Yarn Care – Knot & Bones

Our Hand-Dyeing Process

At Knot & Bones, every skein of yarn goes through a careful, hands-on dyeing process in our Jacksonville studio. Once dyed, each skein is gently rinsed and soaked in cool water with a nourishing wool wash, ensuring the colors are set and the yarn is soft to the touch. Industrial dyeing uses gross amounts of water to ensure that their mass produced yarns never bleed. Being a small indie dyer, I do my best to rinse away as much of the excess dye as I can while trying to be conservative with the amount of water I am using. And sometimes due to the amount of pigment we use during our dyeing process, there will be a small amount of dye that is released from the fiber while you wash your projects at home. This is something to be aware of when choosing colors to use together in your projects(pinks, reds and yellows tend to be MAJOR bleeders). We then use a spin dryer to remove excess water, followed by air-drying—allowing each skeins fibers to fully bloom.

The Beauty of Hand-Dyed Yarn

Caring for Your Hand-Dyed Yarn

Caring for your hand knit pieces doesn’t need to be tedious or stressful! Here you will find some tips and tricks to help you tackle the process with piece of mind.

washing

🫧 Delicate Wash Instructions

The washing process really depends on the type of fibers that were used in the creation of your garments. Certain plant fibers such as cotton, bamboo, rayon and hemp can be readily washed in your standard washing machine with cool water on the delicate setting. If your garments are composed of animal fibers like wool, alpaca, silk or angora, we recommend gentle hand-washing in cool water with a mild Delicate Wash, such as the one we offer, designed for hand dyed fibers. Of course these are just my opinions based on my experience, always follow the care instructions that are available from the supplier of the yarns you are using. Continue reading for the use directions of our Delicate Wash, but if you are using another type of detergent make sure you follow that detergent’s specific use directions.

Add up to 1 teaspoon of delicate wash for every gallon of cool water—no need to be exact, just don’t go overboard.

Make sure your item has plenty of room to swish around and soak up the good stuff.

Let it soak for 10–15 minutes. It is not recommended to allow hand dyed garments to soak for long periods of time, this can break the bond between the dye and the fiber, causing excessive dye bleeding.

When time’s up, gently squeeze out the excess water(no twisting or wringing for wool, please!).

If you have extra sensitive skin you can give your garment a final rinse in clean water(though this is not necessary).

If the water changes color, don’t panic—that’s just a little loose dye making a break for it. Enjoy your fresh and clean garment!

Drying

When it comes to drying your hand-knit or crocheted items I will be honest, I would NEVER recommend placing your garments, regardless of the fiber content, in a standard home dryer. You know, the kind that blow hot air and tumble your items around? Absolutely not. My recommendation would be to use a spin dryer. They are available at several different price points and are a worthwhile investment if you are going to be hand washing your garments on a somewhat regular basis. They will not get your garments completely dry, but they reduce the drying time significantly. If a spin dryer is not accessible for you, do not fret! You can gently squeeze the excess water from your garments with your hands or you can use the towel method where you place your garment between two dry towels and gently roll out the excess liquid. I plan to create a more detailed tutorial demonstrating this, and I will link it here as soon as I do! After you have the excess water removed from your garment, I recommend laying your item on a clean flat surface, such as a clean dry towel or blocking mats if you have them. And keep them away from direct heat and sunlight! Heat can shrink and damage the fibers and sunlight can degrade pigments over time. At this point you want to gently shape your item(sometimes referred to as blocking) into the desired shape for the garment, being careful to not over stretch your item because wet fiber tends to grow! The time it will take for your garment to dry depends on the steps you took previously to remove the excess water. The wetter the item is when you lay it out, the longer it will take to dry.

Storage

When it comes to storing your hand-knit or crocheted items location is everything! You need to take into account the area you live in and the space you have for storage. For example, if you live in a damp or humid climate I would recommend storing your wearables(or unused yarns) neatly in sealed containers, such as plastic totes with lids or zippered garment bags. I would also recommend this storage method if insects are an issue where you live. There are several insects that like to munch on animal fibers, not just moths! There’s nothing worse than spending months/years(and hundreds of dollars!) on projects only to have them filled with holes when you pull them out to wear them! You can also decrease the risk of insect activity by making sure your items are clean before storing them for longer periods of time, and by storing natural insect repellents with your items(such as cedar chips).

So lets talk about clothes hangers. If your item is light-weight I do not see the harm in hanging it for storage, but if your item is bulky or has any significant weight to it I would suggest gently folding or rolling your items and storing them that way. When garments are placed on a hanger, the weight of the garment can create undesired stretching of the fibers after a certain period of time. This can cause the items to not fit you the way you intended(like pointy shoulders or gaping neck lines). If this does happen to you, do not fret! You can usually re-block your item back to its intended shape.