All About Merino
Care and Washing Information
Choose your favorite wool wash (we recommend Eucalan) and add to cool water. Submerge your garment and soak thoroughly but gently. If your wool wash calls for it, rinse carefully. Remove from water, DO NOT WRING. You can place the wet item on a dry towel and roll up to remove excess water. Dry flat away from direct sunlight or heat.
Care for Sheepskins
Sold only at Greenmarkets in NYC. We do not ship.
WORKING WITH INDIGOS
Color: Indigo Dark on Worsted.
When you knit with yarn dyed with natural indigo, madder or logwood extracts, you may experience crocking; an event where some color residues that are not attached to the wool, rub off on your fingers. As an example, indigo dye is an insoluble compound that does not attach to the wool fibers in the same manner as the citric dyes or even some other natural colors. This residue is from powdered leaves, sawdust and roots, all safe and non-toxic. When dyeing at the farm we rinse the yarn several times!! When you get the wool home, more of those dye molecules will have worked their way to the surface. To lessen the crocking that may occur on your hands while knitting with these colors or to lessen the chance of the deeper colors rubbing off on lighter colors - rinse some more! Rinse before you begin knitting. Hand wash your finished knitting in lukewarm water with a mild detergent. Rinse until the water runs clear and dry flat.
About Our Citric Colors
We hand dye our wool, one batch at a time on the farm. We feel we get the best saturation and attention to detail this way. Depending on the weight of the wool this can typically be anywhere from 8 to 12 skeins in one dye bath. As a result, each batch may be slightly different from another batch of the same color. We choose to hand dye and appreciate the nuances each bath produces. We recommend you purchase all that you need and maybe a little extra for safe measures. You can always contact us about quantities or with any questions.
The photo above is a Sport weight “Playful” yarn knitted back and forth in stockinette.
NATURAL DYES
Colors from top to bottom: Kamala, Madder Orange, Quebracho Wattle
Most of the wool found on our website is dyed with citric dyes which give a wide range of vivid colors. We have always sold the natural dyes at the Greenmarkets in NYC and now they are included in our e-commerce store as well. Natural dyes are beautiful but difficult to match consistently. It is especially important that you have enough wool for your project from a single dye bath. Using the same dyes and formulas on two different batches will result in variations.
Merino Wool Benefits
Travel Friendly
Because of Merino wool’s easy care, it makes the best travel companion.
Environment Friendly
Aren’t we all tired of buying and throwing away clothing we use only a few times? 35% of plastics in the marine environment are responsible for micro-fiber pollution.
Skin Friendly
Merino wool feels luxurious and gentle next to your skin due to its super fine fibers.
