This is the way we wash our ....

yarn.

I have a terrible problem with colourmartUK.  All that cashmere.  I get a bit flushed (fans self).

There is a fair accumulation of coned yarn around the place at this point, and somewhere in my recent swatch frenzy, I started experimenting with how to get the best out of it.  Originally I was charmed by coned yarn because of the lack of ends to weave in - so efficient! - but the oils make it hard to predict bloom and final gauge.  And anyway, if I'm going to bother to knit with something exquisite, I would enjoy wringing every last ounce of tactile pleasure from it, instead of running the harshness of machine oils through my fingers for 1800 yards.

Once I discovered that it was completely possible to fit one 150 gram cone of dk cashmere in a single niddy-noddy load AND that it all fits neatly and easily into one ball-winder ball, well, it became open season on the cones.

Autumn Tweed was an early acquisition, almost 2 years ago when I first discovered ColourMart.  A very soft 2 ply, it actually looked good enough to work with on the cone.  This one responded very well to hot water, sink and hand agitation and though I am sure it shrank a bit, it was not noticeable to my eye.

 

In the picture, the coned strand looks nearly the same as the washed skein, but a side by side of a washed and unwashed skein shows (or it least it would if I had not apparently failed to photograph this stage) at least a third greater volume and a significantly softer texture.   The construction is two plies of a very soft single and I expect was originally intended to be knit on idustrial machines into a sweater.  I love it.  Can't wait to knit it.

This other yarn - also from ColourMart - is a much less soft 6 ply.  The vendor takes fine singles for weaving, twists them into two-ply laceweight and then plies 3 strands of two ply and I have to admit that though I adore the color - olive heather - I was initially disappointed.

The resulting yarn arrived looking a little bit strandy and felt a bit hard and  I didn't see how it could turn into something nice to wear and knit.  I washed a skein in the sink a few weeks ago with detergent and hot water and a plunger - a successful technique with the first yarn
- and it improved.  But not enough.  It didn't bloom.  It didn't feel like cashmere.  I wasn't satisfied.  Saturday I decided it was worth a potential 35 dollar loss to learn more.

On this intellectual whim, I stuck it in a small (to minimize freedom of movement) lingerie bag in a load of towels, with regular laundry detergent (BioKleen) and a warm wash, warm rinse.  Extreme skeinwashing.  Maybe even Xtreme.

I may have been a little feverish.

When it came out, I was sad.  Oh I was sad.

Very, very sad.

But I'm a determined woman.  I pulled and stretched and yanked. 

I cranked the swift as wide as I could.

The autumn cashmere skein - which fits completely over the green one - was wound on the same niddy noddy. 

20% loss? 25%?

But it looks pretty.

Very pretty.

Not felted.  Not matted.  And soft.  Like luxury air.  Like cashmere.

I think I can see a difference.

I can feel it too.

A few quick calculations caused me to run and quick order another skein, since there's no denying there was some significant yardage lost to this experiment.  I don't recommend trying this with something that isn't replaceable without a 2nd mortgage, or if you are not the type to be able to shrug off the loss of 100s of yards of cashmere, one way or the other.  And I expect it might be possible to generate a similarly lush result with less shrinkage.  But I'm glad I tried it.  I learned something.  Next time I have a load of towels I'm sending the next skein through and when they are all done I'll have something that's a pure pleasure to work with.

I had the skeins on the desk next to me while I wrote this.

Guess I am not the only one in the house who likes her cashmere fluffy.

Comments

[shelly]

OMG Juno, I about had a heart attack seeing that green gob of cashmere, but look at it. Fabulous. Reading this post was like watching Circue du Soleil! ha ha. On another note, I see you've already discovered the Bi-O-Kleen. Clever girl.

[Chris]

Yikes - I'm picturing towel lint on the cashmere and cashmere lint on the towels and one happy kitty with her own towel linty ball of cashmere!

[denise]

So does this mean you have invented machine washable cashmere? I want some of that!

