Yarn usage and care
The use and care of hand-dyed yarn is not so different from dealing with high-quality, industrially produced yarn. A few points should be considered to enjoy the yarn for a long time.
Preparation:
The hand dyed yarns are wound in skeins. These should be winded into balls before knitting / crocheting. The easiest way to do this is to have a swift and a ball winder. The skein of yarn is carefully placed around the swift and the securing threads removed. Then, the yarn can be wound up with the ball winder. If you don’t have a swift at hand, a second person can help and hold the skein apart with both hands while the ball is wound. I’ve had the yarn partially stretched over both my knees (which I can’t recommend without reservations due to subsequent back pain), or I used the back rest of a chair. A ball winder is also not absolutely necessary. With the help of a cardboard tube from a kitchen roll or a thick stick, you can easily wind yarn balls without expensive tools. I recommend to look for this simply at Google.
During Knitting / Crocheting:
Each skein of yarn is individually dyed by hand. This implies that each skein is unique in itself. Two skeins of one color will therefore always vary slightly. If knitting or crocheting pieces are going to be made from more than one skein of yarn, it is recommended to alternate the individual skeins. Making a test piece (so called swatch) is not only a good way to make a gauge test, but also to see in advance the color patterning of multicolored yarns.
Care:
High quality yarns need good care to stay high quality for a long time. Even though most of the yarns have a “superwash” treatment and should therefore be suitable for a wool program of most washing machines, I still recommend hand washing of the knitted or crocheted pieces made of hand-dyed yarns using a wool detergent. Colors may still “bleed” during the first few washes. Dark colors in particular are best washed separately or tested on a test piece beforehand. Intensive rubbing and wringing should be avoided. Instead, gently squeeze the water out of the finished piece using your hands and then roll it up in a clean towel. The towel will absorb the excess moisture. To dry, it is best to lay the piece flat or block it. Hanging it up can pull at the stitches.
Superwash: Superwash means that the fibers have been specially treated before spinning so that they are machine washable and do not “felt” so quickly when dyed or washed. It makes the yarn easier to care for, but also less natural.
Care in short:
- Wash dark colors separately or test on a test piece beforehand.
- Hand wash recommended
- Dry lying