How to Treat Hand Spun Yarn

Hand spun yarn is its own art form.

Hand spun yarn is an art piece unto itself. Instead of buying machine spun yarn at the craft store, buy hand spun yarn through a local spinner or online retailer. The spinner puts her own art into the yarn, spinning it thick or thin, with natural variation in the fiber.
The spinner may also hand dye the yarn, which means each skein has a color pattern unique to that skein. Whether you spin your own yarn from raw fiber or purchase someone else’s yarn, you need to take care of this yarn so it will be at its best when you knit or crochet, and turn it into a work of art.

Things You'll Need

• Hand spun yarn
• Dish soap
• Vinegar
• Towel
• Knitting needles

Instructions

1. 

   Set your own yarn by placing it in soapy water.

   Set the twist in the yarn after you have finished spinning and plying the yarn. Fill two sinks with water as hot as you can handle. Place a squirt of dish soap in one sink and a tablespoon of vinegar in the other. Place the yarn on the top of the soapy water and push it down into the water. Do not scrub it. After 10 minutes, place the yarn into the vinegar water. Wrap the yarn in a towel and press on it to get the water out. Hang the yarn to dry.

2. 

   Hand spun yarn often has variations in texture.

   Test the yarn by knitting a small section to see if it is right for your project. Hand spun yarn does not always come in the sizing of machine spun yarn, so it is important to test knit a section.

   Knit the item. Because hand spun yarn varies in size along the length of the yarn, you can see that some areas look thinner than others. Therefore, take another piece of yarn and double knit in those areas.

   Do not break lumps in the yarn apart to make the yarn thinner. These lumps are called slubs by spinners. Breaking the slubs will weaken the yarn. Keep the slubs together. Variations in the yarn add character to your finished piece.

3. 

   Hand wash handspun items.

   Wash the item when it requires cleaning. If you are concerned the dye will bleed, spot clean the item first. Hand wash hand spun yarn in lukewarm water with detergent and place it in the spin cycle of the washer. Hand rinse the item in warm water mixed with white vinegar and put it on the spin cycle again. Lay the item flat to dry.

Tips & Warnings

• Store your hand spun yarn in its skeins until you are ready to work with it. As you work with the yarn, inspect the skein regularly to ensure it is not tangled. If the yarn is not even, pulling on it can break the yarn. With hand dyed yarn that is not uniform across the entire skein, it can be more challenging to find a similar color in the yarn after you break it.

References

• Cassidy-Fayer, Carol. Spinning with a Top Whorl Drop Spindle.
• Ozark Handspun: Care and Storage.