or your finished project.
With all my yarn I heat set my dye for at least an hour. This combined with the correct application of the dye in the first place should mean minimal bleeding of the colour when washing.
Once the yarn has been dyed I then wash the yarn in warm water with a very small amount of wool wash. This is left to soak for a short time and then I rinse the yarn until the water is completely clear of any colour tint. 99% of the time this occurs on the first rinse but sometimes it can take a few more to be sure there is no excess colour left on the yarn.
Every now and then a skein may be shipped that is still bleeding slightly. This isn’t a fault but rather just an occasional part of hand dyed yarn. The quality of your water and they type of product you wash your yarn in might also cause some bleeding. This isn’t usually something to worry about unless the colour of the yarn is reducing or changing. But if your yarn is bleeding A LOT you should definitely get in touch.
Knots Or Frays
Every now and then a skein that is shipped may have a knot or fray in it, which is caused during the production of the yarn originally when plying.
I try to catch these as I am dyeing and processing but I’m only human and I may miss one at some point.
If this occurs it’s not the end of the world.
If you’re open to rejoining your yarn, then great. Knit on! But, if you are really unhappy with having to do so please let me know so we can discuss a resolution.
Indie yarn provides an amazing world of colour, fun, and uniqueness. Enjoy it and prepare to get addicted!