[tsocktsarina]

I'm reminded of the classic Alka-Seltzer commercial. I can't... believe... you machine... washed... the whole... thing. No swatch! You a crazy lady, even by my standards.

But yeah, one way or another, you certainly gotta wash that coned stuff. You don't know where it's been. Or often you do, and that can be even worse.

[carrie]

A-DORE-a-ble. (The cat, I mean.)

(Oh, yeah, the yarn too.) :)

[charli]

I don't know nearly as much as you do about cashmere, but you might like the Sarah's Yarns, site. I keep ogling her pages but haven't bought anything yet. And no affliation here. I learned of her because Tilli Thomas refuses to let her sell their yarn because her prices were much less expensive than Tilli wanted them to be. So, I love Sarah's Yarns, even though I've yet to buy anything from her. She has cashmere, silk and lots of Jaggerspun in, I think, 3 varieties.

I love your cashmere!

[janna]

Pretty kitty with pretty yarn -- definitely worth all the hard, scary work!

[Catherine]

Wow a new place to spend money and on cashmere! I don't think I have enough cashmere in the stash so thanks.

[Irie]

Yum, I love that Colourmart cashmere. I knit with the stringy stuff and then give it a gentle run through the to get the fluffiness, it changes so much after that! But what you've done here is a bit extreme. Glad it worked out okay... from green felted brain to green fluffy skein! :)

[Kathy W]

I'm in awe of what you accomplished. I would probably have given up or had a meltdown. Either way, it would have been tearful.

[Cassie]

Honestly, if I'd pulled that out of the machine, I probably would have had heart failure. You're very very brave (and smart too).

[Beth]

I'm so glad you were able to rescue your yarn, but I still need a little lie-down after seeing the "after" picture. You should have warned us that this post was going to be graphic.

[Stephanie]

Wow. That felty picture actually made me nauseous.

[Kim U]

I swear, I felt faint when I saw The Post Wash Picture. Yikes. Glad it worked out!!!

[Carrie]

Oh lawd, I feel faint. Even knowing there's a happy ending, I can scarcely make myself look at That Picture.

[kmkat]

When I saw the semi-felted mass that came out of the washer I thought perhaps you would slice it paper thin and use it to cover a wall. Not that that would have been a bad thing, you understand.

[Specs]

Wow. I'm glad you're out there doing this experiment so we don't have to. Putting cashmere in the washer is a terrifying thought! (Glad it turned out fine though.)

[Kristy]

I'm so impressed you saved that yarn. I'm pretty sure I would have given up when I saw it come out of the washer. It's beautiful!

[JoVE]

I can't help but think that the shrinkage at this stage means more stress free washing at a later stage. there is only so much that stuff will shrink. So an easy care soft cashmere sweater is in your future. Bonus.

[Shannon]

Wow. In that picture of the skein coming out of the wash, it looks like a solid lump of yarn - well matted/felted. I probably would've cursed myself and chucked it in the bin. I'm so impressed that you managed to actually get a usable yarn from that!

[Kris]

So much braver than I am. Cashmere in the washer?

Thanks for the link to Colourmart - my wallet will be most unhappy.

[Tina M.]

*shiver* You are so much more brave than I. I almost wept when I saw that sodden looking brain coral mass of yarn, and yet look how well it turned out! You've really given such a graphic example of how you can't judge a coned yarn by it's appearance OR feel. I knew they had oil on them and would be different, but damn...

Think I'll try me some coned yarn come Rhinebeck. :)

Oh, and perfect colors for you, earthy and subtle.

[Laurie]

Oooohh. Not only are you braver than I, I would have executed premature closure and called it a loss.

[melissa]

Wow. A yarn explorer. Going where no one has gone before. I salute you!

[Kathy in San Jose]

Courtesy of the yarn inventory and picture session that I thought I'd do today, at this very moment in my lap, I have a 2 lb. cone of burgundy silk with maybe 3500 yards on it. It too, is pretty hard, so I think I'll try the "skeining & washing before knitting" trick to see if it softens up. Thanks for the tip!