Maker's Maintenance - Getting the most out of your knitwear and crochetwear

A while ago I ran a poll on Instagram, asking whether anyone wanted to see how I look after my knit & crochet wear. The overwhelming response was "yes", but then WOOSH SeptOctNovBERBERBER happened, there was no light to photograph anything by, the kiddos were off school, etc etc. Here we are in late November (well into the woolly season for us), and I haven't shown anyone a thing.

BUT Lo and Behold we got some good natural light last week. So. Would you like to see how I look after my yarny things?

To my mind, rather a lot goes into "looking after" your clothes, starting from before you even make a purchase (whether that be for a finished item or for the materials to make one). To simplify things, however, let's assume you have yarny things in the wardrobe, and you want them to last. Then, let's make categories:

1. General care

2. Fixing problems

3. Resources

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1. GENERAL CARE

It may sound rather obvious, but caring for your yarny items can extend their lifetime significantly. Although everyone has accidentally shrunk a wool sweater in the washing machine at some point, it really is worth taking time to learn how to clean and store things properly.

CLEANING

Before you do anything, ask yourself whether your item really needs washing. Could you air it out instead, or spot-clean with a damp cloth? If only a proper wash will do, try to:

• Handwash, or machine wash on the delicate/wool cycle, using just a little bit of wool/silk detergent. Pad out the load with a couple of bathroom towels to prevent excessive spinning.

• Tackle stubborn stains with sunlight rather than harsh detergent.

STORAGE

In most parts of the world it's really hard to stop fibre-loving critters from getting into your home, so the best thing to do, at the very least, is to stop them from getting to your clothes. Storing your items properly will also help prevent them stretching or becoming misshapen.

When your items are in use:

• Place any items bought second-hand in the freezer for at least three weeks, to kill off any moth eggs and such.

• Store sweaters and cardigans flat, not on hangers.

• Use lavender sachets or cedar wood (sand lightly every now and then to release the scent) to repel moths.

• Riffle through cupboards and drawers regularly, to let in air and light, and to check for pests.

Out of season

• Carefully check for signs of damage, fix anything that needs fixing, wash everything, and then store in vaccuum bags or plastic containers with lockable lids.

• Use lavender sachets or cedar wood to repel moths.

2. FIXING PROBLEMS

As much as I think it's important to properly look after knit & crochet wear (and all clothes in general), that doesn't mean I'm precious about using them. The only way to honour the resources that go in to producing good yarny items (whether by me or a garment worker) is to wear them. That means, of course, that even with the best care they will eventually show signs of wear. Knowing how to deal with this, and keep items looking good*, is invaluable to extending their lifetime.

PILLING

Lots of fibres pill, from cheap acrylic to super-fancy, hand-dyed merino. I don't think there's much you can do to stop it (besides choosing a hard-wearing fibre, like Lettlopi wool, in the first place) but it is quite easy to solve: get a de-piller. With a little effort, yarny things look like new again (check out the difference on the socks below!). I have a wool comb as well as an electric de-piller. The latter is a bit of an investment, but worth it to me; all four of us wear wool for at least six months of the year, and it also helps me to keep my samples looking fresh for photos and shows. At the beginning of autumn I stick on a podcast and set to work on all the sweaters, hats, and socks. It's strangely therapeutic...

Remember: Gentle does it, even if it takes a little longer. Keep your fabric flat while you depill, and go very easy with fine fibres.

Handknitted stripey socks, halfway through a de-pilling session

HOLES

Again, you can minimise the risk of getting holes by choosing hard-wearing fibres to begin with, and working to a tight gauge will also help. Otherwise, however, holes are kind of inevitable. My kids knock through their knees, I seem to have spikey elbows, and socks especially wear thin quickly. I really don't think a hole should spell the end of a garment's life, so over the years I've collected lots of mending materials as well as techniques. I won't lie; It's rare for me to actually get to the bottom of the mending pile, but I do try to plug away at it regularly.

My favourite techniques for yarny items are:

• Darning - Probably the most time-consuming and fiddly fix, but I love how it looks. I use thrifted darning wool and leftover sock yarn, and don't worry about matching colours at all. It becomes a little creative outlet in itself.

