So you’ve dyed your favorite skein of bare yarn! Now what? There are a few things to do at this phase that will be the best for your yarn. Today we will walk you through the basic steps needed to rinse your hand dyed yarn and care for it properly. This process picks up after you have heat set your yarn. If you hand painted your yarn, skip ahead to “let it cool.” READ MORE

It’s always amazing to me when I meet a knitter who doesn’t like to swatch--swatching is sometimes my favorite part of the entire knitting process! Setting aside time to swatch gives you a moment to get to know your new yarn intimately. For dyers, swatching is one of the many ways to determine how a yarn will behave and whether it’s right for your customers. I know swatching takes a little time, so I’ve done some of the work for you! I’m spending some time...

READ MORE

Before you add any kind of pigment to your yarn, there are a few key steps that are essential for preparing your yarn for the best outcome. These simple preparatory steps will ensure your dye baths are even and your results are replicable. Preparing your yarn in hanks ensures that it does not tangle while in a dye bath. Weighing your undyed yarn is important to know if you want to repeat the exact same dye process and provides...

READ MORE

One of the most readily available sources of yarn dye is actually available at your local supermarket! Colorful products like food coloring gel and drink mix powders can be used to dye yarn some beautiful colors. Today we’ll show you how to dye yarn with Kool Aid and Hawaiian Punch drink mix powders.

Materials:

• 1 skein of Knomad yarn - We used Eggshell, a...

  READ MORE

Have you ever worked up a skein of yarn, and the colors stacked in just such a way that it felt like opening a present, you just couldn’t wait to see what happened next? That color stacking or “pooling” can actually be planned! In today’s blog post, I’ll be walking you through how to dye your yarn to achieve an oil slick (direct application) and nebula effect (reverse speckle). You will need a couple of skeins of your favorite base -...

READ MORE

  Better for the Earth, and better for you — we know you care about choosing sustainable yarns. Knomad is an independent brand, but our strong relationship with our partner mill in Arequipa, Perú gives us the ability to create a collection of bare yarn with an eye on sustainability.    READ MORE

If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’m always working on a mixed yarn cardigan for myself! These chunky cardigans with pockets are exactly the thing I want to wear every day in our mild, beachside southern California climate. Recently I acquired some beautiful yarn that isn’t the softest. I thought of pairing the not so soft yarn with KNOMAD’s ultra soft SANDSTONE. I have noticed that knitting a scratchy yarn together with a soft yarn balances the overall...

READ MORE

The world around us is absolutely full of color, and humans have been attempting to discover, reveal, capture, and trade natural dye goods for centuries. Although you might be familiar with some of the most prized and well-known colors, there are thousands of everyday dye goods that surround us, waiting to be gathered, processed, and bound to beautiful yarns so that fibre crafters may enjoy them. I am utterly obsessed with discovering local...

READ MORE

Whether you are a veteran dyer or just getting started, there are a wide variety of terms that are helpful to learn. Today on the blog we are going to cover a variety of dyeing terms that will be useful to you wherever you are in your dyeing journey. Let’s get to it!

Acidic

A pH less than 7. Many dyes require an acidic environment, which can be created by adding white vinegar or citric acid into the dye bath.

Acid dye

READ MORE

Spinning is probably the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of making yarn. In fact, the first examples of thread or yarn look quite similar to any of the yarns you might see today. These yarns were made using simple hand-powered spindles. As you can see from our video series, making yarn is a much more sophisticated process today, but the fundamentals of making yarn remain the same....

READ MORE