A Beginner’s Guide to Hand Dyed Yarn
Now that my Fabulous Dyers section of the website has been launched, I thought it would be helpful to discuss the beauty and artistry that is Hand Dyed yarn.
For all the years that I've been knitting, it has only been since GoneAwool has come into being that I started using Indie Dyed or Hand Dyed yarns. I'd always used big brand yarns like Rowan before because until the first lockdown happened, I'd always bought my yarn from shops and to be fair the indie section was either non existent or expensively unexciting! But one thing I have discovered on my yarny travels through the internet and social media, is that there is a whole world of colourful goodness and some incredibly talented creative dyers and business owners.
Two skeins of hand dyed yarn showing subtle variations
Many of these wonderful humans ply their craft in their kitchens or small units, hand dying small batches of yarn to create a product that can add a little pizazz when worked with a plain dyed yarn or can be used on its own to make amazing garments and accessories.
And although one of the reasons we buy indie dyed yarn is because we want to support a small business...which is a very good reason...we actually buy it because it's pretty, it's eye catching and a riot of colour that we just need to have. But what also makes these skeins of squishy goodness so special is the fact that they’re unique and, in our own way, we all like being a little bit unique. But unfortunately, it's this uniqueness that can cause problems for indie dyers when it really shouldn't!
Because what happens is you see a gorgeous skein of yarn on a website or social media and you think, “that’s lovely, I know what I’m going to knit with that. Take my money!” and then you order however much yarn you need. You are so excited when it arrives that you decide to forsake all other works in progress (admit it, we all do it!) and cake it/wind it up into a balls ready to cast on. But it’s at this point, if you’ve bought more than one skein, that the enthusiasm may begin to wane as you realise that none of the skeins you ordered are exactly the same. You may now feel the overwhelming need to get in touch with the dyer and say, “I wish to register a complaint…” or you may just relegate the lot to your stash and start looking for one skein wonder patterns (of which I have a few…just saying!)
But as with anything that is hand crafted, even if you follow a methodology, process or pattern, there will always be slight variations. It's like baking a cake: you may follow Mary Berry's recipe to the letter, but no two cakes will ever look exactly alike…or in my case, actually look like a cake…but you’ll still eat it! And in the case of artisan dyers, if you also add in the slightly unpredictable organic factors of different yarn bases, liquids and the steadiness of hands, what you end up with are skeins of gorgeous dyed yarn that look pretty similar, but may be ever so slightly different in terms of colour saturation, colour mix or colour bleeding/blending.
The thing is though, the dyers are very upfront about this and they will always try to match up multi skein orders or even dye a new batch up just for you. There's usually a disclaimer though in the product description along the lines of “products may differ slightly from the image shown due to the hand dying process.” Now, I know we often see disclaimers when we buy online and think “oh they’ve got to put that to cover themselves,” and if you’ve not bought indie dyed yarn before it would be easy to dismiss this information as just that. But in this case, it’s not just there for legal reasons! The same goes for when a dyer advises that for larger projects you should alternate skeins to even out any variations. It’s all there to help you and it just means you need to plan your yarn use more carefully than if you were using a single dye lot big brand yarn.
Six very similar looking skeins, but still best to alternate
And variation isn’t a negative thing because it’s adding another level of uniqueness to your project. If you know that the skeins won’t be exactly the same you can account for that and make it work for you in the best way possible. It may be that simply alternating your skeins is the way forward. Useful tip: I tuck a different piece of scrap yarn into each cake/ball so I can remember the order. Or you may notice that one skein stands out in a more visible way such as a particular colour is more vivid. You can use that as a feature to add a perhaps unexpected, but welcome extra dimension to your knit! Because of one thing you can be sure, as the batch was dyed together, the variations are more organic and so they still look great together. And that is one of the pure joys of indie dyed yarn.
The point is, though, whilst you don’t get the uniformity of big brand yarns, what you do get are yarns that are carefully hand dyed by really creative and passionate people who are more than willing to help you give your makes the wow factor they deserve. You just need to do a little bit more planning!
I hope you’ve found this post useful, and if you are thinking of buying a skein or three of a yarn that has caught your eye, but you have some concerns just get in touch with the dyer. You won’t find one who isn’t totally enthusiastic about their colourways and bases. They really are the most helpful bunch of people I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with!
So when you’re planning your next project why not keep an eye on my Fabulous Dyer section or Creative Customer Gallery or even some of my pattern samples for examples of gorgeous yarns and dyers. It’s all there to help!
Until next time….