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How to wash hand knits

August 26, 2015 Leave a Comment

The care and keeping of yak yarn with Allure.

Blocking and caring for hand knit items is important. I’ve shared basic blocking and color setting tutorials in the past, so today, I want to share tips for maintaing your knitting, particularly if it’s a piece done in a fine fiber like yak or cashmere. I mean, after all the hard work of making your own creation, why not take the best possible care of it?

Click through for tips for finishing and blocking knit hats!

The hat on the left hasn’t been blocked. The hats on the right have been blocked with Allure fiber wash.

Knit garments need washing because they are clothes. They get dirty. The problem is that when you’re looking down the barrel of a cashmere shawl or a yak hat (ahem), you might feel a little intimidated. Heck, a lot of non-knitters are scared of simply laundering half of their clothes, especially wool sweaters, so it’s totally understandable that even as a knitter, you’re intimidated by washing something you spent a ton of time making.

I really like Allure Fiber Wash for laundering my knits for a few reasons. For one thing, it was actually developed by the folks behind Bijou Basin Ranch yarns, so they know their fine fibers well. (Fun fact: the developer is a chemist, and she worked for OxiClean in a past life. No joke.) Another reason I like Allure is that it’s a no residue, no rinse wash that works on hand-knit and delicate fabrics. It is biodegradable, made in the United States, and doesn’t involve animal testing. The no-rinse factor means that I’m using less water in the laundering process than with other cleaners, so that’s a nice bonus too.

The care and keeping of yak yarn with Allure.

How to care for knits made with yak yarn

Supplies

Allure Fiber Wash
cold to lukewarm water
2 bath towels (hand towels are fine for smaller items like hats and mittens)
clean sink or mixing bowl

Directions

My laundering process is somewhat similar to my blocking process. Fill a clean basin/sink/mixing bowl with enough cold-to-lukewarm water to submerge your knit item. Place your item in the water and add 2 capfuls of Allure for every gallon of water used. Gently stir the Allure among the water to help evenly distribute it, but don’t go crazy and agitate your item too much. Let sit for 10 minutes.

How to block a knit hat

After the 10 minutes, gently lift your item from the basin, supporting it from the bottom. Since Allure is a no rinse wash, you can lay the item straight down on a towel. Do not wring out the knitwear! Instead, roll it up in a dry towel, and press on the towel to remove excess moisture (see my blocking tutorial for tips on this). Finally, lay your item flat on a second, dry towel to air dry, flipping it occasionally as needed.

A tip for handling wet knitwear – don’t pluck it out of the water or let it hang off your hands too much. This can cause weird stretching while the fibers are wet simply from the weight of the water. Crazy, right? 

How to block a knit hat

Finally – voila! Your hat is beautifully, quickly and easily cleaned. While I prefer the fragrance free Allure due to my secret superhero power of smell (the struggle is real, my friends!), it also comes in two other scents. I really like Allure, particularly when it’s time to launder delicate fibers.

Delta Hat knitting pattern by Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied #deltahatkal

#DeltaHatKAL prizes!

If you’re doing the knit along and are curious about Allure, you’re in luck! Two of the prizes for those who finish knitting their Delta Hats in Bijou Basin Ranch Yarn are Allure sample packs, which feature all 3 scents.

PS: In case you missed it, the grand prize for the KAL is two skeins of Bijou’s newest yarn, the 100% cashmere Xanadu, in the winner’s choice of color.

Click through for tips for finishing and blocking knit hats!

This post is part of the current knit along with Bijou Basin Ranch and yours truly! Yarn and fiber wash pictured were provided by Bijou Basin Ranch & Allure. 

Filed Under: Giveaways, Reviews & Sponsored, Knit Along, Knitting, Knitting & Crochet Tagged With: bbrhandsoccupied, block a hat, blocking, delicate fibers, deltahatkal, how to block. allure fiber wash, how to launder knits, laundering knitwear, yak yarn

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad is a craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), a craft book author & pattern designer specializing in knitting, crochet, latch hook & macrame. Really anything with yarn! ❤️  My work combines vintage and modern design elements, featuring bold colors and graphic motifs.