• Patches - Much as I love darning, really big holes on elbows and knees are sometimes just easier to patch. I like these knitted patches by Purl Soho, although I often use leftover bits of woven fabric as well. Etsy is a great place to buy ready-made wool patches.

• Swapping out parts - For very frayed cuffs, the easiest fix might well be to simply swap them out. You can buy ready-to-sew ribbed cuffs, or make your own. For the kids fleece below I plan on using the legs of a pair of holey wool socks that I just didn't feel like darning. I’ll let you know how that goes!

• Embroidery - More of an embellishment than a fix, and definitely not a quick one at that, but very fun to do.

STRETCHED/MISSHAPEN

Sometimes the reason an item is shoved to the back of the cupboard is because it's got so stretched it just doesn't fit anymore. No amount of de-pilling is going to make it look good. I find it intensely frustrating when this happens, because the cause of the stretching is often precisely the item having been so well-loved.

If the item is only a little stretched or misshapen, the first thing to try is to re-block it. If the item was made with a fibre that has "memory", such as a non-superwash wool, that might be enough to save it. If not, it's time to get creative (and a little brave, probably).

• Reknit/crochet the problematic portion - Depending on how the item is constructed, you might able to work straight into the edge. I covered dealing with stretched hat brims previously. Otherwise, you will have to unravel or cut off a part, pick up live stitches, and re-knit/crochet from there. There are some good tutorials to be found on Pinterest for this.

• Get the sewing kit out - Sometimes the best option is to look at the item from a tailoring point of view, and take in hems/seams or add a thin elastic.

• Alter the thing completely - If taking in seams is likely to add too much weird bulk where it shouldn't be, and reworking a portion is just too hard, go for the chop. Re-work it into something totally new. The photo below shows a top and skirt that started life as a (shop-bought) above-the-knee dress. A very well-loved dress, until the bottom part stretched too much for its length. I didn't think I'd be able to take in the sides, nor re-knit the cabled bottom in a way I'd be happy with. So I cut it in half at the waist. The bottom half became a below-knee skirt, for which the A-line shape was perfect. I then added a couple of sections to the top-half, to make that part wearable too. It did take a while and tested all my sewing/knitting skills, but I now wear both items regularly (again).

3. RESOURCES

HOW TO WASH WOOL - a more detailed blog post from MamaOwl, with great tips and a few FAQs

HOW TO GET RID OF CLOTHES MOTHS - another useful post from MamaOwl

VISIBLE MENDING - a beautiful, clearly-written book by maker Arounna Khounnoraj

MODERNE BRODERI - a GORGEOUS book on embroidering knitwear and clothing, by Warunee Bolstad (currently only available in Norwegian, but the Plystre site has kits and a short tutorial in English too)

BUYING SECONDHAND - though not related to caring for your knits, I had to include this series of Instagram stories by Africa from The Vitamin D Project. Her IG account is like an ode to all things woolly, she’s recently launched a website, and I love it all.

Do you have any tips for getting the most out of you knit & crochet items? Is there anything I’ve mentioned that you particularly love doing, or struggle with?? I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

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* I want to add a note about the cultural sensitivity associated with wearing clothes that look "good". I'm fully aware that, as a thin white woman of obvious economic means, there is no danger in walking around in clothes that have been visibly patched up. Quite the contrary - "visible mending" is incredibly trendy and I would be lying if it didn't do my career any good; More than once I've been paid to mend or alter items for friends, after they've seen what I'm wearing. I very much doubt that would be the case if I were Black, or plus size, or visibly disabled, given all the tropes around wealth and skill that surround these marginalised groups.

I'm also aware that doing all of the things I've listed takes resources. Time, money, skill, in some way or form. Not all of us have them, nor can we be expected to obtain them. Do what you can, if you can.

Crochet speckle

I'm sure that, in between pondering what to cook for dinner yet again and hoovering up crumbly leaves and sand and whatever else the preschooler/dog/cat has stormed in with, you've wondered: what does a crochet speckle look like? Yes yes, me too, it's an important question. So here you are:

Did you spot it? That little dash of burgundy red? Lovely, isn't it.  

But it's also made me wonder, why aren't there more crochet speckles about? Why do speckled yarns seem to be mostly a knitterly thing, so much so that I've even heard mutterings of solid colours being "refreshing" in a "world of speckles and fades".  

