When I dye yarn I put it in the washing machine to soak, right? Generally, to try and save on water I will soak 2 days worth of yarn at a time - that way I don't have to put water in the washing machine every day of the week - every other day instead.
Last week, I knew I was going to be busy the next day so I got everything ready for dyeing for the next day. I was getting ready to dye my first batch of the wonderful new 80/10/10 SW merino/cashmere/nylon blend. So, I got 2 days worth of yarn ready, soaked them in the washer, made up all my dye for the next day, got the dye kitchen all cleaned up and ready to go for the next day and then proceeded to finish my other tasks (like getting the house cleaned up) for the following day. My plan was to get started dyeing early so I could get finished and then go out and play with our friends, who were coming up from Canton, for the rest of the day.
The next morning I was all ready to get started. I spun the water out of the yarn, got the pots going and was all ready - right on track. Then..............I opened the washing machine. That's when tragedy struck. I suddenly realized that I must have forgotten to turn the washer OFF after I put the yarn in it to soak. Oh yeah - BIG FREAKING MESS!!!!! Of course, since I was being all proactive and all, I had 2 days worth of yarn in there. Perfect. Here's what it looked like. If you have a weak stomach, you may want to look away.
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Luckily, the yarn is superwash and frankly, I am amazed at how the yarn itself held up. The yarn is in perfectly good condition - well except for that part about being tangled beyond all usefulness. But, nonetheless, I pulled it out and set about the arduous task of trying to separate the skeins. I just could not face the fact that 2 days worth of this wonderful yarn would be wasted.
Of course, I wrote about my tragedy on Ravelry. It never ceases to amaze me that I put such random things on there sometimes and it seems that someone is always there with a solution. Someone told me about the Knot A Problem group on Ravelry. Holy cow you guys - this is a group of people who not only LOVES to detangle yarn but they offer up their services for a nominal fee! I posted again about my tragedy and asked if anyone would be willing to take on such a monumental task in exchange for some hand dyed yarn. In about a 1/2 hour I had 6 responses from people willing to help!
Now, I was very upfront about the disastrous situation and that this was not a task for the weak at heart. Still, I had volunteers. Dudes, I'm going to be sending this yarn out in attempts to get it back to it's original state! I did actually manage to reskein 3 of them so it can be done - however, the time and patience it takes to do this are not things I have an abundance of right now. I am happy to "spread the wealth" - haha!!
Here is some of it drying out in the sun. Ugh..................
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8 comments:
Eeeeek! This is the image I get when I think about washing or dying yarn. But, as I was reading this post I had an idea that involved mesh bags...
Thanks for the info about the De-tanglers group. That's good to know.
OH wow. That makes me a little queasy. Poor yarn! You should bring one of those today. To show that everything doesn't always go as planned.
I'm really impressed that it is salvageable (is that even a word) at all! But I understand about the impatience part, I don't think I would have the patience to even try it out for myself. Thank God for Ravelry, that site is such a great tool for everything! I feel like I'm actually living on that page now, I hang there so much...
Yikes! What a total mess. I'm one of those who get a strange satisfaction out of untangling yarn, but that is, um,a little daunting! I'm glad you found some willing volunteers. Isn't Rav great?
Awww - knowing that it can be saved, that actually looks like a lovely zen exercise!Seriously, the very first lace yarn (merino) I ever had was sent to me by my mother. I don't know if all knitters can attest to this, but I didn't know how to "work" the skein. I am guilty of just plunging into things and doing the trial and error thing instead of planning first and - voila - I untied the ties and ended up with the biggest rat's nest ever. Over 1000 yards of lace weight gobbledygook. And I sat and untangled that thing at the kitchen table for three days. My husband would walk by and say, "Why don't you just cut it?" Since I wanted the continuous strand for a lace shawl, I knew I couldn't. I never did. I got my ball of yarn and the shawl...and a swift once I learned what those were for!
I would *love* to help if you want to send it my way with the recent order!
good luck on that one! my patience with tangled yarn is just a notch above sitting in rush hour traffic!
It looks like you have a washer full of cooked pasta! Just add sauce.
Just. Damn. Can't wait to see how that all turns out.
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