Looking after hand dyed yarn

Caring for your hand dyed knits is super important to keep them looking majestic. 

how to wash,

If like me and you constantly spill tea down your hand knit shawl, its going to need a wash. take your precious woollen and dunk it in a sink of lookwarm water, feel free to use a wool suitable cleaning product like soak or eucalan, you want something that doesnt lather. Let it sit in the sink for a five, ten minutes, do not agitate or rub (i find a gentle poke of the stain helps) you dont want to felt this baby! 

to remove the water place the knitting on a flat towel and roll up like a Swiss roll, do not wring, i stamp on the rolled up towel to get as much water out as possible (dont wear socks, your feet will get wet) 

once as much of the water is out as possible lay flat to dry or pin out to block. then get wearing that beast again!

If the yarn bleeds

As a hand dyer i rinse all yarn until they run clear, and then rinse again, however some colours (im looking at you blues) do still bleed. If you suspect a yarn will be a bleeder i would recommend setting it further.

Take a stainless steel pot and fill with plenty water, and heat it up (you dont want it to boil at all in this process) pop your skein in the water and add a little vinegar (vinegar on its own will not fix the bleeding you need heat) leave it in the water for approx 10mins, again ensuring it does not boil. (enjoy that sheepy chip shop smell!) remove the yarn from the pan and let it cool down. then you can give it a rinse in cold water to remove the vinegar smell.