As a new-ish knitter, I'm new-ish to speckles. I've decided I like speckles. I didn't really come to them entirely of my own accord; It was Petra, the indie dyer I'm collaborating with on a merino version of the Sea Glass Shawl who suggested it with such an air of "well why wouldn't you", that I thought, "well why not?" And now, I like them. 

Perhaps the reason you don't see so many crochet speckles is because they tend to feature on socks or fingering weight yarns (the very thin, light ones), and my impression is that crocheters prefer DK and above. Speckles are also a bit subtle - you need tiny stitches to show them off. Are we crocheters just a bit too impatient, a bit too used to our projects growing quickly, to really appreciate speckles? 

I hope not. Because I want to re-release the pattern for this shawl soon and more speckly ideas are forming in my head. So at some point (providing the baby ever learns to go without mama milk for more than two hours at a time, but that's a story for another day) there will be more crochet speckle. Just a little bit. It's just too pretty not to, isn't it?

The dreams of a 4.5-year-old boy

There was once a little boy, of a generally sunny but also pensive disposition, who often struggled with bad dreams. Sometimes it was them darn zombies. His mama told him there's no such thing but, what do mamas know about these things anyway? And sometimes he dreamed his mama herself would leave, which was altogether worse. No amount of night lights or cuddly toys or dolly friends would make those dreams go away.

His mama said, I won't leave, I'll always be here for you one way or another. But she knew that words are sometimes not enough. So they put their heads together, and both agreed: a dreamcatcher. Because both knew, deep down, that the best way to soothe another person's soul is to give them something your own hands have made. 

Two old embroidery hoops, leftover cotton yarn, some feathers pilfered from the Easter decorations box. New beads though, because, well... Shiny things. Irresistible. 

And here is the result.

If you want to make a similar dreamcatcher, I was inspired by this one.

YARN REVIEW: de rerum natura Ulysse

What kind of yarn is it?

• Ulysse by de rerum natura is a carded, 100% merino yarn blended from two to three different sheep breeds. 
• It's a 2-ply sport weight yarn with a recommended needle size of 3 to 3.5mm. As a loose crocheter, a 3mm hook works best for me. For knitting, 3.5mm wooden needles gave me 24 sts by 36 rows. 
• As this is a non-superwash merino, it has a great structure with plenty of bounce and crunch. It does not feel like a slinky, shiny superwash merino at all. Rather, it feels soft in a natural, sheepy way. 
• Ulysse comes in a range of 25 shades, including earthy neutrals, soft pastels and a few brights. All shades are available in 50g balls, and the neutrals are also available in 100g hanks. 

Who makes it?

Ulysse is made by French company de rerum natura, who aim to create yarns that respect both the animals and people responsible for producing them. The sheep are reared humanely in France or Portugal, and all yarn processing is carried out as ecologically as possible in France.

Plus Points?

• Where appropriate, Ulysse is blended from the fleeces of both white and black merino sheep before being dyed. The result is an incredible depth of colour that manages to look rich as well as earthy.
• Thanks to its slightly crunchy, firm structure this yarn holds stitches very well and is an absolute joy to work with.
• Being merino, it's still soft and fluffy enough to consider wearing next to the skin. It softens further with time. 
• It feels lightweight yet warm when worn.

Negatives?

• This yarn is reasonably easy to "break" - pull hard enough on a strand and it will come apart. Thankfully it isn't actually splitty, but when joining two strands with a knot, for example, care needs to be taken. I do also wonder how areas such as elbows would stand up to heavy wear. 
• Ulysse should only be handwashed, so you may not want to use it for items that need washing frequently (i.e. baby knits!). 

What should I use it for?

Ulysse is especially suited to colourwork such as fairisle, fine cables or lace. It works just as well for garments as for accessories - think feminine cardies, big beautiful shawls or fairisle beanies. 

Suggested pattern: Hanabira cardigan

Note: I was not compensated in any way for writing this review

YARN REVIEW: MoYa Whisper

What kind of yarn is it?

