Yesterday I was winding yarn for my February sock cast on and when I unwound it, it looked different than it had appeared in the twisted hank. This wasn’t a problem as it will still work with the pattern I have chosen, but it was a surprise.
So let’s talk about how to buy hand-dyed yarn.
Hand-dyed yarn is a delight (mostly) to behold and it is very easy to be drawn in by the prettiness of it all and end up with yarn you have no idea what to make with or are too scared because you need just the right project for this oh-so-pretty yarn.
Hello socks and shawls. A basic pattern for either of these will show off the yarn.
If possible, buy your yarn in person. Then you can see the colours and are not subject to the vagaries of your screen and the effort of the dyer to capture the true colour. But the yarn I wound was purchased in person but still surprised me. (The whole skein was dip dyed which wasn’t apparent in its twisted state where it looked slightly tonal.) How do you deal with this? Unwind the skeins of course! BUT ask the shop owner first. They do not want their lovely yarns left in a mess.
If you buy hand dyed yarn on line you have to trust that the colours shown are a true representation. To see how true your own electronic device is, look at yarn you have in person and how it looks on screen and take any differences into account when looking at websites. If you are able, look on Ravelry at other people’s photos. Do they all look the same or is there a big variation; do they look the same as the dyer’s shop?
Does the dyer dye the same colour on different bases and do they post a photo of all the colours on all the bases? I know this can be a lot of work but colours look so different on different bases. For example, ontheround shows her color of the month on each of four bases and has a knit swatch and a crochet swatch.
I have not ordered from this dyer and have not seen her yarn in person but this effort makes me more likely to order from them.
However you buy your yarn enjoy using it and the process of making something.
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