These pictures show my bathroom a week ago, festooned with "mobiles" of washed and drying alpaca yarn!
Note the technique here: A hank of yarn is tied into a large loop, gently hand-washed in warm water and a dollop of baby shampoo, and carefully rinsed. Then loop the yarn over a coat hanger and hang in the shower to drip dry. Subsequent hanks are treated the same way, but with their coat hangers hanging on the yarn PULLING IT TAUT!
A bag with a weight is hung on the bottom hank, to pull it too.
Why all of this palaver?
well, true to my last posting on the dreaded "mulesing" issue, I have been prepping wool I already have to be used. Stash depleting excercise in action here.
This yarn, a lovely chunky blue alpaca had been mostly knit by a friend into a very dense bulky sweater that I was not inclined to finish, let alone wear.
She had generously given me lots of lovely yarn but some had already been started into projects.
When you re-use yarn, you must wash and straighten it first, to release the "memory"- the kinks from the already knitted loops. This is a bit of work, but not at all difficult.
First:
frog your UFO, unraveling it, then winding it into a wide hank of yarn. Tie in three places with bits of string.
Second: hand wash the hanks in warm water with a bit of baby shampoo, and gently rinse.
Third:
hang to dry, with weights to pull the yarn straight, as shown!
viola- your yarn, is clean, straight and fluffy.
Ready for that fabulous new project!
This works for vintage sweaters you want to re-use the yarn from, projects half completed, ready to be frogged(unravelled), or any other yarn you wish to prep for knitting.
you know the mantra: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!
on that note,
check out this terrific website/store: http://www.earthfriendlyyarns.com/
Earth Friendly Yarns has a wonderful range of yarns and accessories all guilt-free!
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