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handsoccupied

Craft book author, designer & creator specializing in yarn crafts like knitting, crochet, latch hook & macramé
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Heidi Gustad 🧶✂️
If only knitting a whole project took 39 seconds… 😮‍💨 
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In this video, you can see how the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern knits up - two flat panels, one with intarsia, both are blocked, and then they’re seamed. Find the pattern on @hi.ravelry & my website, just search Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 
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P.S. I’m really smiling in this video while seaming the pillow, so I guess I’m proving last week’s claim that I truly enjoy that sometimes-dreaded task. 😆🫣
In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you In knitting, a Left Lifted Increase (LLI) lets you add a stitch in between two columns of stitches that leans to the left. Similar to an M1L, LLIs allow you to increase nearly invisibly.
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To learn more about lifted increases, including when to use them and how they differ from Make 1s, head to the 🔗 in my profle. 
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Have you ever used lifted increases? I used M1’s almost exclusively for a long time when I needed to inc between stitches, but when I designed the Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern, I needed something that would allow me to increase a lot near my cast on, and M1’s resulted in edge curling. The more you know! 🌈 
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Yarn: @lionbrandyarn Wool Ease from my Stash / Neddles: @boyeyarncrafts - Just remembered these are the needles I learned to knit on at age 8. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #learntoknit #howtoknit #sweaterknitting #knitinspiration #knittersofinstagram #liftedincreases
Last week I got to hang out with my family & helpe Last week I got to hang out with my family & helped babysit my red-headed niece and nephew. So here’s some plane knitting, and a couple pictures (shared with permission) of my babysitting adventures.
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Lessons learned: 1️⃣ Trying to knit around 2 toddlers, 2 cats & 2 large dogs is pretty hard. 2️⃣ I learned during water color time that pink and black make “colorful black.” 🩷🖤 3️⃣ Toddlers do NOT care about your rainbow sorting of their toys. 4️⃣ Toddlers are very good at finding mischief in a very short amount of time, what a surprise. 😂
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#handsoccupied #knitting #placesyoucanknit #knitters #knitinpublic #handmadelife #knitting_inspiration
Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are Weaving in ends & seaming with mattress stitch are both so useful for garment knitting! But for me, weaving in ends can feel like a chore while the latter feels like I’ve successfully done magic. 🧙🏻‍♀️ Does anybody else run into this phenomenon? Are you the opposite? Any theories as to why they feel different? 
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In this video, I’m finishing my brand new Intarsia Flower Pillow. 🌸 I’m working with @universal_yarn Uni Merino & the pattern is available at the 🔗 in my b1o. 
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#handsoccupied #intarsiaflowerpillow #intarsia #intarsiaknitting #knitting #colorwork #knitpillow #knittinginspiration #knittersofinstagram
I independently released a knitting pattern today, I independently released a knitting pattern today, my first in 5 years! The Intarsia Flower Pillow is a 16” (40cm) round pillow knit with an intentional combination of intarsia, stockinette, garter and seed stitch. This pillow has everything you need to level up your intarsia technique while also knitting something you can use. 
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This pillow allows you to practice knitting intarsia while simultaneously increasing and decreasing. The Intarsia Flower Pillow pattern was designed to be a little knit-nerdy for learning and a little cute, arming you with many of the skills you'd need to knit an intarsia sweater. 
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Intarsia Flower Pillow is available in the Hands Occupied Sh0p and on @hi.ravelry . You can read more about the pattern on the bl0g, the🔗 are where you’d think.
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YARN: @universal_yarn Uni Merino in Antiquity, Fjord and Conch / NEEDLES: US 2 (2.75 mm) / PATTERN: Intarsia Flower Pillow by Heidi Gustad
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