• MoYa Whisper is a  100% organic cotton. It's a standard Double-Knitting (DK) yarn, with a recommended hook size of 3.5 to 4.0 mm (needle size 3 to 4 mm). For a loose crocheter like me, 3.5 mm is spot on.
• This yarn is hand dyed, so each ball has its own unique colour gradation. The peach shade pictured above ranges from a very light baby pink to a dark raspberry. However, each ball within a dye lot has the same base colour, so they do of look good together. 
• The colour range includes 19 powdery shades, with a good number of neutrals and a few delicious brights thrown in.

image credit: scaapi.nl

Who makes it?

MoYa Yarn is based near Cape Town in South Africa. The company is run by a mother and daughter team, who specialise in hand-dyed, unique yarns.

Plus points?

• MoYa Whisper has a high twist, meaning it absolutely does not split. When you're doing fiddly stitches such as puffs, this is a godsend!
• Like all cotton yarns it's fairly dense, but it still feels soft and supple to work with. I've found it softens up more over time, too.
• The colours are to. die. for.
• It's organic! 

Negatives?

My only complaint is that MoYa yarns are still a little tricky to get hold of in some parts of the world. However, I know its distributors as working hard to change this. For European stockists you can check Scaapi's website, and the Australia & New Zealand market is covered by intambo. 

What should I use it for?

MoYa whisper is perfect for baby and children's items such as blankets, sweaters, hats, etc. Even though cotton is usually recommended for wash cloths and the like, I wouldn't use this yarn for those - it's just too nice! 

Suggested pattern: Peach Pocket Tunic

Disclosure: I received one ball of MoYa Whisper as a sample. The decision to write this review, and all opinions and words included in it, are my own.

Sea Water, Sun and Yarn

Yesterday I handed in a stack of autumn/winter design proposals. Now I just have one or two more things to try out for the Emmy + LIEN label, and then I think I can draw a line under all things dark and wintry. Only until the sample making starts, of course, but the initial head-scratching part is done. The result: a stack of swatches. About a month's worth of work. Doesn't look like much does it?!

One late summer design has snuck in there, and I wanted to pull it out for a little sneaky peek. And a yarny drool. 

Meet my new crush: Pickles. They're based in Oslo and, oh my, don't they ever produce deliciousness. I ordered two types (for now!), Summer Wool and Thin Organic Cotton. 

Summer Wool consists of 70% organic cotton and 30% fair trade Peruvian merino. Plant-dyed, entirely scrumptious, and swiftly set aside for a knitted cardigan for Yours Truly (more on that another day). 

Thin Organic Cotton isn't actually that thin - it works up almost like a worsted weight rather than a DK - but it is very lovely. It feels much softer than 100% cottons usually do, and so it's perfect for a summer to mid-season vest design I've had in mind. Though I normally get lead times spectacularly wrong, this *should* be coming out fairly soon. Swatch done, colours picked, mood board fun had. First test subject: the Bean (though I think it'll be a child to adult pattern - I want me some of this too!).

I'm waiting for the rest of the yarn I need to make up the sample to arrive. I settled on this muted "sea water" blue, and added a yellow called "sun". Sounds like a perfect summer of making to me. 

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Just so you know: I have not been compensated in any way for writing this post. 

YARN REVIEW: Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo

What kind of yarn is it?

• Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo consists of 80% bamboo viscose and 20% wool. It's a Double-Knitting (DK) yarn but sits on the fluffy end of the scale, and so best used on 4mm needles/hook (US size 6 needles or a f/5 hook).
• The colour range includes 35 shades, with 4 new colours having been added recently. 

Who makes it?

The manufacturer is Sirdar Spinning Ltd., a British yarn company established in 1880.

Plus points?

• Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo is one of the softest, smoothest yarns I've ever worked with. It has a slight gloss to it and doesn't split easily as you knit or crochet.
• Despite its softness it gives great stitch definition, making it suitable for a wide range of items.
• The colour range is impressive and includes vibrant brights, neutrals, and pastels. 

Negatives?

This is a 80% bamboo viscose yarn which, put very briefly, means that it is a synthetic product. Although bamboo fibre is used as the base material, to become yarn it has to undergo a lengthy and chemically-intensive process that results in large amounts of hazardous waste. Unless this process took place at an Oeko-Tex certified facility with proper waste processing systems, the bamboo viscose is not ecologically sound, nor any "safer" for babies than standard non-organic cotton.

[Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/bamboo-textiles-no-more-natural-than-rayon-1.938759]

I've emailed Sirdar to ask where they source their bamboo from, but unfortunately I haven't yet received a reply. Untill then, despite its name I personally wouldn't use this yarn for baby and children's knits.

What should I use it for?

• Home accessories such as wall-hangings, cushions, or baskets
• Adult accessories such as hats and scarves

Patterns I have used this yarn in:

Lavender Skies Scarf

Please note this is a completely independent review for which I was not compensated in any way, and any links contained in the post are not affiliated with any company. 

Coming full [yarn] circle - On making, and making informed choices

I spent most of my teenage and student years sketching, and was extremely particular about the materials I bought and used. Only certain paper weights would do. Derwent pencils, from independent art supply stores. Long conversations with the owners of said stores, about the merits of this putty rubber over another. I knew what I was talking about, what I was using and why. 

These days I find it easier to do my doodling with yarn.

When I first picked up crochet again (I learned when I was about 8 but forgot about it for years), however, I didn't give it the same attention to detail. I was in what the ever-eloquent and inspiring Jen Gale at My Make Do and Mend Life calls the "sweetie shop stage". I gave precisely zero thought to where a yarn came from, who had produced it, and how. Colour vibrancy, squishiness and price dominated my buying choices. I even (gasp!) bought acrylic yarn. 

During the planning process of this site, however, something in my attitude changed. Whenever we could afford it, I already paid a lot of attention to the food my family ate and the clothes we wore, in terms of sustainability, safety and quality. It suddenly made sense to apply that care to the yarn I use on a daily basis.

A few articles galvanised my thoughts - the one on "Slow Making" by Jen, which I've mentioned already, and one on "The Maker's Year" project by Kate from A Playful Day. As part of the project, Kate asks what drives us to create. I've always thought I do so to still my mind, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised there's another element to my compulsion to try all the things, all the time, all by myself (I'm determined to take up carpentry one day). 

Making is a way of nurturing my family and providing for them. By cooking wholesome food when I have the time and energy (when I don't: instant ramen), yes, but also by making hats to keep them warm, quilts to curl up under, birthday shawls to show off. It is a way of showing how much I love them, which I'm otherwise not brilliant at. Last night my 3-year-old asked to be tucked up next to me under the hand-stitched quilt, said "it's so cosy in your bed, mama", and my heart sang. You get it, I thought.

Ultimately, I think our modern, Western society has lost touch with the idea that these handmaking skills are what allow a family to survive and to thrive. Of course I'm grateful I live in a place where everything I need is accessible, easy and available, but by crocheting, knitting and sewing all hours of the day I feel I reconnect with these old values. I feel I provide value. 

It makes sense, then, to only use the very best materials I can afford, and to ensure that no-one suffers to make those materials available to me. That does mean I can buy them less frequently, and I do have to squeeze my eyes shut every time I walk past the shop with the cheap, pretty cottons. It is hard. But it is right. My yarn choices have come full circle, I feel.

So what does that mean for this site and my designs on a practical level? After weeks of 'homework' into sheep herding, wool trading and wool processing (I'm telling you, my evenings rock), I have made a few rules for myself.

YES to:

1. Organic where possible or failing that, Oeko-Tex certified (bonus points for both!)

2. Animal-friendly and staff-friendly production: free-range animals, fair trade conditions, etc.

3. Yarn made from recycled materials, reclaimed yarn, etc.

NO to:

1. Superwash yarn (until ecological superwash treatment methods become established), unless it's Oeko-Tex certified

2. Bamboo yarn, unless it's Oeko-Tex certified

There is more work to be done - I don't understand the dyeing process yet, for example - but I feel I'm making a good start. I've realised that I feel a sense of overall responsibility as a designer - a responsibility to develop patterns properly, for sure, but also to point you, crocheters and yarnists of all stripes, in the direction of materials that I personally believe in.

There are occasional screams of frustration. The holy grail of local AND sustainable AND suitable for the designs in my head still eludes me. But I'm ploughing on, talking to stockists, and testing new yarns every week. It allows me to make better choices, and my hope is that, although your choices are of course always your own, the yarn reviews I'm (currently! busily!) writing will at least inform you and inspire you to think about what you're buying too. 

I'm joining in with the current theme of The Maker's Year: What does making mean to you?